
Georges Méliès
Born December 8, 1861 · Paris, France
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.
Notable Appearances
More Movies

The Impossible Voyage

A Desperate Crime

A Nightmare

The Wonderful Living Fan

Cinematógrafo 1900

Robinson Crusoe

The Melomaniac

The Extraordinary Voyage

The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon

Bluebeard

Le manoir du diable

The Famous Box Trick

The Astronomer's Dream

Cleopatra's Tomb

The Méliès Mystery

The Mermaid

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

The Four Troublesome Heads

Summoning the Spirits

Le château hanté

Tunneling the English Channel

The Kingdom of the Fairies

Joan of Arc

The Temptation of St. Anthony

El hombre que quiso ser Segundo

Playing Cards

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

The Pillar of Fire

A Terrible Night

Pygmalion and Galatea

The Vanishing Lady

The Magic of Méliès

Gala Méliès

The Conquest of the Pole

Gugusse and the Automaton

The Witch

Faust and Marguerite

The Man with the Rubber Head

The Prince of Magicians

Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants

Alcofribas, The Master Magician

Rip's Dream

Violons d'Ingres

Long Distance Wireless Photography

The Merry Frolics of Satan

The Mysterious Retort

The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match

The One-Man Band

The Bewitched Inn

Extraordinary Illusions

The Mysterious Box

The Diabolic Tenant

The Cook in Trouble

Les infortunes des patineurs

The Doctor's Secret

Apparitions

The Monster

The Dreyfus Affair

The Infernal Cake-Walk

The Devil in a Convent

Between Calais and Dover

Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer

Sure Cure for Indigestion

Tribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler

The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship

The Infernal Cauldron

The Good Luck of a 'Souse'

Faust in the Underworld

Tit for Tat

Whimsical Illusions

An Up-to-Date Conjurer

The Marvellous Wreath

The Prolific Magical Egg

The Untamable Whiskers

Naval Combat in Greece

The Hilarious Posters

The Devil and the Statue

The Mystical Flame

The Palace of the Arabian Nights

Méliès: Tales of Terror

The Knight of the Snow

The Christmas Angel

The Black Imp

Delirium in a Studio

Alcoléa & cie Documentary

An Impossible Balancing Feat

The Magician's Cavern

The Terrible Turkish Executioner

The Living Playing Cards

Satan in Prison

The Artist and the Dummy

Satans Sacrilegious Saga

The Human Fly

The Brahmin and the Butterfly

A Roadside Inn

The Bridegroom's Dilemma

The New Lord of the Village

The Mysterious Portrait

The Treasures of Satan

The Oracle of Delphi

A Moonlight Serenade

The Ballet Master's Dream

Ulysses and the Giant Polyphemus

The King and the Jester

Jupiter's Thunderballs

Hat of Many Surprises

The Mysterious Knight

Not Guilty

The Christmas Dream

Going to Bed Under Difficulties

Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid

The Clockmaker's Dream

The Dwarf and the Giant

The Wandering Jew

The Imperceptible Transmutations

The Firefall

The Wizard, the Prince and the Good Fairy

In the Barber Shop

A Mesmerian Experiment

A Midnight Episode

Good Glue Sticks

Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter

The Devilish Plank

The Magic Lantern

The Diabolical Church Window

French Cops Learning English

The Fugitive Apparitions

The Magic Book

The Triple Headed Lady

Conjuring

A Wager Between Two Magicians, or, Jealous of Myself

Misfortune Never Comes Alone

The Triple Conjurer and the Living Head

A Fantastical Meal




