The Incomparable Chomón: A Set of Short Films

Segundo de Chomón is sometimes referred to as the “Spanish Georges Méliès.” This is unfair insofar as the Catalan filmmaker’s achievements prove that he was not a mere copycat, but rather a pioneering filmmaker as inventive as other leading names in the industry. 

In 2021, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Chomón’s birth, Filmoteca de Catalunya compiled a selection of fourteen films that show the full extent of his skills. These include trick films such as Music Forward and the juggling King of Dollars, through the stunningly colourful The Tulips and Japanese Butterflies, to A Trip to Jupiter: a creative reworking of the space travel theme introduced by Méliès with A Trip to the Moon (1902). Fans of slapstick can rejoice – Chomón, several years before Buster Keaton, made several films in a similar spirit (The Heir of the Pruna House, The Electric Hotel). The retrospective of Chomón’s work will conclude with a documentary impression of Barcelona, the Main City of Catalonia.

Robert Siwczyk

Segundo de Chomón (1871–1929) was a Spanish filmmaker and inventor who made films in France and Italy as well as in his native country. Alongside such directors as Georges Méliès and Alice Guy-Blaché, he is considered one of the most important pioneers of camera tricks and optical illusions. Apart from his short films, he worked on the special effects of such silent film spectacles as Cabiria (1914) and Napoleon (1927).

List of films:

1. The King of Dollars / Le roi des dollars (1905), 2 min
2. The Heir of the Pruna House / L’hereu de can pruna (1904), 6 min 
3. Easter Eggs / Les oeufs de Pâques (1907), 3 min 
4. A Trip to Jupiter / Voyage sur Jupiter (1909), 8 min 
5. Music, Forward! / En avant la musique (1907), 2 min 
6. The Tulips / Les tulipes (1907), 4 min
7. The Red Spectre / Le spectre rouge (1907), 8 min 
8. Modern Sculpture / Sculpture moderne (1908), 7 min
9. Japanese Butterflies / Les papillons japonais (1908), 4 min 
10. The Electric Hotel / Hôtel électrique (1908), 8 min
11. Whimsical People / Les lunatiques (1908), 2 min 
12. An Awful Symphony / Symphonie bizarre (1909), 5 min
13. Stronger than Sherlock Holmes / Più forte che Sherlock Holmes (1913), 6 min
14. Barcelona, the Main City of Catalonia / Barcelone, principale ville de la Catalogne (1912), 3 min