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He needed exactly 100, for each of his final 100 shows

Posted by Jazz Inmate on September 12, 2007 at 10:22:18:
Talk about plausibility...you think an electric device prior to the turn of the century could have cloned hats, cats and humans? LOL.
It was explained in the film that Algier was Tesla's only remaining financier and Tesla had to convince Algier that he was buying a scientific cloning device. Everything about Algiers' interaction with Tesla indicated that Tesla was pulling a fast one.
the chances of making cloning device using alternating electrical current are nil and the chances of finding 100 look-alikes is greater than nil. So by definition it is infinitely more plausible to find 100 look-alikes. Given Algier's resources as a wealthy aristocrat and given his travels "halfway around the world" as Borden said, he could have found and hired that many look-alikes. His experience earlier in the film showed him how. As for where he kept them all, or whether he arranged to bring each into London as needed individually, all he would have had to do is ensure no two of them appeared in the same place on any given day. That doesn't seem so challenging in a big city like London and the fact that he was murdering one of them each time the trick was performed quickly reduced their numbers. Of greater concern is how much time it would have taken to find and train the men.
I'm not saying it's wrong to view the movie as science fiction and interpret the Tesla device as a real cloning machine. Obviously, that's how most viewers did interpret it. But all the clues are there in the film to explain why this is not the correct interpretation. Chief among these is the Michael Caine voiceover challenging us to face facts vs letting the illusion stand as magic.
The most germane fact is that electronic cloning is impossible. The second most germane fact is that Algier was obsessed with outdoing Borden and had previously learned how to achieve fame with a body double who was allowed to stick around too long. The third most germane fact is that Algier's life and psyche were irreparably damaged when his own wife drowned in a box before his eyes. Algier was damaged goods. So was Borden but at least Borden had a valid excuse: he was sharing a life with his twin brother and genuinely wasn't responsible for half the actions attributed to him.
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"I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." -Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982)