The Magic Box

ETIENNE JULES MAREY 1830-1908 THE FOUNDER OF CINEMA

LOUIS THE PRINCE 1842-1890 THE INVENTOR OF CINEMATOGRAPHY

LOUIS LUMIERE 1864-1948 WITH HIS BROTHER THE CREATOR OF MODERN CINEMA

-Good morning. -Good morning.

Could I speak to Mrs. Friese-Greene, please?

-Was it about a room? -Well, no.

If she's not too busy, I'd like to see her.

Well, I'll find out, what name is it?

I'm her husband.

Oh, well, I'm sure she'll… I'll go and see.

Um, would you wait there, please?

Thank you.

Hello, Willie.

Hello, Edith.

Are you feeling better?

I hope you don't mind my coming to see you here?

No, of course not, Willie.

You see, there's a reason.

Let's sit down.

The children were asking after you, Willie.

Were they? Bless them.

How's Vincent's cold?

It's better now.

I must send him something.

Oh, there's a nice letter from Claude.

He is doing well, isn't he?

Yes.

Are you sure you're well enough to be up?

Well, you know what the doctor said.

I'm perfectly all right.

-Never felt better. -

Edith, I've got some news for you.

News?

Color, there's no doubt about it this time.

I've got it at last.

The colors are better than I've ever been able to get them before.

That's wonderful, Willie.

It's true, Edith, you'll see.

I'm glad you're happy about it.

I knew you would be.

That's why I came.

I wanted you to be the first to hear it.

You know what it'll mean, my dear, don't you?

We can be together again, a home of our own.

Willie…

It wouldn't work.

Oh, we shall have all the money we need this time.

Well, this is the real thing. It's practically perfect.

I mean, there's a fortune in this, I know that.

Neither of us will ever have to work again.

We shall be the idle rich.

You idle, Willie?

You're very beautiful, my dear.

Sorry to interrupt you, Edith, but would you check the luncheon menu?

Chef's waiting.

Oh, yes.

Sorry, Willie.

Oh, that's all right, my dear.

As a matter of fact,

I've got rather a lot to do today myself.

There's a big film industry meeting on this afternoon.

I must be there.

Oughtn't you to rest instead of--

Oh, no, no, this is something I must go to.

You know, the film industry's grown so quickly.

The people in it just don't realize how important it is.

If they're not careful, they're going to spoil it all.

Yes, of course.

Well, goodbye, Willie.

Goodbye.

Give my love to the children.

Yes, I will.

Good morning. Thank you very much.

Well, not at all.

What a charming man.

I know.

You're still very fond of him, aren't you?

Yes.

Why don't you go back to him?

Things are better left as they are.

And I should learn to mind my own business.

Oh, there's nothing secret about it.

It's just that, well, Willie's not the sort of person

who should have other people to worry about.

He must have been very handsome.

Yes, he was.

Successful.

The time when I met him, I was working in a glove shop

at 15 shillings a week.

I wanted security.

Come on, there's something I want to show you.

Sensational, pulling no less than three fire engines!

-Walk up, walk up, walk up! -Look, this is it.

Come and see the thrill of the century, pictures that move!

Come inside and have the thrill of your lifetime!

Let me show one penny, one copper coin,

a train entering a station so real that it'll terrify you!

It's wonderful.

Did your Mr. Friese-Greene really invent it?

Yeah, of course he did, lots of other things, too.

You'd be amazed at all the patents he's got.

-He's a grand chap. -Is he married?

Yeah, he was.

She died two years ago.

It must be very exciting to work for someone like that.

Yeah, it is.

Say, would you like to see the laboratory? I've got a key.

-It's too late. -No, it is not. I can show you around.

Come on, we'll get a bus.

Are you sure it's all right?

Oh yes, of course it is.

Only don't talk too loud, this way.

We have electric light in the lab.

We need the current for our experiments.

Mind the steps, I'll put on the light.

Turn that light out!

No, turn it on again.

Hello, Jack.

Oh. I'm… I'm terribly sorry, sir.

I had no idea you were still here.

I just wanted to show someone the laboratory.

Oh, that's all right.

Uh, someone?

Oh, I beg your pardon, sir.

My fiancée, Miss Jones and Miss Harrison.

-How do you do? -How do you do?

How do you do? Please come in.

We're very sorry to intrude upon you like this.

-Oh. -We thought you'd be in bed.

Oh.

No, no, you're not intruding, I'm very glad of an excuse to stop.

Besides, this is Jack's laboratory

just as much as it is mine, isn't it, Jack?

-Uh, well-- -Yes, of course it is.

We work together very closely, Jack and I.

What were you doing in the dark?

I've been trying to design something to produce X-rays that doctors can use.

X-rays?

Mm, tell them about it, Jack.

He's so much better at explaining things than I am.

-Well, sir-- -And there's the press.

Don't forget the press.

-Show them everything, Jack. -Yes, sir.

Well, uh, the press.

Well, that's it.

What's it do?

Uh, it prints without using ink.

Oh.

Electrochemically.

What's this box?

- -Don't touch that, please.

Oh, no, you mustn't touch that.

Uh, May, May, come look at the X-rays.

Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sure.

What is it?

It's a souvenir.

Doesn't look much, does it?

Wouldn't part with this for nothing in the world.

It's my first moving picture camera.

You've done so many things, haven't you?

When I was making it, I was single-minded.

It was the only thing in the world that mattered.

Isn't it anymore?

You see, I wanted to capture movement, because movement,

it's part of the beauty of things, isn't it?

Didn't it come right?

Yes, it came all right, in a way.

But you see, I lost someone.

And I suppose I lost interest.

In the beauty of things?

Possibly.

No, it wasn't that.

Of course it wasn't that.

I think that's something no one quite loses.

Don't you?

The following day, he came into the shop where I worked

to buy some gloves.

And he came in the day after that.

And yet again two days later.

Three pairs in four days? He's fond of gloves, isn't he, dear?

Glass of port?

No, thank you. That was a lovely dinner.

Good. Will you dine with me again?

Yes, Mr. Friese-Greene, I'd like to.

You know, people call me Willie.

Funny sound, isn't it, Willie?

Mr. William Friese-Greene is very imposing.

Oh, that was the idea.

When I was a photographer, you had to impress the sitters.

Willie Green wasn't enough.

So, I just tacked my wife's name onto it.

Then I put an E onto the Greene just to make it balance, of course.

Do you know, when you came into the laboratory the other night,

I had the most discourteous idea about you.

I can imagine. We interrupted your work.

Oh, no, not that. I thought you were lonely.

That isn't discourteous.

Of someone young and attractive? Of course it is.

It was clever of you to see it.