Rigadin n'aime plus le cinéma

A stop-motion film from Émile Cohl with tin soldiers, children's drawings and cannibals.

An urban husband and wife, walking in the countryside outside Paris, are so impressed with the delicious taste of a cow's milk that they buy the cow and try to bring it home to their Parisian apartment. (Library of Congress)

A pickpocket manages to escape the police through a series of fantastic tricks. The director is this film is unknown.

A woman enters a room with a man. She creates a duplicate of him and changes his personality by throwing his clothes from one man to the next.

A mischievous witch uses her dark magic on an innocent cyclist until he is all confused. He is forced to pedal backwards and at the same time, his bike changes shape anytime the witch wants it to. (stumfilm.dk)

Shy Rigadin decides to visit some friends of the family, but they are called away and when out the servants play high society, dressing up and partying. Which is when Rigadin enters…

Bess is busy reading a book when her folks come in and command her to spend more time at work. They give her a ball of yarn, a crochet needle and set her to work. She is left alone and while moving around in her chair she loses track of the ball of yarn. It happens to have been caught in her belt at her back and out of her own view. Being a girl of quick temper and strong in athletics, the home is in so much of a turmoil when her parents return that Bess has not been subjected to work since. (Moving Picture World)

The photographer sends miss Ophelia a dozen photographs of her in different poses. Selecting the best one, she presents it to her favorite boarder, Billy, who does not think much of it and who gets very indignant when it is compared with the photo of his sweetheart. Miss Ophelia goes up to her room in tears and tells her faithful maid, Belinda, that her heart is broken. Belinda goes down and forcibly tells Billy what she thinks of him. Miss Ophelia resolves on suicide, because no one seems to love her. Belinda gets back in time to prevent this and, to divert her mistress, she suggests that they go together to a beauty specialist. Arriving there, both receive attention. Miss Ophelia gets a new complexion, while Belinda gets new teeth. Both invest in new gowns and dresses and the transformation is complete. At supper time, the boarders are all astounded.

In this sophisticated romantic comedy, healing waters are the cover for an extramarital affair that “cures” the infertility problems of a childless couple.

A couple’s fight over dinner leads to spiralling domestic abuse that spreads all over town. (MoMA)