Georges Méliès
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.
Known For
Credits
- 2025 · A Collection of Silent Films, Given Sound as The Gnome of the Clock, a halberdier
- 2021 · Méliès: Tales of Terror as The Melomaniac
- 2021 · The Méliès Mystery as Lui-même (archives)
- 2014 · El hombre que quiso ser Segundo as Self (archive footage)
- 2012 · The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès as Self (archive footage)
- 2011 · The Extraordinary Voyage as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
- 1997 · Méliès' Magic Show as Divers
- 1979 · Cinematógrafo 1900 as Self (archive footage)
- 1978 · Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma as Self (archive footage)
- 1939 · Violons d'Ingres as Himself (archive footage)
- 1929 · Gala Méliès as Himself
- 1912 · The Knight of the Snow as Devil
- 1912 · The Conquest of the Pole as Le professeur Mabouloff
- 1911 · The Diabolical Church Window as
- 1909 · Whimsical Illusions as The Magician
- 1909 · Fortune Favors the Brave as Gnome
- 1909 · The Diabolic Tenant as Le locataire diabolique
- 1909 · The Doctor's Secret as
- 1908 · Tribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler as The Roman
- 1908 · Long Distance Wireless Photography as
- 1908 · The Indian Sorcerer as The Fakir
- 1907 · Satan in Prison as Satan
- 1907 · Good Glue Sticks as
- 1907 · Tunneling the English Channel as
- 1907 · The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon as Professor of Astronomy
- 1907 · Ali Barbouyou and Ali Bouf, In Oil as Ali Barbouyou
- 1907 · 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as
- 1906 · The Witch as The Fairy Carabosse
- 1906 · The Mysterious Retort as
- 1906 · The Merry Frolics of Satan as Satan
- 1906 · A Desperate Crime as
- 1906 · A Roadside Inn as Drunk Traveler
- 1906 · The Hilarious Posters as The Bill Poster
- 1905 · The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship as
- 1905 · Rip's Dream as Rip Van Winkle
- 1905 · The Palace of the Arabian Nights as The Sorcerer Khalafar (uncredited)
- 1905 · A Mesmerian Experiment as
- 1905 · The Black Imp as
- 1905 · The Living Playing Cards as The Magician
- 1904 · The Christmas Angel as The Rag-and-Bone Man / Beggar on Crutches / Coal Seller
- 1904 · The Wandering Jew as
- 1904 · The Impossible Voyage as Mabouloff
- 1904 · The Mermaid as
- 1904 · The Devilish Plank as
- 1904 · The Firefall as Satan
- 1904 · The Cook in Trouble as
- 1904 · Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer as
- 1904 · The Wonderful Living Fan as
- 1904 · A Moonlight Serenade as
- 1904 · The Clockmaker's Dream as
- 1904 · The Untamable Whiskers as Man with whiskers
- 1904 · The Fugitive Apparitions as
- 1904 · Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter as
- 1904 · A Wager Between Two Magicians, or, Jealous of Myself as The Magician / The Double
- 1904 · Tit for Tat as
- 1904 · The Terrible Turkish Executioner as
- 1903 · Faust in the Underworld as Mephistopholes
- 1903 · The Ballet Master's Dream as
- 1903 · Alcofribas, The Master Magician as
- 1903 · Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid as
- 1903 · Jupiter's Thunderballs as
- 1903 · The Magic Lantern as
- 1903 · The Infernal Cauldron as Devil
- 1903 · Apparitions as
- 1903 · Extraordinary Illusions as
- 1903 · The Kingdom of the Fairies as Prince Bel-Azor
- 1903 · The Melomaniac as
- 1903 · The Monster as
- 1903 · The Oracle of Delphi as
- 1903 · The Mystical Flame as
- 1903 · The Infernal Cakewalk as Devil
- 1903 · The Marvellous Wreath as Musketeer
- 1903 · Misfortune Never Comes Alone as Lamplighter
- 1903 · The Mysterious Box as
- 1902 · Robinson Crusoe as Robinson Crusoé
- 1902 · Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants as Gulliver
- 1902 · An Impossible Balancing Feat as
- 1902 · The Human Fly as The Hindoo Magician
- 1902 · The Treasures of Satan as
- 1902 · A Trip to the Moon as Professor Barbenfouillis / The Moon
- 1902 · The Prolific Magical Egg as
- 1901 · The Dwarf and the Giant as
- 1901 · The Man with the Rubber Head as The Chemist / The India Rubber Head
- 1901 · The Devil and the Statue as
- 1901 · Hat of Many Surprises as
- 1901 · Bluebeard as Barbe-bleue
- 1901 · The Prince of Magicians as Excelsior
- 1901 · The Temple of the Sun as
- 1901 · A Maiden's Paradise as The Wizard
- 1901 · The Magician's Cavern as
- 1901 · The Triple Headed Lady as
- 1901 · The Brahmin and the Butterfly as The brahmin
- 1900 · The Christmas Dream as Beggar
- 1900 · Joan of Arc as Père de Jeanne
- 1900 · The Artist and the Dummy as Artiste
- 1900 · The One-Man Band as All the members of the orchestra
- 1900 · The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match as Wrestler
- 1900 · The Magic Book as The Magician
- 1900 · Going to Bed Under Difficulties as The Man
- 1900 · A Fantastical Meal as The Man
- 1900 · The Triple Conjurer and the Living Head as Conjurer
- 1900 · The Wizard, the Prince and the Good Fairy as Prince
- 1900 · Up-to-Date Spiritualism as Le comique excentrique
- 1899 · The Dreyfus Affair as Fernand Labori
- 1899 · Cinderella as The Gnome of the Clock / The Swiss at the Entrance to the Church
- 1899 · Summoning the Spirits as
- 1899 · The Human Pyramid as
- 1899 · The Conjurer as Magician
- 1899 · The Mysterious Knight as Le chevalier mystère
- 1899 · The Devil in a Convent as The Devil
- 1899 · The Pillar of Fire as
- 1899 · The Mysterious Portrait as L'illusioniste
- 1899 · Cleopatra's Tomb as un profanateur de la tombe de Cléopâtre
- 1899 · A Midnight Episode as The Sleeping Man (uncredited)
- 1898 · The Four Troublesome Heads as Conjurer
- 1898 · The Astronomer's Dream as Astronomer
- 1898 · The Temptation of St. Anthony as
- 1898 · The Magician as Le Sculpteur
- 1898 · The Famous Box Trick as The Magician
- 1898 · Pygmalion and Galatea as Pygmalion
- 1897 · Between Calais and Dover as The Man in the Checked Suit
- 1897 · The Bewitched Inn as The Traveler
- 1897 · The Haunted Castle as
- 1897 · Naval Combat in Greece as The Captain
- 1897 · Faust and Marguerite as Méphistophélès
- 1896 · A Nightmare as Man
- 1896 · The Haunted Castle as Mephistopheles
- 1896 · Conjuring as Himself
- 1896 · A Terrible Night as L'homme qui essaie de dormir
- 1896 · The Vanishing Lady as Magician
- 1896 · Playing Cards as Un joueur de cartes