Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906)
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend Review
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend is a 1906 silent short film directed by Edwin S. Porter. It is a very imaginative, wonderful early fantasy flick.
A fiend eats Welsh rarebit at a restaurant, but then he stars experiencing hallucinations and insane dreams. This story was based on a titular comic-strip by the iconic cartoonist Winsor McCay. The movie is rather simplistic and repetitious as the entire plot consists of these hallucinations with no breathing room given for anything else. However, these sequences were incredibly well put together that the end result is a highly entertaining, charming flick.
Jack Brawn gave a very good performance while the directing from the iconic Edwin S. Porter is fantastic. The highlights are the technical aspects. The cinematography is superb and highly advanced for its time while the effects are absolutely astonishing as the movie still looks good to this day. It looks believable, which was a huge accomplishment for what is a 1900s movie. The best moments include the bed flying sequence that was pleasantly reminiscent of ‘Little Nemo’ while the lamppost spinning sequence is the most accomplished in terms of visuals.
