1907 was an important year for director Segundo de Chomón, for it was the year he began to work most productively as the competition of Georges Méliès and began to threaten the popularity that Star Film had had. The little-remembered Spanish filmmaker had first began his career in 1901, working for Pathé mostly with the stencil-colored copies he produced of the movies they made. As time went on, he became a professional cinematographer, documenting in particular various places in Spain from 1901 to 1904; and by 1905, he was already starting trick film production, though was not nearly as productive as he was in 1907-1909, 1908 in particular. He was not a major threat to his competitor quite yet, and by 1907 already Méliès's popularity was dwindling; but with the lavish sets the company could afford and the creativity that began to grow, he would soon surpass him.
However, as evidenced by this film, Chomón had plenty to learn even at this early a point in film history. By 1907 he had not yet developed his wonderful stop-motion effects ("The House of Ghosts" is probably from 1908 due to the advanced techniques, and not 1906 or 1907 which seem too early). Furthermore, his style remained rather stagy like his competition: a single long shot, no closeups or medium closeups--both of which he would work on more as he got into 1908. Both directors were like this in their style, so despite Pathé's greater resources Chomón's work was not especially an accomplishment over Méliès's at this point.
"The Cigar Box" examples this perfectly. Made in 1907, this short four-minute work is a trick film, made like much of Chomón's work to take away Méliès's market. It consists of an 18th century lord magician who utilizes a huge cigar dispenser ("box" is not accurate, it's a dispenser all right) to make dancing girls appear. The elaborate slats of the box open up for people to step out, and the thing revolves in the manner of a merry-go-round. For the most part, the short is really more just a lot of girlie dancing after the dancers are conjured up, and the actual tricks are very minor. The most interesting one is where the slats and the top come away to reveal several large cigars inside, which are lit and then turn into more dancers. It does become rather repetitive--they were clearly milking the concept for all it's worth--but remains entertaining, and the various things they do with the dispenser are fun to see.
The tricks that "The Cigar Box" offers up, however, are very simple and many of them could easily have been performed live on a stage, which would have decreased the impact the tricks would have brought on the audience. The dancing girls coming magically out of the box is quite obviously reminiscent of 19th century theater magic acts, as well as the dancing itself. Certain tricks, like the cigar transformation, the magician vanishing, and him conjuring up two servants out of thin air were mainly the ones that could not have been done as part of a live show. However, the more elaborate sets and the basic concept--which had at least never been done before by Méliès in any variations or outright versions--make the film fairly nice to see despite this. Not outstanding but the idea works for what it is.
