title: Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer
text: # Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer
  
  Le Thaumaturge chinois, sold in the United States as Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer and in Britain as The Chinese Juggler, is a 1904 French short silent film by Georges Méliès. It was sold by Méliès's Star Film Company and is numbered 578–580 in its catalogues.
  
  Méliès plays the conjurer of the title; his tricks are worked using substitution splices and dissolves. The motion in the film is noticeably fast, even at silent-film speeds such as 16 frames per second; Méliès may have had his camera operator deliberately undercrank the camera to create a stylized effect.
  
  