Georges Méliès

Directing · 0.9 popularity

Age

164

Movies

150

Born: December 8, 1861 – January 21, 1938
From: Paris, France

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.

Works

150 films

A Trip to the Moon

19027.9

A Terrible Night

18965.2

The Impossible Voyage

19047.3

The Extraordinary Voyage

20117.7

Joan of Arc

19006.9

Robinson Crusoe

19025.7

Whimsical Illusions

19096.3

A Nightmare

18966.1

The Man with the Rubber Head

19017.1

The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès

2012

The Melomaniac

19036.5

The Mysterious Retort

19065.7

The Vanishing Lady

18966.3

Le manoir du diable

18966.4

The Christmas Dream

19005.6

Cinderella

18996.2

The Magic of Méliès

19977.3

The Ballet Master's Dream

19035.8

The Astronomer's Dream

19007.0

Playing Cards

18964.9

The Kingdom of the Fairies

19036.9

Le château hanté

18975.7

The Temptation of St. Anthony

18985.8

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

19075.1

Pygmalion and Galatea

18985.1

The Mermaid

19045.8

Bluebeard

19016.3

Summoning the Spirits

18995.2

Cinematógrafo 1900

19796.3

Between Calais and Dover

18975.4

The Magician

18986.2

The Four Troublesome Heads

18987.2

Tunneling the English Channel

19076.5

Jupiter's Thunderballs

19035.4

The One-Man Band

19006.8

The Bewitched Inn

18976.3

Naval Combat in Greece

18975.3

Violons d'Ingres

19397.0

Going to Bed Under Difficulties

19006.5

The Méliès Mystery

20216.9

French Cops Learning English

19085.1

The Devil in a Convent

18996.3

Apparitions

19035.7

The Infernal Cauldron

19036.3

The Merry Frolics of Satan

19066.5

Delirium in a Studio

19075.6

The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match

19006.6

The Infernal Cake-Walk

19035.6

The Prince of Magicians

19016.3

The Conquest of the Pole

19126.2

Faust and Marguerite

19045.0

The Monster

19036.1

The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon

19076.0

The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship

19055.8

The Pillar of Fire

18995.9

Extraordinary Illusions

19036.1

A Desperate Crime

19066.4

Satan in Prison

19075.7

The Dwarf and the Giant

19015.9

The Mysterious Box

19035.5

Rip's Dream

19055.9

The Dreyfus Affair

18995.5

The Palace of the Arabian Nights

19055.7

The Treasures of Satan

19025.2

Sure Cure for Indigestion

19027.0

Ulysses and the Giant Polyphemus

19055.7

The Marvellous Wreath

19034.7

Long Distance Wireless Photography

19085.5

Gugusse and the Automaton

18976.5

The Famous Box Trick

18986.2

Faust and Marguerite

18973.9

The Christmas Angel

19045.8

Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer

19044.9

The Living Playing Cards

19056.4

An Up-to-Date Conjurer

18996.3

The Black Imp

19056.5

The Doctor's Secret

19095.3

The Human Pyramid

18995.5

The Witch

19066.3

The Devilish Plank

19044.7

The Hilarious Posters

19066.2

A Roadside Inn

19065.9

The Cook in Trouble

19045.5

The Indian Sorcerer

19085.7

The King and the Jester

19075.1

The Diabolic Tenant

19096.8

El hombre que quiso ser Segundo

20146.0

Les infortunes des patineurs

19084.1

Cleopatra's Tomb

18991.7

Alcofribas, The Master Magician

19035.1

The Untamable Whiskers

19046.2

The Brahmin and the Butterfly

19015.5

The Mysterious Knight

18996.3

The Devil and the Statue

19015.4

Beelzebub's Daughters

19037.0

The Mysterious Portrait

18996.1

Faust in the Underworld

19035.8

Tribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler

19085.5

Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants

19026.0

In the Barber Shop

19085.0

The Human Fly

19026.0

Not Guilty

19084.4

The Magician's Cavern

19016.2

The Diabolical Church Window

19115.7

The Knight of the Snow

19125.9

The Terrible Turkish Executioner

19036.2

Hat of Many Surprises

19016.0

Conjuring

18965.2

The Wandering Jew

19045.0

The Wonderful Living Fan

19045.2

The Artist and the Dummy

19004.8

The Magic Lantern

19036.0

The Good Luck of a 'Souse'

19074.9

The Oracle of Delphi

19035.6

Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid

19034.7

The Clockmaker's Dream

19045.3

A Funny Mahometan

189710.0

Good Glue Sticks

19074.9

An Impossible Balancing Feat

19025.9

The Magic Book

19006.2

The Mystical Flame

19035.1

The New Lord of the Village

19085.4

The Fortune Favors the Brave

19089.0

The Triple Conjurer and the Living Head

19005.9

Tit for Tat

19045.9

A Mesmerian Experiment

19055.4

A Wager Between Two Magicians, or, Jealous of Myself

19048.0

Gala Méliès

1929

Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter

19044.9

Up-to-Date Spiritualism

19005.7

The Bridegroom's Dilemma

18986.7

The Prolific Magical Egg

19026.0

The Fugitive Apparitions

19045.1

The Triple Headed Lady

19015.8

The Lilliputian Minuet

19054.8

A Fantastical Meal

19006.3

Satans Sacrilegious Saga

2025

The Imperceptible Transmutations

19045.2

A Maiden's Paradise

1901

Méliès: Tales of Terror

2021

Misfortune Never Comes Alone

19035.6

The Wizard, the Prince and the Good Fairy

19005.3

A Moonlight Serenade

19035.3

Dancing in a Harem

189710.0

A Midnight Episode

18993.5

Alcoléa & cie Documentary

2024

The Enchanted Basket

19038.0

The Temple of the Sun

19018.0

The Firefall

19044.6

Georges Méliès: The First Wizard of Cinema (1896-1913)

2026