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

Whimsical Illusions

19096.3

The Man with the Rubber Head

19017.1

Robinson Crusoe

19025.7

The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès

2012

A Nightmare

18966.1

Cinderella

18996.2

Cinematógrafo 1900

19796.3

The Vanishing Lady

18966.3

The Mysterious Retort

19065.7

Playing Cards

18964.9

The Melomaniac

19036.5

The Christmas Dream

19005.6

Pygmalion and Galatea

18985.1

Le manoir du diable

18966.4

Le château hanté

18975.7

The Ballet Master's Dream

19035.8

The Magic of Méliès

19977.3

The Astronomer's Dream

19007.0

The Kingdom of the Fairies

19036.9

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

19075.1

Bluebeard

19016.3

The Temptation of St. Anthony

18985.8

Summoning the Spirits

18995.2

The Four Troublesome Heads

18987.2

The Mermaid

19045.8

French Cops Learning English

19085.1

Naval Combat in Greece

18975.3

Jupiter's Thunderballs

19035.4

The Magician

18986.2

Tunneling the English Channel

19076.5

Between Calais and Dover

18975.4

The Devil in a Convent

18996.3

The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match

19006.6

The Bewitched Inn

18976.3

The Merry Frolics of Satan

19066.5

Apparitions

19035.7

The Pillar of Fire

18995.9

The One-Man Band

19006.8

Rip's Dream

19055.9

The Prince of Magicians

19016.3

The Bridegroom's Dilemma

18986.7

Delirium in a Studio

19075.6

The Conquest of the Pole

19126.2

Faust and Marguerite

19045.0

The Infernal Cake-Walk

19035.6

Extraordinary Illusions

19036.1

Faust and Marguerite

18973.9

The Méliès Mystery

20216.9

The Christmas Angel

19045.8

The Monster

19036.1

Going to Bed Under Difficulties

19006.5

Violons d'Ingres

19397.0

Gugusse and the Automaton

18976.5

The Mysterious Box

19035.5

Satan in Prison

19075.7

The Palace of the Arabian Nights

19055.7

A Desperate Crime

19066.4

Sure Cure for Indigestion

19027.0

The Doctor's Secret

19095.3

Alcofribas, The Master Magician

19035.1

The Diabolic Tenant

19096.8

The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon

19076.0

El hombre que quiso ser Segundo

20146.0

Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer

19044.9

The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship

19055.8

The Infernal Cauldron

19036.3

The Black Imp

19056.5

The Dwarf and the Giant

19015.9

The Dreyfus Affair

18995.5

The Famous Box Trick

18986.2

The Human Pyramid

18995.5

An Up-to-Date Conjurer

18996.3

Ulysses and the Giant Polyphemus

19055.7

The Hilarious Posters

19066.2

Cleopatra's Tomb

18991.7

The Devilish Plank

19044.7

The Witch

19066.3

The Brahmin and the Butterfly

19015.5

Les infortunes des patineurs

19084.1

The Marvellous Wreath

19034.7

Long Distance Wireless Photography

19085.5

Faust in the Underworld

19035.8

Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid

19034.7

A Roadside Inn

19065.9

The Cook in Trouble

19045.5

The Indian Sorcerer

19085.7

The Treasures of Satan

19025.2

Not Guilty

19084.4

The Devil and the Statue

19015.4

The Terrible Turkish Executioner

19036.2

The King and the Jester

19075.1

The Magic Book

19006.2

The Mysterious Knight

18996.3

The Living Playing Cards

19056.4

Tribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler

19085.5

Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants

19026.0

The Clockmaker's Dream

19045.3

Gala Méliès

1929

The Untamable Whiskers

19046.2

The Diabolical Church Window

19115.7

The Artist and the Dummy

19004.8

Up-to-Date Spiritualism

19005.7

Beelzebub's Daughters

19037.0

The Wandering Jew

19045.0

The Mysterious Portrait

18996.1

The Triple Headed Lady

19015.8

Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter

19044.9

The Oracle of Delphi

19035.6

In the Barber Shop

19085.0

The Magician's Cavern

19016.2

The Human Fly

19026.0

The Mystical Flame

19035.1

Conjuring

18965.2

Alcoléa & cie Documentary

2024

A Mesmerian Experiment

19055.4

The New Lord of the Village

19085.4

The Knight of the Snow

19125.9

A Midnight Episode

18993.5

The Wonderful Living Fan

19045.2

The Imperceptible Transmutations

19045.2

An Impossible Balancing Feat

19025.9

The Magic Lantern

19036.0

Satans Sacrilegious Saga

2025

Méliès: Tales of Terror

2021

Good Glue Sticks

19074.9

Tit for Tat

19045.9

The Fortune Favors the Brave

19089.0

A Maiden's Paradise

1901

A Funny Mahometan

189710.0

The Good Luck of a 'Souse'

19074.9

Hat of Many Surprises

19016.0

The Triple Conjurer and the Living Head

19005.9

A Wager Between Two Magicians, or, Jealous of Myself

19048.0

The Prolific Magical Egg

19026.0

The Fugitive Apparitions

19045.1

Misfortune Never Comes Alone

19035.6

The Wizard, the Prince and the Good Fairy

19005.3

The Enchanted Basket

19038.0

Dancing in a Harem

189710.0

A Fantastical Meal

19006.3

The Lilliputian Minuet

19054.8

A Moonlight Serenade

19035.3

The Temple of the Sun

19018.0

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

2026

The Firefall

19044.6