Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906)
Adapted from Winsor McCay's comic strip, the film follows a man who overindulges in Welsh rarebit before bed, then endures a nightmare in which grinning imps torment him and his bed carries him flying over the rooftops of the city.
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend paired Wallace McCutcheon with Edwin S. Porter to translate McCay’s hallucinatory strip into a showcase for early trick photography, using double exposures and wirework to send a sleeper’s bed sailing through the night sky.
Background
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend was made by the Edison company in 1906 and directed by Wallace McCutcheon and Edwin S. Porter. It adapts Winsor McCay’s comic strip of the same name, which ran in the New York Herald and was known for its surreal dream sequences. The film is one of the early trick films of American cinema, relying on double exposures and wirework. It was selected for the National Film Registry as a significant early work of comedy and special effects.
What to watch for
The visual interest lies in the dream sequences. Watch the moment the sleeper’s bed carries him over the city’s rooftops, which is achieved with double exposures and wirework. The grinning imps that torment him are a second layer of trick photography, and the film’s shifts between waking and sleeping give it its comic structure. The cuts between the bedroom and the night sky help viewers track the transitions. At under ten minutes, the film compresses McCay’s surreal strip into a showcase for the effects techniques of its era.
