Georges Méliès

Georges Méliès (December 9, 1861 - January 21, 1938), full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French illusionist and filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema. One of the first filmmakers to use multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, tracking shots, dissolves, and hand-painted color in his work, Méliès pioneered effects that would define cinematic special effects for decades to come.  A prolific innovator in the use of special effects, Méliès accidentally discovered the substitution stop trick in 1896, a method of creating seamless disappearing and/or appearing effects used throughout both films and television for decades to come.  Because of his ability to seemingly manipulate and transform reality through cinematography, Méliès is sometimes referred to as the first "Cinemagician".

Two of his best-known films are A Trip to the Moon (1902) and The Impossible Voyage (1904). Both stories involve strange, surreal voyages, somewhat in the style of Jules Verne, and are considered among the most important early science fiction films, though their approach is closer to fantasy. Méliès was also an early pioneer of horror cinema, which can be traced back to his Le Manoir du diable (1896).  

In early 1909 Méliès stopped making films to protest Thomas Edison's Motion Pictures Parents Company monopoly, and presided over the first meeting of the International Filmmakers Congress in Paris.  Further financial hardships created by his opposition to Edison and diminishing influence, Méliès disappeared from public life. By the mid-1920s he made a meager living as a candy and toy salesma in Paris, with the assistance of funds collected by other filmmakers.  Although he was recognized for his contributions in cinema, Méliès spent most of his later years in poverty before being accepted into La Maison du Retraite du Cinéma, the film industry's retirement home in Orly.  

A Trip to the Moon

7.9

The Astronomer's Dream

6.9

The Impossible Voyage

7.2

The Haunted Castle

6.4

The Four Troublesome Heads

7.2

The Man with the Rubber Head

7.1

The Vanishing Lady

6.2

Divers at Work on the Wreck of the "Maine"

