Mephistopheles' School of Magic

Edison summary: Mephistopheles has established a school of magic. His pupils appear on the scene. A large chest is produced and bags of gold placed inside of it. It is securely locked and fastened. Mephisto and his pupils then leave the room. A thief suddenly enters with a cold chisel and hammer and attempts to open the chest. The cover is suddenly thrown back and the bags of gold begin dancing in a fantastical manner. The thief slams the cover down and sits upon it. The cover is suddenly thrown open, knocking him over, and six girls, each bearing a bag of gold, step out. Suddenly, in a mysterious manner, each girl is armed with a spear and begins prodding the thief. He takes refuge in the chest, which suddenly disappears, leaving him exposed. Mephisto and his scholars then appear and proceed to torture the unfortunate thief. He is then placed in the chest and it is fired, burning up and disappearing, but leaving the money bags intact.
       Méliès summary : The setting of this fantastic scene represents the hall of an old chateau in which a miser has locked up seven large bags containing his wealth. Satan, who has made his way into the chateau, puts the seven bags in a strong box, and makes with his hands some cabalistic motions. The miser comes into the hall and is greatly astonished to find his fortune missing. He opens the coffer and immediately the bags leap out. He gathers them up and puts them back into the coffer. When he opens it again he finds that they have been transformed into seven young girls, who rush out and chase after him, beating him unmercifully. They shut him up in the coffer from which his gold has vanished. The miser pushes open the lid of the coffer, and to his profound despair finds that both young girls and money have disappeared. (This view is most sensational in its mysterious scenes.)