The Untamable Whiskers

The Untamable Whiskers (French: Le Roi du maquillage, lit. 'The King of Makeup'), also known as The King of the Mackerel Fishers and Les Moustaches indomptables, is a 1904 French silent trick film directed by Georges Méliès. The film is a showpiece for Méliès himself, drawing quickfire sketches of various characters and magically transforming into them.

The Untamable Whiskers
Directed by	Georges Méliès
Starring	Georges Méliès
Release date	1904 (1904)
Country	France
Language	Silent

Plot

Paper print of The Untamable Whiskers

Georges Méliès, after greeting the audience, makes a rapid-fire chalkboard sketch of his head, but adding a long medieval wig. Striking a pose, a wig matching the drawing magically appears on his bald head. Next Méliès draws an elderly, heavily bearded man, and then a monocled gentleman with sideburns, magically transforming into each character. Writing "comic excentric" (a French phrase for an eccentric comedian) on the board, he next becomes a clown, then a whiskery naval type in a bicorne. Finally he transforms into the Devil and disappears into thin air.

Production

Unusually for Méliès's work, The Untamable Whiskers is framed entirely in a medium shot. The film testifies to Méliès's skill at quick drawing; he had already put this skill to use in the A Lightning Sketch series, now presumed lost.^[1] The film's special effects depend on substitution splices and dissolves as well as on Méliès's talents for drawing, makeup, and character acting.^[1]

Release

The film was released by Méliès's Star Film Company and is numbered 552–553 in its catalogues. It was sold in the United States as The Untamable Whiskers and in Britain as The King of the Mackerel Fishers,^[2] and is also known as Les Moustaches indomptables.^[3] Film critic William B. Parrill, reviewing European silent films in the 2010s, considered the film to show Méliès "in fine form. His zest in his series of comic transformations is almost palpable."^[4]