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Georges Méliès
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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…
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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.
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BODY OF WORK
Georges Méliès's Filmography
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Satans Sacrilegious Saga
as Devil
Alcoléa & cie Documentary
Méliès: Tales of Terror
as The Melomaniac
The Méliès Mystery
as Self (archive footage)
El hombre que quiso ser Segundo
as Self (archive footage)
The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès
as Self (archive footage)
The Extraordinary Voyage
as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Georges Méliès: The First Wizard of Cinema (1896-1913)
as Various Roles
The Magic of Méliès
as Self / Various Roles (archive footage)
Cinematógrafo 1900
as Self (archive footage)
Violons d'Ingres
as Himself (archive footage)
Gala Méliès
as Himself
The Knight of the Snow
as Devil
Cinderella or The Glass Slipper
as Prince's Messenger
The Conquest of the Pole
as Le professeur Mabouloff
The Diabolical Church Window
Whimsical Illusions
as The Magician
The Diabolic Tenant
as Le locataire diabolique
The Doctor's Secret
No Poster
The Fortune Favors the Brave
as Gnome
French Cops Learning English
as The Police Inspector
Les infortunes des patineurs
as Passerby
Tribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler
as The Roman
No Poster
The Indian Sorcerer
as The Fakir
Not Guilty
as The Old Farmer
The New Lord of the Village
as Le fantôme de César
In the Barber Shop
Long Distance Wireless Photography
The Good Luck of a 'Souse'
as Le commissaire de police
The King and the Jester
as Tribolet
Satan in Prison
as Satan
Good Glue Sticks
The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon
as Professor of Astronomy
Delirium in a Studio
as Ali Barbouyou
Tunneling the English Channel
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
The Witch
as The Fairy Carabosse
The Mysterious Retort
The Merry Frolics of Satan
as Satan
A Roadside Inn
as Drunk Traveler
A Desperate Crime
The Hilarious Posters
as The Bill Poster
The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship
Rip's Dream
as Rip Van Winkle
Ulysses and the Giant Polyphemus
as Ulysses (uncredited)
The Palace of the Arabian Nights
as The Sorcerer Khalafar (uncredited)
A Mesmerian Experiment
The Lilliputian Minuet
The Black Imp
The Living Playing Cards
as The Magician
The Christmas Angel
as The Rag-and-Bone Man / Beggar on Crutches / Coal Seller
The Firefall
as Satan
The Wandering Jew
The Impossible Voyage
as Mabouloff
The Mermaid
The Devilish Plank
The Cook in Trouble
The Wonderful Living Fan
Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer
Faust and Marguerite
as Méphistophélès
The Imperceptible Transmutations
as Prince
The Clockmaker's Dream
The Untamable Whiskers
as Man with whiskers
The Fugitive Apparitions
Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter
A Wager Between Two Magicians, or, Jealous of Myself
as The Magician / The Double
Tit for Tat
A Moonlight Serenade
The Terrible Turkish Executioner
as The Executioner
Faust in the Underworld
as Mephistopholes
The Ballet Master's Dream
The Magic Lantern
Alcofribas, The Master Magician
Extraordinary Illusions
Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid
Jupiter's Thunderballs
Apparitions
The Infernal Cauldron
as Devil
The Kingdom of the Fairies
as Принц Бель-Азор
The Monster
as The priest
The Melomaniac
The Oracle of Delphi
The Mystical Flame
The Mysterious Box
The Infernal Cake-Walk
as Devil
Misfortune Never Comes Alone
as Lamplighter
No Poster
Beelzebub's Daughters
The Marvellous Wreath
No Poster
The Enchanted Basket
Robinson Crusoe
as Robinson Crusoé
Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants
as Gulliver
Sure Cure for Indigestion
as Doctor
An Impossible Balancing Feat
as The Magician
The Human Fly
as The Hindoo Magician
The Treasures of Satan
A Trip to the Moon
as Professeur Barbenfouillis / La Lune
The Prolific Magical Egg
The Dwarf and the Giant
The Man with the Rubber Head
as Аптекар / Гумова голова
The Devil and the Statue
Hat of Many Surprises
Bluebeard
as Barbe-bleue / The Devil / Kitchen's assistant
The Prince of Magicians
as Excelsior
No Poster
The Temple of the Sun
No Poster
A Maiden's Paradise
as The Wizard
The Magician's Cavern
The Triple Headed Lady
The Brahmin and the Butterfly
as The brahmin
The Astronomer's Dream
as Астроном
The Christmas Dream
as Beggar
Joan of Arc
as Père de Jeanne
The Artist and the Dummy
as Artiste
The One-Man Band
as All the members of the orchestra
The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match
as Wrestler
The Triple Conjurer and the Living Head
as Conjurer
A Fantastical Meal
as The Man
No Poster
Up-to-Date Spiritualism
as Le comique excentrique
Going to Bed Under Difficulties
as The Man
The Magic Book
as The Magician
The Wizard, the Prince and the Good Fairy
as Prince
The Dreyfus Affair
as Fernand Labori
Cinderella
as le gnome de la pendule / le suisse à l'entrée de l'église
Summoning the Spirits
No Poster
The Human Pyramid
The Pillar of Fire
Cleopatra's Tomb
as un profanateur de la tombe de Cléopâtre
The Devil in a Convent
as The Devil
An Up-to-Date Conjurer
as Magician
A Midnight Episode
as The Sleeping Man (uncredited)
The Mysterious Knight
as Le chevalier mystère
The Mysterious Portrait
as L'illusioniste
The Four Troublesome Heads
as Фокусник
The Temptation of St. Anthony
as Saint Antoine
The Magician
as Le Sculpteur
Pygmalion and Galatea
as Pygmalion
The Famous Box Trick
as The Magician
The Bridegroom's Dilemma
as Le marié
Le château hanté
as Mephisto
The Bewitched Inn
as The Traveler
Gugusse and the Automaton
as Gugusse
Between Calais and Dover
as The Man in the Checked Suit
Naval Combat in Greece
as The Captain
No Poster
Faust and Marguerite
as Méphistophélès
No Poster
A Funny Mahometan
as The Funny Mahometan
No Poster
Dancing in a Harem
A Nightmare
as Man
Le manoir du diable
as Мефістофель
Conjuring
as Himself
Playing Cards
as Un joueur de cartes
A Terrible Night
as L'homme qui essaie de dormir
The Vanishing Lady
as Фокусник