Princess Nicotine; or, The Smoke Fairy

Starring: Paul Panzer, Gladys Hulette
Directed by: N/A
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Short, Comedy, Fantasy
Length: 5 minutes
1909

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary:A man falls asleep, only to wake up discovering two fairies, who begin to interact with him around his cigars and cigarettes.

Review:

Tim: Princess Nicotine; or, The Smoke Fairy is an interesting little film. It's definitely a special effects extravaganza from the early 20th century. There are so many filmmaking tricks and techniques on display here. What is impressive is that they still hold up today. Sure, they look outdated and silly, but the film still retains a bit of that "How did they do that?" magic.

The story itself is pretty silly. A man falls asleep, and either wakes up to find two fairies, or dreams the whole thing. The mischievious little fairies cause trouble by smoking, dancing around inside a bottle, and lighting a box of matches on fire. If it sounds weird, that's because it is. The story is simple and the movie so short that it doesn't even feel like 5 minutes. The story doesn't exactly make perfect sense (even after the second viewing, I still don't get the scene where the cigarettes and matches move by themselves into the cigar box) but it's fun and funny and interesting in a fantasy sort of way.

The special effects are pretty astounding for 1909. The scenes where the man is life size, and the small little fairies are on the table are pretty amazing. The close ups are easier to understand, but they were handled well in the film. There's so much going on visually that this short is never boring. I do wonder why the set changed (the background changes to black halfway through).

Princess Nicotine, or, The Smoke Fairy is a strange, bizarre little movie that does boast some impressive visual effects. For that reason, it's worth checking out.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- N/A



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: N/A