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Georges Méliès

Known for: Directing

Biography: 1861-12-08

Deathday: 1938-01-21 (76 years old)

Biography

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.

Filmography

all 293

Movies 292

Director 113

self 11

Writer 6

Producer 6

TV Shows 1

Director

Georges Méliès

Biography

Filmography

all 293

Movies 292

Director 113

self 11

Writer 6

Producer 6

TV Shows 1

Méliès: Tales of Terror (2021)

The Méliès Mystery (2021)

El hombre que quiso ser Segundo (2014)

The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès (2012)

The Extraordinary Voyage (2011)

Méliès' Magic Show (1997)

Le cinéma des pêches (1989)

The Nightmare of Méliès (1988)

Le topologue (1988)

Cinematógrafo 1900 (1979)

ORG (1979)

Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma (1978)

Georges Méliès: Cinema Magician (1978)

Let's Go to the Movies (1949)

Violons d'Ingres (1939)

Gala Méliès (1929)

The Voyage of M. Bourrichon (1913)

The Knight of the Snow (1912)

Cinderella or The Glass Slipper (1912)

The Conquest of the Pole (1912)

A Trip To The Moon (1912)

The Hallucinations of Baron Munchausen (1911)

The Diabolical Church Window (1911)

Fortune Favors the Brave (1909)

Whimsical Illusions (1909)

The Spider and the Butterfly (1909)

The Diabolic Tenant (1909)

The Doctor's Secret (1909)

Pharmaceutical Hallucinations (1908)

A Tricky Painter’s Fate (1908)

Mishaps of the New York-Paris Auto Race (1908)

French Cops Learning English (1908)

Tribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler (1908)

The Genii of Fire (1908)

The Woes of Roller Skaters (1908)

Why That Actor Was Late (1908)

Sideshow Wrestlers (1908)

His First Job (1908)

Grandmother's Tale and Child's Dream (1908)

Not Guilty (1908)

The Broken Violin (1908)

The New Lord of the Village (1908)

The Miser (1908)

The Mischance of a Photographer (1908)

Buncoed Stage Johnnie (1908)

The Good Shepherdess and the Evil Princess (1908)

In the Barber Shop (1908)

Long Distance Wireless Photography (1908)

The Good Luck of a 'Souse' (1908)

Excursion to the Moon (1908)

The Dream of an Opium Fiend (1908)

The King and the Jester (1908)

The Indian Sorcerer (1908)

The Knight of Black Art (1908)

Justinian's Human Torches (1908)

Humanity Through the Ages (1908)

L'agent gelé (1908)

In the Bogie Man's Cave (1907)

The Prophetess of Thebes (1907)

Sightseeing Through Whisky (1907)

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1907)

Satan in Prison (1907)

Good Glue Sticks (1907)

Tunneling the English Channel (1907)

The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon (1907)

Rogues' Tricks (1907)

How Bridget's Lover Escaped (1907)

Ali Barbouyou and Ali Bouf, In Oil (1907)

The Skipping Cheese (1907)

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1907)