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Segundo de Chomón

Segundo de Chomón

Directing

Biography

Segundo de Chomón became involved in film through his coloring workshop in Barcelona, Spain. From October 1902 to March 1903, he collaborated with Pathé, adding color to some of their films in Barcelona. He began shooting films for Macaya & Marro in 1905; then, in the summer of 1906, he moved to Paris where he became a trick film specialist for Pathé. The body of work he created over five years was outstanding. De Chomón created fantastical narratives embellished with ingenious effects, gorgeous color, innovative hand-drawn, and puppet animation; tricks of the eye that surprise and delight, and startling turns of surreal imagination. De Chomón carried on as a filmmaker, specializing in trick effects, working for Pathé, Itala and others.

Known For

Napoleon
7.8

A biopic of Napoleon Bonaparte, tracing the Corsican's career from his schooldays (where a snowball fight is staged like a military campaign) to his flight from Corsica, through the French Revolution (where a real storm is intercut with a political storm) and the Terror, culminating in his triumphant invasion of Italy in 1797.

Napoleon

1927
Cabiria
7.2

Young Cabiria is kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave in Carthage. Just as she's to be sacrificed to Moloch, Cabiria is rescued by Fulvius Axilla, a good-hearted Roman spy, and his powerful slave, Maciste. The trio are broken up as Cabiria is entrusted to a woman of noble birth. With Cabiria's fate unknown, Maciste punished for his heroism, and Fulvius sent away to fight for Rome, is there any hope of our heroes reuniting?

Cabiria

1914
Sleeping Beauty
4.7

Based on the story of "Sleeping Beauty" by Charles Perrault. Titles read: The Christening of the Princess; The Good Fairies Fatal Prediction; The Royal Edict; The Princess is Sixteen Years Old; Searching for the Princess; The Prediction Comes True; Thou Shalt Sleep for a Hundred Years; A Hundred Years later the Prince Charming Goes Hunting; Prince Charming Dismisses His Escort; The Castle of Sleep; The Guard's Hall; You Have Been a Long Time Coming, prince; The Wedding of the Sleeping Beauty to Prince Charming.

Sleeping Beauty

1908
The War and the Dream of Momi
7.0

Helmed by Giovanni Pastrone, with Segundo de Chomón ably handling the stop-motion animation segment, The War and the Dream of Momi is equal parts patriotic pageantry and eye-popping puppetry.

The War and the Dream of Momi

1917
Maciste in Hell
6.8

The devil takes Maciste down to hell in an attempt to corrupt and ruin his morality.

Maciste in Hell

1925
Modern Sculptors
6.9

The first scene presents before the astonished eyes of the spectators a solid piece of marble, which the minute it is placed on a table seems to take life, and one can follow a snake-like line branding on the polished face of the stone the name of the house of Pathé Frères. As soon as this stone has been engraved, as by magic, a handsome young lady appears with a huge lump of clay covered with a cloth. As soon as the cloth is removed from the soft mass it starts whirling and turning as if stricken mad, and one is asking one's self what all the contentions are going to lead to, when the vague shape of an animal not yet discernible seems to appear, and before one has time to make one's mind as to the category of brutes to which it belongs one sees the form of a remarkably well made orang-utan modelled out of the clay, who calmly smokes his pipe. Then the statue is removed by the same winning young lady and another covered block of the same substance is carried forward.

Modern Sculptors

1908
Kitsune
5.0

A man trapped in purgatory must come face to face with his own demons.

Kitsune

2016
No image
5.8

This adaptation of Charles Perrault's classic novel briefly presents the story of a poor family who doesn't find means to sustain their home and end up being evicted from it. When the youngest of the seven children overhears his parents conversation about this sad situation, he cries for a while. But barely everyone knew, that he was about to come up with a thoughtful idea that could restore their peace and bring back their home.

Tom Thumb

1909
The Electric Hotel
6.1

An enthusiastic young couple is astounded with modern technology's giant leaps in the fascinating field of electricity.

The Electric Hotel

1908
The Red Spectre
6.2

A demonic magician attempts to perform his act in a strange grotto, but is confronted by a Good Spirit who opposes him.

The Red Spectre

1907
Enchanted Glasses
5.0

Devilish looking man dances with a dress in his arms. The dress stands up by itself and a woman magician appears in it. She conjures six women and then makes them disappear. She magically changes into men's clothing and lines up six boxes which begin to smoke and produce six women, whose clothing transforms from formal gowns to ballet dresses. The magician makes them disappear. She then lines up six glasses on a table, and, as she pours wine into them, a woman appears in each glass. She makes the wine go back into the container and everything on the table goes up in smoke. She transforms her clothing into a dress, then disappears, leaving the dress standing on its own. The devilish man reappears, turns the dress into torches, then disappears into smoke with the torches. (Library of Congress)

Enchanted Glasses

1907
A Trip to Jupiter
6.4

The King and his official astronomer are alone in the study viewing the heavenly bodies through the monstrous telescope. They go out on the balcony and the gay old ruler is much absorbed in the phenomenon, and spends some time in studying the stars and planets. The evening has been well spent with the many mysteries which have made such a deep impression upon the King's mind that they are still with him in his dreams. (Moving Picture World synopsis)

A Trip to Jupiter

1909
Scullion's Dream
6.2

When the entire kitchen staff falls asleep from exhaustion, a dwarf appears and animates various objects via stop motion -- including their hands, which he cuts off while they snooze -- to do their work.

Scullion's Dream

1908
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
6.0

The legend of Ali Baba and the forty thieves: Ali Baba discovers a hidden cave where a band of thieves have stored their enormous treasure. Cassim also learns about the cave, but he is caught by the thieves and put to death. Knowing that their secret has been found out, the thieves devise a trick in an attempt to kill Ali Baba and anyone else who might know about their hiding place.

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

1907
The Fire
6.6

A film based on Gabriele D'Annunzio's novel The Flame. Pina Menichelli plays a vamp who ruins a painter's life just for the fun of it.

The Fire

1916
The Pearl Fisherman
5.7

Captivated by a vision of beckoning women, a man dives into the ocean, and soon finds himself walking on the ocean floor. After encountering numerous sea creatures, he comes to a giant oyster. When the oyster is opened, a strange adventure begins for the diver.

The Pearl Fisherman

1907
A Fallen Spirit
4.9

A Fallen Spirit (L'Epee du spirite, 1910) by pioneer filmmaker Segundo de Chomón is a fantasy swashbuckler that opens with the arrival at an inn of a musketeer who possesses a magic sword.

A Fallen Spirit

1910
Slippery Jim
6.8

Pickpock is behind bars. But more elusive than Arsène Lupin, no chain resists him and he plays with policemen like a cat with mice. After having masterfully taken them for a ride, having brought them down to an effigy, he rolls them up and throws them out the window. But the policemen come back to life and the chase goes on. Pickpock, caught a second time, locked up behind heavy bars, finds a new way of escaping and imprisoning in turn the policemen.

Slippery Jim

1909
The Talisman
6.5

"Le Pied de Mouton" is an adaptation of an old French stage play titled "The Talisman" written by Alphonse Martainville and César Ribié. The atmosphere is hilarious, oneiric and delicious. The film tells the story of Gusman and Léonora, two lovers who must deal with many spells and troubles in order to preserve their love. The tale is full of princes and princesses, damsels in distress, good witches and wicked lords and is an amazing piece of work.

The Talisman

1907
The Bewitched House
6.6

A group of travellers go into a house for protection. Little do they know, it is filled with ghosts who make unusual things happen to them.

The Bewitched House

1907