5.9

Cinderella

6.2

The One-Man Band

6.8

A Nightmare

6.0

The Infernal Cauldron

6.2

The Melomaniac

6.6

A Terrible Night

5.1

After the Ball

5.1

The Kingdom of the Fairies

6.8

The Black Imp

6.5

The Devil in a Convent

6.2

The Diabolic Tenant

6.7

The Bewitched Inn

6.2

Bluebeard

6.2

Playing Cards

4.9

The Merry Frolics of Satan

6.4

Joan of Arc

6.9

The Mermaid

5.6

The Pillar of Fire

5.9

The Temptation of St. Anthony

5.8

An Up-to-Date Conjurer

6.3

The Monster

5.9

The Living Playing Cards

6.3

The Magician

6.2

The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon

6.0

Going to Bed Under Difficulties

6.5

The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match

6.6

The Conquest of the Pole

6.3

The Infernal Cakewalk

5.6

The Magic Lantern

5.9

Post No Bills

5.3

The Untamable Whiskers

6.2

The Magic Book

6.2

Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants

6.1

The Devil and the Statue

5.3

The Dreyfus Affair

5.7

The Witch

6.2

The Terrible Eruption of Mount Pelee and Destruction of St. Pierre, Martinique

5.3

The Hilarious Posters

6.0

Between Calais and Dover

5.4

The Prince of Magicians

6.3

Adventures of William Tell

5.6

The Surrender of Tournavos

5.0

The Mysterious Portrait

6.0

Panorama from Top of a Moving Train

5.3

The Triple Conjurer and the Living Head

5.8

The Treasures of Satan

5.1

A Fantastical Meal

6.2

The Mysterious Knight

6.2

Up-to-Date Spiritualism

5.7

The Brahmin and the Butterfly

5.5

Extraordinary Illusions

6.1

The Famous Box Trick

6.1

The Cook's Revenge

6.2

The Rajah's Dream or The Bewitched Wood

5.6

The Christmas Dream

5.5

An Extraordinary Dislocation

6.0

Apparitions

5.4

Whimsical Illusions

6.1

On the Roof

5.1

The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship

5.7

The Scheming Gambler's Paradise

5.7

Addition and Subtraction

5.8

An Impossible Balancing Feat

5.7

The Enchanted Well

5.5

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

5.2

Tunneling the English Channel

6.3

The Palace of the Arabian Nights

5.6

The Dwarf and the Giant

5.7

The Spider and the Butterfly

5.8

The Last Cartridges

5.1

The Wonderful Living Fan

5.1

Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer

4.8

The Doctor and the Monkey

5.4

Naval Combat in Greece

5.3

Ten Ladies in an Umbrella

5.9

Summoning the Spirits

5.2

A Spiritualist Photographer

5.7

The Human Fly

5.9

How He Missed His Train

5.6

The Bachelor's Paradise

5.2

The Terrible Turkish Executioner

6.1

Good Glue Sticks

4.9

Suicide of Colonel Henry

4.9

The Hallucinated Alchemist

6.0

The Cook in Trouble

5.2

The Mysterious Retort

5.4

The Firefall

4.5

The Attempt Against the Life of Maitre Labori

5.5

The Fight of Reporters

5.4

The Coronation of Edward VII

4.7

What Is Home Without the Boarder

5.0

Hat of Many Surprises

5.8

The Magician's Cavern

6.0

The Inn Where No Man Rests

5.8

The Enchanted Sedan Chair

4.9

Dreyfus Put in Irons

5.1

The Wizard, the Prince and the Good Fairy

5.1

Eight Girls in a Barrel

5.3

Robinson Crusoe

5.5

Off to Bedlam

5.2

Ali Barbouyou and Ali Bouf, In Oil

5.5

The Doctor's Secret

5.2

Dreyfus Court Martial - Arrest Of Dreyfus

4.7

Faust in the Underworld

5.9

Long Distance Wireless Photography

5.3

Sightseeing Through Whisky

5.1

Landing of Dreyfus at Quiberon

5.1

The Hallucinations of Baron Munchausen

5.9

An Adventurous Automobile Trip

5.7

A Miracle Under the Inquisition

5.6

The Oracle of Delphi

5.4

The Court Martial at Rennes

4.7

The Wandering Jew

4.6

Tit for Tat

5.7

Ulysses and the Giant Polyphemus

5.5

Dreyfus Meets His Wife at Rennes

5.1

The Microscopic Dancer

5.5

The Colonel's Shower Bath

4.5

The Marvellous Wreath

4.8

The Misfortunes of an Explorer

4.3

The Human Pyramid

5.2

The Mysterious Box

5.5

Rip's Dream

5.8

Devil's Island - Within the Palisade

5.1

The Artist and the Dummy

4.5

Cinderella or The Glass Slipper

5.6

The Prolific Magical Egg

6.0

Alcofribas, The Master Magician

5.0

The Drawing Lesson

4.5

A Desperate Crime

6.4

Satan in Prison

5.5

The Magician and the Imp

4.9

Misfortune Never Comes Alone

5.5

A Moonlight Serenade

5.2

The Ballet Master's Dream

5.5

Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid

4.6

A Crazy Composer

5.3

A Mix-Up in the Gallery

5.1

The Imperceptible Transmutations

4.9

Jupiter's Thunderballs

5.2

A Mesmerian Experiment

5.1

The Witch's Revenge

5.0

The Devilish Plank

4.5

The Dream of an Opium Fiend

5.4

In the Bogie Man's Cave

4.8

Arrival of a Train at Vincennes Station

4.3

Pygmalion and Galatea

4.8

The Voyage of M. Bourrichon

4.2

The Mystical Flame

4.8

Faust and Marguerite

4.9

The Tramp and the Mattress Makers

5.0

The Knight of Black Art

4.8

The Mischance of a Photographer

4.5

Pharmaceutical Hallucinations

5.2

The Knight of the Snow

5.8

The Diabolical Church Window

5.5

The Bewitched Trunk

4.2

The Skipping Cheese

5.5

The Magic Dice

4.4

The Clockmaker's Dream

5.0

The King and the Jester

4.9

Justinian's Human Torches

4.3

The Indian Sorcerer

5.3

The Lilliputian Minuet

4.4

Jack Jags and Dum Dum

4.1

Comical Conjuring

4.8

The Fugitive Apparitions

4.8

The Christmas Angel

5.5

Punch and Judy

3.8

Soap Bubbles

5.2

Rogues' Tricks

5.2

The Good Shepherdess and the Evil Princess

5.0

Sideshow Wrestlers

4.1

In the Barber Shop

4.5

Extravagant Struggles

5.7

Conjuring

5.2

Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter

4.6

An Improvised Fireworks Display

3.9

A Roadside Inn

5.7

The Luny Musician

4.9

The Prophetess of Thebes

4.3

The Good Luck of a 'Souse'

