Georges Méliès
Biography
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.
Acting (135 movies)
A Trip to the Moon
1902
The Impossible Voyage
1904
The Cook in Trouble
1904
Cinematógrafo 1900
1979
El hombre que quiso ser Segundo
2014
The Untamable Whiskers
1904
The Living Playing Cards
1905
The Infernal Cauldron
1903
The One-Man Band
1900
The Four Troublesome Heads
1898
A Midnight Episode
1899
Joan of Arc
1900
A Terrible Night
1896
Le château hanté
1897
The Vanishing Lady
1896
The Astronomer's Dream
1898
Cinderella
1899
The Conquest of the Pole
1912
The Wandering Jew
1904
Le manoir du diable
1896
The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès
2012
Delirium in a Studio
1907
A Desperate Crime
1906
The Wonderful Living Fan
1904
The Black Imp
1905
The Monster
1903
The Temptation of St. Anthony
1898
The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship
1905
The Diabolic Tenant
1909
The Man with the Rubber Head
1901
The Devil in a Convent
1899
The Mermaid
1904
Long Distance Wireless Photography
1908
An Up-to-Date Conjurer
1899
The Merry Frolics of Satan
1906
The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match
1900
The Hilarious Posters
1906
The Dreyfus Affair
1899
The Infernal Cake-Walk
1903
The Clockmaker's Dream
1904
The Melomaniac
1903
Summoning the Spirits
1899
Extraordinary Illusions
1903
Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer
1904
Hat of Many Surprises
1901
Going to Bed Under Difficulties
1900
Jupiter's Thunderballs
1903
The Terrible Turkish Executioner
1903
The Bewitched Inn
1897
Whimsical Illusions
1909
Apparitions
1903
The Ballet Master's Dream
1903
Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid
1903
The Prolific Magical Egg
1902
The Diabolical Church Window
1911
Satan in Prison
1907
Méliès: Tales of Terror
2021
The Doctor's Secret
1909
The Dwarf and the Giant
1901
The Oracle of Delphi
1903
A Moonlight Serenade
1903
The Magician's Cavern
1901
A Mesmerian Experiment
1905
The Mysterious Retort
1906
Playing Cards
1896
An Impossible Balancing Feat
1902
Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter
1904
Bluebeard
1901
The Witch
1906
Faust in the Underworld
1903
The Treasures of Satan
1902
The Devil and the Statue
1901
The Mysterious Knight
1899
The Artist and the Dummy
1900
The Christmas Dream
1900
Good Glue Sticks
1907
The Mystical Flame
1903
The Fugitive Apparitions
1904
Gala Méliès
1929
The Kingdom of the Fairies
1903
The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon
1907
The Brahmin and the Butterfly
1901
A Roadside Inn
1906
The Knight of the Snow
1912
The Magic Lantern
1903
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1907
Pygmalion and Galatea
1898
Alcofribas, The Master Magician
1903
A Nightmare
1896
Tunneling the English Channel
1907
Naval Combat in Greece
1897
Violons d'Ingres
1939
The Extraordinary Voyage
2011
The Mysterious Portrait
1899
The Devilish Plank
1904
Tit for Tat
1904
Conjuring
1896
The Christmas Angel
1904
Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants
1902
The Human Fly
1902
Directing (344 movies)
A Trip to the Moon
1902
The Impossible Voyage
1904
Crying and Laughing
1900
Dreyfus Leaving the Lycée for Jail
1899
The Degradation of Dreyfus
1899
The Kingdom of the Fairies
1903
Tribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler
1908
The Living Playing Cards
1905
The Enchanted Sedan Chair
1905
The Untamable Whiskers
1904
The Mermaid
1904
The Scheming Gambler's Paradise
1905
The Cook in Trouble
1904
The Black Imp
1905
The Monster
1903
The Infernal Cauldron
1903
The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon
1907
The Melomaniac
1903
The Hilarious Posters
1906
The Mysterious Retort
1906
Bluebeard
1901
An Up-to-Date Conjurer
1899
The One-Man Band
1900
The Four Troublesome Heads
1898
The Diabolic Tenant
1909
The Man with the Rubber Head
1901
Good Glue Sticks
1907
The Infernal Cake-Walk
1903
The Oracle of Delphi
1903
After the Ball
1897
Divers at Work on the Wreck of the "Maine"
1898
The Bewitched Inn
1897
The Vanishing Lady
1896
Playing Cards
1896
The Surrender of Tournavos
1897
Between Calais and Dover
1897
A Nightmare
1896
A Terrible Night
1896
Panorama from Top of a Moving Train
1898
The Pillar of Fire
1899
The Famous Box Trick
1898
The Temptation of St. Anthony
1898
Adventures of William Tell
1898
The Devil in a Convent
1899
The Astronomer's Dream
1898
The Mysterious Portrait
1899
Suicide of Colonel Henry
1899
The Attempt Against the Life of Maitre Labori
1899
The Fight of Reporters
1899
Dreyfus Put in Irons
1899
Dreyfus Meets His Wife at Rennes
1899
Landing of Dreyfus at Quiberon
1899
The Court Martial at Rennes
1899
Dreyfus Court Martial - Arrest Of Dreyfus
1899
The Magician
1898
Addition and Subtraction
1900
Joan of Arc
1900
The Wizard, the Prince and the Good Fairy
1900
The Mysterious Knight
1899
The Cook's Revenge
1900
The Magic Book
1900
The Rajah's Dream or The Bewitched Wood
1900
The Microscopic Dancer
1902
The Treasures of Satan
1902
The Magician and the Imp
1902
The Colonel's Shower Bath
1902
The Human Fly
1902
The Marvellous Wreath
1903
An Impossible Balancing Feat
1902
The Coronation of Edward VII
1902
Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants
1902
A Fantastical Meal
1900
Eight Girls in a Barrel
1900
How He Missed His Train
1900
What Is Home Without the Boarder
1900
The Doctor and the Monkey
1900
The Christmas Dream
1900
The Triple Conjurer and the Living Head
1900
The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match
1900
Going to Bed Under Difficulties
1900
Up-to-Date Spiritualism
1900
The Imperceptible Transmutations
1904
The Dwarf and the Giant
1901
The Brahmin and the Butterfly
1901
The Prince of Magicians
1901
Hat of Many Surprises
1901
The Magician's Cavern
1901
An Extraordinary Dislocation
1901
The Bachelor's Paradise
1901
The Devil and the Statue
1901
The Magic Lantern
1903
Apparitions
1903
The Enchanted Well
1903
Extraordinary Illusions
1903
The Indian Sorcerer
1908
The Wandering Jew
1904
Post No Bills
1896
Cinderella
1899
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1907
The Dreyfus Affair
1899