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It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

The first must-see film of the year.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

"Les cambrioleurs" or "The Climbers" is an 1897 black-and-white silent film, so this one is really old, even compared to some of Guy's other works. But that's how it is I guess and this is maybe also why the action here is so uninteresting. The title honestly told me more than the actual film and that is always bad. We see a couple men on a roof and I guess they were burgling a house or an apartment. That's it. it's not dramatic or funny, it's just there. I have seen many superior works by Guy, so I am a bit disappointed by her effort here. i believe she is a talented filmmaker, but maybe the genre just was not yet ready for her creativity by 1897. Not recommended.

Turn-of-the-Century Blind Man, The (1898) ** 1/2 (out of 4) At the Hypnotists (1898) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Burglars, The (1898) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Disappearing Act (1898) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Surprise Attack on a House at Daybreak (1898) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Five more films from Alice Guy from the Gaumont Treasures box set from Kino. THE TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY BLIND MAN is a pretty simple and straight-forward prank film as a homeless man is pushed off a park bench by a police officer. The poor man then puts his outfit on a rich man sleeping in that same chair just to see the officer go after him. AT THE HYPNOTISTS has pretty much what you'd expect from a film with its title as a hypnotist makes a man do various funny things. THE BURGLARS takes place on a rather obvious but funny set as two crooks try to break into a house as a couple cops come after them. DISAPPEARING ACT is a poor man's Melies wannabe as a magician makes a woman turn into a devil then turns it back into a man. The final film, SURPRISE ATTACK ON A HOUSE AT DAYBREAK is without question the most impressive of this group as soldiers close in on another group of soldiers held up in a house. This short, running a brief 50-seconds, is without question the highlight here as we get a pretty good battle sequence that was years before the work of Griffith would come into play. Guy handles the material quite well and manages to make the film feel a lot bigger than it actually is. The other four films are all a mixed bag as the middle three come off as lesser copies of films we've seen from both Edison and Melies. The first film also doesn't come off very original and only works as a mild interest to those who enjoy these early films.