Directing
Georges Méliès
Biography
Georges Méliès (December 8, 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.
Movies with Georges Méliès
A Desperate Crime
1906
The Famous Box Trick
1898
The Magician
1898
Cinderella
1899
A Nightmare
1896
The Melomaniac
1903
Cleopatra's Tomb
1899
Robinson Crusoe
1902
The Bewitched Inn
1897
Bluebeard
1901
The Four Troublesome Heads
1898
Gugusse and the Automaton
1897
The Impossible Voyage
1904
Pygmalion and Galatea
1898
The Kingdom of the Fairies
1903
Le manoir du diable
1896
A Trip to the Moon
1902
The Temptation of St. Anthony
1898
Naval Combat in Greece
1897
Faust and Marguerite
1897
Le château hanté
1897
A Midnight Episode
1899
The Palace of the Arabian Nights
1905
The Devil in a Convent
1899
Long Distance Wireless Photography
1908
A Terrible Night
1896
The Vanishing Lady
1896
The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship
1905
Barbe-bleue
1901
The Mermaid
1904
The One-Man Band
1900
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1907
Joan of Arc
1900
Delirium in a Studio
1907
Cinematógrafo 1900
1979
The Extraordinary Voyage
2011
Tribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler
1908
Sure Cure for Indigestion
1902
Whimsical Illusions
1909
Summoning the Spirits
1899
Gala Méliès
1929
Apparitions
1903
In the Barber Shop
1908
The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès
2012
Satans Sacrilegious Saga
2025
The Monster
1903
The Doctor's Secret
1909
Tunneling the English Channel
1907
The Cook in Trouble
1904
Up-to-Date Spiritualism
1900
Faust and Marguerite
1904
Extraordinary Illusions
1903
The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match
1900
The Prince of Magicians
1901
The Man with the Rubber Head
1901
Alcofribas, The Master Magician
1903
The Magic of Méliès
1997
An Up-to-Date Conjurer
1899
The Untamable Whiskers
1904
The Mysterious Retort
1906
The Merry Frolics of Satan
1906
The Christmas Dream
1900
Faust in the Underworld
1903
Between Calais and Dover
1897
The Astronomer's Dream
1900
Playing Cards
1896
The Indian Sorcerer
1908
The Infernal Cake-Walk
1903
The Magic Lantern
1903
Jupiter's Thunderballs
1903
The Diabolic Tenant
1909
The Dreyfus Affair
1899
Satan in Prison
1907
Conjuring
1896
Violons d'Ingres
1939
The Infernal Cauldron
1903
The Ballet Master's Dream
1903
French Cops Learning English
1908
Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer
1904
Not Guilty
1908
Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid
1903
The Witch
1906
The Human Fly
1902
The Hilarious Posters
1906
The Black Imp
1905
The Magician's Cavern
1901
The Human Pyramid
1899
Les infortunes des patineurs
1908
The Mysterious Portrait
1899
The King and the Jester
1907
The Living Playing Cards
1905
The Marvellous Wreath
1903
The Mysterious Knight
1899
The Mysterious Box
1903
The Brahmin and the Butterfly
1901
A Roadside Inn
1906
The Christmas Angel
1904
Hat of Many Surprises
1901
The Knight of the Snow
1912
A Wager Between Two Magicians, or, Jealous of Myself
1904
The Wandering Jew
1904
The Terrible Turkish Executioner
1903
The Treasures of Satan
1902
A Maiden's Paradise
1901
The Dwarf and the Giant
1901
A Mesmerian Experiment
1905
The Enchanted Basket
1903
Dancing in a Harem
1897
The Artist and the Dummy
1900
The Méliès Mystery
2021
The Imperceptible Transmutations
1904
The Triple Conjurer and the Living Head
1900
A Funny Mahometan
1897
The Diabolical Church Window
1911
Georges Méliès: The First Wizard of Cinema (1896-1913)
The Magic Book
1900
Going to Bed Under Difficulties
1900
An Impossible Balancing Feat
1902
Alcoléa & cie Documentary
2024
The Bridegroom's Dilemma
1898
A Fantastical Meal
1900
The Oracle of Delphi
1903
The Devilish Plank
1904
The Triple Headed Lady
1901
Beelzebub's Daughters
1903
The Wonderful Living Fan
1904
The Lilliputian Minuet
1905
Méliès: Tales of Terror
2021
The Fugitive Apparitions
1904
Ulysses and the Giant Polyphemus
1905
The Mystical Flame
1903
Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants
1902
The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon
1907
The Pillar of Fire
1899
The Conquest of the Pole
1912
The Devil and the Statue
1901
A Moonlight Serenade
1903
Misfortune Never Comes Alone
1903
Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter
1904
El hombre que quiso ser Segundo
2014
The Prolific Magical Egg
1902
The Clockmaker's Dream
1904
Tit for Tat
1904
The Fortune Favors the Brave
1908
The New Lord of the Village
1908
Rip's Dream
1905
The Temple of the Sun
1901
The Firefall
1904
The Good Luck of a 'Souse'
1907
Good Glue Sticks
1907
The Wizard, the Prince and the Good Fairy
1900