The Skipping Cheeses (1907) ** 1/2 (out of 4) aka Les Fromages automobiles More charming than entertaining, this short from George Melies is a comedy and not a trick film. The story is pretty simple as a group of people on a streetcar who get upset when a woman enters and stinks the place up with her cheese. The woman is arrested and taken away and soon the cheese is following for some revenge. THE SKIPPING CHEESES isn't a complete success but fans of the director should at least get a smile out of it. I think the biggest problem is the narration, which really doesn't add anything that we couldn't have seen with our own eyes. Another problem is that the comedy early on just doesn't work well enough as I didn't laugh a single time. Now, once the cheese started to go for its revenge is when the movie picked up and I must say that I was shocked that Melies had the courage to do what he did to the policeman. I won't spoil it but it's certainly not what you'd expect.

Apparently found only recently, this comedy, one of over 300 films made by Melies that are still missing, is not one of his best. There's not that much trick photography involved here. The story involves a group of people on a streetcar who grow increasingly disturbed by a noxious smell in their carriage. One gentleman, who might in fact be Melies, accuses a baby in the arms of the woman next to him, but eventually a plump old lady is found to be the culprit and forcibly removed. Only after she has been manhandled off the carriage do the other passengers realise the smell has remained, and further investigation reveals the source to be a variety of cheeses in the old lady's bag that come to life when they're discovered.The film's biggest problem is that, even though it is only about five minutes long, it takes too long to tell it's story, and isn't really that funny. You've got to wonder what Melies was on when he came up with some of these off the wall ideas, though

By 1907, the chase comedy was already well established and we would, in the next few years, see people chasing monkeys, pumpkins and runaway horses in films from all countries, until the Keystones simultaneously immortalized the chase and rendered it trite.SPOILER HERE: However if you think that you are about to see a group of people in pursuit of a runaway wheel of cheese, you are much mistaken! Here it is the lively cheeses -- including one vengeful brie -- who indulge in the pursuit! A startling variation.This is one of the many previously lost or infrequently seen Melies pictures that have been made available by Serge Bromberg, David Shepherd and a myriad of other hands in the newly issued DVD set GEORGES MELIES: FIRST WIZARD OF CINEMA. Required viewing for anyone interested in the history of movies ..... and a lot of fun.