At first romance = inertia and the female protagonist = boredom. That’s not the intent, of course. It’s just my spectatorial experience. But first impressions can be deceptive, or superseded. Combining that rubber head trick with the devil is an complete inspiration. Some dance. And then he becomes enormous! I keep saying, with all my heart, that Méliès is just for fun. Not always, though, and not just. This is funny, and then it definitely edges all the way over into frightening.
Then, the conclusion. Unlike his jaw-dropping, almost geological masterpiece Bluebeard (q.v.)—think G.K. Chesterton on children, and fairy tales—it’s actually too bad that the angel comes back to restore inert and boring virtue.