4.3

The New Lord of the Village

5.0

Grandmother's Tale and Child's Dream

5.7

The Genii of Fire

4.9

French Cops Learning English

4.6

His First Job

4.9

The Miser

4.8

Robert Macaire and Bertrand

5.0

A Tricky Painter’s Fate

4.6

How Bridget's Lover Escaped

4.3

The Broken Violin

4.4

Jack the Chimney Sweep

4.8

Not Guilty

4.0

The Woes of Roller Skaters

3.5

The Devil's Laboratory

3.7

Miss de Vère - English Jig

4.7

A Soldier's Unlucky Salutation

6.1

Why That Actor Was Late

4.2

The Damnation of Faust

4.9

A Serpentine Dance

5.2

Conjurer Making Ten Hats in Sixty Seconds

4.9

Buncoed Stage Johnnie

3.2

Fantastic Dining Room

4.2

The Triple Headed Lady

5.2

Cleopatra's Tomb

1.7

The Wonderful Rose Tree

5.0

Arrival of a Train (Joinville Station)

5.8

The Cave of the Demons

2.0

Les tribulations d'un concierge

3.0

Tribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler

5.5

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

1.8

Little Red Riding Hood

4.2

The Clown and Automobile

3.0

Boxing Match

6.0

Fencing at the Joinville School

6.0

D. Devant, Conjurer

4.8

Dreyfus Leaving the Lycée for Jail

5.0

Mishaps of the New York-Paris Auto Race

5.5

A Midnight Episode

3.5

Sure Cure for Indigestion

6.0

Lightning Change Artist

1.0

Humanity Through the Ages

2.0

A Wager Between Two Magicians, or, Jealous of Myself

6.0

Visite de l'épave du Maine

4.0

Christ Walking on Water

1.0

Murder Will Out

1.0

Le conférencier distrait

1.0

An Irritable Model

6.0

The Bridegroom's Dilemma

4.0

A Woman Surprised

4.0

The Grasshopper and the Ant

1.0

A Terrible Night (Remake)

4.0

Les miracles du Brahmine

5.0

Watering the Flowers

5.0

Carrefour de l'opéra

1.0

Crying and Laughing

0.0

The Degradation of Dreyfus

0.0

The Two Blind Men

0.0

Guerre de Cuba et l'explosion du Maine à La Havane

0.0

Les mousquetaires de la reine

0.0

L'homme aux cent trucs

0.0

Cabinet Trick of the Davenport Brothers

0.0

The Catastrophe of the Balloon "Le Pax"

0.0

Méliès: Tales of Terror

0.0

Gala Méliès

0.0

Les forgerons

0.0

Wine Cellar Burglars

0.0

A Maiden's Paradise

0.0

The Temple of the Sun

0.0

Painless Dentistry

0.0

Fun in Court

0.0

The Sacred Fountain

0.0

A Good Trick

0.0

Drunkard and Inventor

0.0

China Versus Allied Powers

0.0

Coronation of Their Majesties King Edward VII and Queen Alexandria

0.0

STOP THIEF!

0.0

Benvenuto Cellini or A Curious Evasion

0.0

Marvelous Suspension

0.0

The Mischances of a Drunkard

0.0

L'agent gelé

0.0

Fortune Favors the Brave

0.0

A Collection of Silent Films, Given Sound

0.0

The Enchanted Basket

0.0

Beelzebub's Daughters

0.0

The Providence of the Waves

0.0

Cooks fight

0.0

The Flea

0.0

The Coup of Pere Francois

0.0

The Bath

0.0

Fencing, the Joinville School

0.0

The Stick

0.0

The Invisible Siva

0.0

The Fake Russian Prophet

0.0

Uncle Rube's Birthday

0.0

The Barber of Seville

0.0

The Animated Costumes

0.0

Simple Simon's Surprise Party

0.0

The Astonishing Frame

0.0

The Shadow Lady

0.0

A Wedding by Correspondence

0.0

The Grotto of Surprises

0.0

The Tower of London

0.0

The Angler's Nightmare, or A Policeman's Troubles

0.0

Life-Saving Up-to-Date

0.0