The Inn Where No Man Rests

The Inn Where No Man Rests (French: L'Auberge du Bon Repos) is a 1903 silent French comedy film directed by Georges Méliès set in an inn. The film addresses the state of the drunken mind with light heartedness.

Synopsis

The film begins in the interior bedroom of an inn. There enters a traveler, slightly intoxicated, accompanied by a porter, who carries his baggage. The traveler takes off his hat, his coat and his shoes. The servant places these things upon a clothes-rack in such a way that they resemble the outlines of the back of an old codger. The servant withdraws. A comedic scene follows when the drunken chap tries to light his pipe from a candlestick. The candlestick rises in the air, and the flame is put out by a portrait placed in a frame on the wall. The guest lights the candle, and he tries to light his pipe again. A second time the candlestick rises up, and the personage in the picture having become animated swallows candle and candlestick. The fellow jumps backward, bumps up against the clothes-rack. Taking his clothes for an intruder he kicks at them. The boots become animated, and kick him in return. The fellow, enraged, throws himself upon the clothes-rack, which he imagines to be a person, struggles with it and rolls upon the floor, entangled among all his clothes.

He restores everything to its former place, but his boots began to dance about the room. The poor drunk man chases after them, but the boots ascend the wall and disappear in the ceiling. Tired he goes to bed. Immediately the bed begins to dance wildly about the room, then falls upon him, burying him among the covers, mattress and the pieces of the bed. He extricates himself in a rage, restores everything to order again, but just as he attempts to get into bed he finds himself suddenly thrown under it. He crawls out of bed and spies the moon through the casement window. Believing that he has discovered an enemy he strikes the window with a broom, and the window bursts into pieces. The moon reappears on the dial of a clock; then suddenly it assumes the face of a grinning clown. The drunken fellow starts back; he stumbles against a valise. With a kick he sends the valise into the air, where it assumes the form of a demon, whom the fellow tries to catch. The furniture, the washbowl, the pitcher break into pieces.

Awakened by the mid-night disturbances, the hotel manager and all the guests, enter the room. Stormy explanations follow, and a battle ensues. The people follow one another, leaping through windows, pictures and mirrors. The proprietor is hit on the head by a board laden with all sorts of objects, and a large portrait falls upon his head. Finally at the moment when the drunken fellow is on the point of being seized, he disappears through a casement and takes refuge on the roof, to the astonishment of all.

Technical details

The film was 100 metres in length.

External links

• L'Auberge du Bon Repos at the Internet Movie Database
• L'Auberge du Bon Repos on YouTube