Monday Night at the Cinema: Double Feature! With Intermission!

We're running through the summer rains, dodging the downpour as best we can. Thunder crashes overhead and we're hoping desperately that the power to the theater won't be knocked out.

The usher takes our tickets and we find our favorite places, all together, whispering and joking as others straggle in.

First up is what is regarded as the first horror movie ever made: George Melies' 1896 classic Le Manoir du Diable, or as it's known in English, The Haunted Castle.


And then it's an intermission! A dancer does her rendition of Loie Fuller's "Serpentine Dance!"


(That's actually not the real Loie Fuller, although it's commonly believed to be, but a student of hers reproducing one of her signature dances for Thomas Edison. Read more about Loie, she's a fascinating character.)

And finally, the second half of tonight's double bill: the 1912 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!

(I had set off to find the 1908 version, the first American horror movie, but alas, it is lost and unavailable. So this will have to stand in.)

It's still raining as we leave, although not as hard, and the thunder is off in the distance now. We retreat to our favorite cafe, to sip coffee and absinthe, while discussing tonight's show, and making plans for further excursions...