Between Calais and Dover

Entre Calais et Douvres, known in English both as Between Dover and Calais and as Between Calais and Dover, is an 1897 short silent comedy film by Georges Méliès. Plot On the deck of a steamboat labelled "Robert-Houdin Star Line", passengers experience a rough crossing of the English Channel. Among them, a bewhiskered man in a checked suit attempts to fight off seasickness, a heavily bearded clergyman strikes up conversations with upset travelers, and a captain surveys the pandemonium from an upper deck. Production and release The film was filmed outside in the garden of Méliès's property in Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, with painted scenery. The rolling motion of the ship was created by a special articulated platform, built by Méliès for Sea Fighting in Greece the same year. The placard "Robert-Houdin Star Line" refers to Méliès's Théâtre Robert-Houdin as well as to the trademark for his film business, "Star Film". The set of the film also includes a trademark with the initials "M.R.," referring to Méliès and Lucien Reulos, a colleague who was then Méliès's business partner.