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481 ... THE MONSTER. —An Egyptian Scene with the Sphynx and Pyramids in the background
2 Lengths.
The moon is shining. An Egyptian Prince having lost liis beloved wife has sought a dervish who dwells at the base of the Sphynx. The Prince promises him a vast fortune if the dervish will only give him the opportunity of gazing once more upon the features of his wife. The dervish accepts the offer. He brings in from a neighbouring tomb the receptacle containing the remains of the Princess. He opens it and removes the skeleton which he places upon the ground, then turning to the moon and raising his outstretched arms, he invokes the moon to give back life to her who is no more. The skeleton begins to move about, becomes animated and rises. The dervish puts it upon a bench and covers it with a white cloth ; a masque conceals its ghostly face. At a second invocation the skeleton begins to move, arises and performs a weird dance. In performing its contortions it partly disappears in the ground then increases gradually in size, its neck assuming enormous proportions, much to the horror of the Prince who fails to see in this grotesque character, the wife whom he seeks. The dervish throws a veil over the hideous creature. Then appears the real Princess. The Prince darts forward to take her into his arms, but the dervish stops him, wraps the figure in the veil and throws her into the arms of the Prince. Tlie Prince removing the veil, finds he has embraced the skeleton. The dervish withdraws with the Prince pursuing him. 499 THE INFERNAL CAULDRON 2 Lengths.
The demon Belpheg >r, the Infernal Executioner, is awaiting the arrival of three evil persons condemned to Hades. He inspects the fire to make certain that there is a good blaze under the big cauldron into which the condemned are usually thrown. Another demon is seen urging the unfortunates on with his fork. Belphegor seizes them one at a time and plunges them into the cauldron. As each one is consumed large flames are thrown off which float through the air. Another demon, armed with an iron poker, stirs up the remains in the cauldron Suddenly three pillars of smoke rising successively from the cauldron assume a transparent phantom-like shape of a human being. These phantoms are supposed to be the souls of the three people just executed, their spirits thus endeavouring to escape from Hades. Belphegor is not so easily duped, as he at once discovers their manoeuvres and at a certain command the three phantoms dissolve into three large flames which fly about in the air. The souls thus become hobgoblins to remain for ever and ever after in the regions to which the have been condemned. Belphegor, seeing his work to a satisfactory end, mysteriously vanishes into the cauldron, the latter exploding and dissolving into smoke.
Note. — The portrayal of this subject necessitated the introduction of an entirely new trick in animated photography, consisting of depicting the phantoms hovering in space, passing con ml and through each other, ncter for a moment losing their likeness to human hi-ln<is with the result that it leaves a puzzling effect of nu/strrg and fascination on the minds of the audience viewing this subject.
Further Star Subjects in course of preparation. These will be announced in due course.