Paris qui dort (Paris Asleep) (1926)

Featured Audience Ratings

• AJ V

  
  Was this the first movie to show what would happen if the world were stopped? I don't know for sure, but it's the earliest film I 've seen with that theme. It's actually pretty cool, everyone is frozen in time, and the only ones to not be frozen were above some… More
  Was this the first movie to show what would happen if the world were stopped? I don't know for sure, but it's the earliest film I 've seen with that theme. It's actually pretty cool, everyone is frozen in time, and the only ones to not be frozen were above some thousand feet from the ground, which I'm not sure makes sense, but oh well. In the middle of the movie you find out how this happened, and they explain it all again as if you didn't understand, kinda annoying right? Anyway, it's pretty cool, but it could be better.

• Eric B

  
  Considering the tasty premise, "Paris Qui Dort" should be far more compelling than it is. A scientist's invisible ray freezes everyone in Paris minus a handful of people who happened to avoid the beam's path (one works in the Eiffel Tower, and the others were in a… More
  Considering the tasty premise, "Paris Qui Dort" should be far more compelling than it is. A scientist's invisible ray freezes everyone in Paris minus a handful of people who happened to avoid the beam's path (one works in the Eiffel Tower, and the others were in a plane). This upbeat gang goes through the predictable reactions of puzzlement, distress and then exploitation, but the action is dull and the daffy scientist's motivations remain wholly unclear. Later, the beam is switched on and off a couple of times, and the same people remain unaffected even though they're now on ground level. What? And why didn't the scientist get frozen himself? The best reason to watch this 35-minute short is the footage shot from atop the Eiffel Tower -- both the tower itself and the scenery below are interesting to see.