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the audience applauded

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The wreath is actually a hula hoop (although that term didn't exist) that evolves from a rope. No real plot. Things simply appear inside the wreath. The big star is a kind of devil who holds forth for some time. He has a very large head and little horns. There is a sort of offspring as well, and the usual group of young women. It just left me a little cold because I have seen so much more from this guy. But a couple tricks will please most people.

"La guirlande merveilleuse" or "Marvellous Wreath" is a black-and-white silent short film directed by and starring French movie pioneer Georges Méliès back in 1903, when he was in his early 40s. As the title already says, this is about a magic wreath. In this one, we see a bald man who looks really weird, as if he was high on drugs. This film runs for 4 minutes, so a bit longer than most of Méliès' early works. I would say it is not among his best and not among his worst. Unfortunately, in this one here he tells us not really a story as in some of his other films, but it's basically just a magic show for the audience. Still, not a terrible watch by any means. Worth checking out for cineastes who love the very early days of film. Everybody else can do without it.

Marvellous Wreath, The (1903) *** (out of 4) aka La Guirlande Merveilleuse Nice magic film from Melies has him walking out onto the stage and doing various tricks including turning a rope into a hula hope and then using this to create the title character. This film is a little bit rough due to all the obvious edits being done but it's still a pretty nice little film that has enough charm to make it work. As I said, the special effects are a bit rough but all of the tricks are pretty nice including one scene where a devil like thing jumps out of the wreath. It's also worth noting that Melies shows off his athletic ability by jumping rope during one scene.