La folie du Docteur Tube (or The Madness of Doctor Tube) is an experimental film from early French film artist Abel Gance made and released in 1915. The film is only 6 minutes long, and quite "mad cap." Much in the vein of Dream of a Rare-bit Fiend (1906) in concept, the film is much weirder, much less narrative and far more disorienting. Where as Rarebit Fiend has a narrative warning against the evils of binge drinking and drunken states; Gance admitted that the very idea of this strange little film came to him when he was in a seriously inebriated state. The general story of the film is that of a mad scientist who invents a powder that deforms; fortunately the effect is temporary. It was principally a vehicle for Gance to experiment with mirrors and distortions with lens. The cast is naturally small, with just two roles of principle import. The scientist is played by Séverin-Mars. While the most famous cast member is Albert Dieudonné as the "young man;" he is best known for his work with Gance in the 1910's and 1920's, and principally famous of appearing as Napoléon Bonaparte in Gance's 1927 Napoleon. To call this film a trip, is kind of an understatement; it is quite hallucinatory. It was intended to be a side-splitting comedy, but it is not very funny today. It's also hard to watch if you have any issues with visual triggers. It is certainly strange enough to include it on a Spooktober watch list!
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