8
Georges Méliès
Born · December 9, 1861
Died · January 21, 1938 (76 years old)
Known For: Directing
Place of Birth: Paris, France
Bio
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.
A Collection of Silent Films, Given Sound
The Gnome of the Clock, a halberdier
0.0
2025
Méliès: Tales of Terror
The Melomaniac
0.0
2021
The Méliès Mystery
Self (archive footage)
6.8
2021
Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese
Magician (archive footage from "The Vanishing Lady")
7.1
2019
El hombre que quiso ser Segundo
Self (archive footage)
6.0
2014
The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès
Self (archive footage)
0.0
2012
The Extraordinary Voyage
Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
7.8
2011
Méliès' Magic Show
Divers
0.0
1997
Cinematógrafo 1900
Self (archive footage)
4.5
1979
Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma
Self (archive footage) · (1 episode)
0.0
1978
Violons d'Ingres
Himself (archive footage)
0.0
1939
Gala Méliès
Himself
0.0
1929
The Knight of the Snow
Devil
5.8
1912
The Conquest of the Pole
Le professeur Mabouloff
6.3
1912
The Diabolical Church Window
5.5
1911
Whimsical Illusions
The Magician
6.1
1909
Fortune Favors the Brave
Gnome
0.0
1909
The Diabolic Tenant
Le locataire diabolique
6.8
1909
The Doctor's Secret
5.2
1909
Tribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler
The Roman
5.5
1908
Long Distance Wireless Photography
5.3
1908
The Indian Sorcerer
The Fakir
5.3
1908
Satan in Prison
Satan
5.5
1907
Good Glue Sticks
4.9
1907
Tunneling the English Channel
6.4
1907
The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon
Professor of Astronomy
6.1
1907
Ali Barbouyou and Ali Bouf, In Oil
Ali Barbouyou
5.5
1907
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
5.2
1907
The Witch
The Fairy Carabosse
6.2
1906
The Mysterious Retort
5.4
1906
The Merry Frolics of Satan
Satan
6.4
1906
A Desperate Crime
6.4
1906
A Roadside Inn
Drunk Traveler
5.7
1906
The Hilarious Posters
The Bill Poster
6.0
1906
The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship
5.7
1905
Rip's Dream
Rip Van Winkle
5.8
1905
The Palace of the Arabian Nights
The Sorcerer Khalafar (uncredited)
5.6
1905
A Mesmerian Experiment
5.1
1905
The Black Imp
6.5
1905
The Living Playing Cards
The Magician
6.4
1905
The Christmas Angel
The Rag-and-Bone Man / Beggar on Crutches / Coal Seller
5.5
1904
The Wandering Jew
4.6
1904
The Impossible Voyage
Mabouloff
7.2
1904
The Mermaid
5.6
1904
The Devilish Plank
4.5
1904
The Firefall
Satan
4.5
1904
The Cook in Trouble
5.2
1904
The Wonderful Living Fan
5.1
1904
Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer
4.8
1904
A Moonlight Serenade
5.2
1904
The Clockmaker's Dream
5.0
1904
The Untamable Whiskers
Man with whiskers
6.2
1904
The Fugitive Apparitions
4.8
1904
Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter
4.6
1904
A Wager Between Two Magicians, or, Jealous of Myself
The Magician / The Double
6.0
1904
Tit for Tat
5.7
1904
The Terrible Turkish Executioner
6.1
1904
Faust in the Underworld
Mephistopholes
5.9
1903
The Ballet Master's Dream
5.5
1903
Alcofribas, The Master Magician
5.0
1903
Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid
4.6
1903
Jupiter's Thunderballs
5.2
1903
The Magic Lantern
5.9
1903
The Infernal Cauldron
Devil
6.3
1903
Apparitions
5.4
1903
Extraordinary Illusions
6.1
1903
The Kingdom of the Fairies
Prince Bel-Azor
6.9
1903
The Melomaniac
6.6
1903
The Monster
6.0
1903
The Oracle of Delphi
5.4
1903
The Mystical Flame
4.8
1903
The Infernal Cakewalk
Devil
5.6
1903
Misfortune Never Comes Alone
Lamplighter
5.5
1903
The Marvellous Wreath
Musketeer
4.8
1903
The Mysterious Box
5.5
1903
Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoé
5.5
1902
Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants
Gulliver
6.1
1902
An Impossible Balancing Feat
5.7
1902
The Human Fly
The Hindoo Magician
5.9
1902
The Treasures of Satan
5.1
1902
A Trip to the Moon
Professor Barbenfouillis / The Moon
7.9
1902
The Prolific Magical Egg
6.0
1902
The Dwarf and the Giant
5.7
1901
The Man with the Rubber Head
The Chemist / The India Rubber Head
7.2
1901
The Devil and the Statue
5.3
1901
Hat of Many Surprises
5.8
1901
Bluebeard
Barbe-bleue
6.3
1901
The Prince of Magicians
Excelsior
6.3
1901
The Temple of the Sun
0.0
1901
A Maiden's Paradise
The Wizard
0.0
1901
The Magician's Cavern
6.0
1901
The Triple Headed Lady
5.2
1901
The Brahmin and the Butterfly
The brahmin
5.5
1901
The Christmas Dream
Beggar
5.5
1900
Joan of Arc
Père de Jeanne
6.9
1900
The Artist and the Dummy
Artiste
4.5
1900
The One-Man Band
All the members of the orchestra
6.8
1900
The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match
Wrestler
6.6
1900
Going to Bed Under Difficulties
The Man
6.5
1900
Up-to-Date Spiritualism
Le comique excentrique
5.7
1900
The Wizard, the Prince and the Good Fairy
Prince
5.1
1900
A Fantastical Meal
The Man
6.3
1900
The Triple Conjurer and the Living Head
Conjurer
5.8
1900
The Magic Book
The Magician
6.2
1900
The Dreyfus Affair
Fernand Labori
5.7
1899
Cinderella
The Gnome of the Clock / The Swiss at the Entrance to the Church
6.2
1899
Summoning the Spirits
5.2
1899
The Human Pyramid
5.2
1899
A Midnight Episode
The Sleeping Man (uncredited)
3.5
1899
The Devil in a Convent
The Devil
6.2
1899
An Up-to-Date Conjurer
Magician
6.3
1899
The Mysterious Knight
Le chevalier mystère
6.3
1899
The Mysterious Portrait
L'illusioniste
6.0
1899
Cleopatra's Tomb
un profanateur de la tombe de Cléopâtre
1.7
1899
The Pillar of Fire
5.8
1899
The Four Troublesome Heads
Conjurer
7.1
1898
The Astronomer's Dream
Astronomer
6.9
1898
The Temptation of St. Anthony
5.8
1898
Pygmalion and Galatea
Pygmalion
4.8
1898
The Famous Box Trick
The Magician
6.1
1898
The Magician
Le Sculpteur
6.2
1898
Faust and Marguerite
Méphistophélès
3.9
1897
The Haunted Castle
5.7
1897
The Bewitched Inn
The Traveler
6.2
1897
Naval Combat in Greece
The Captain
5.3
1897
Between Calais and Dover
The Man in the Checked Suit
5.4
1897
A Nightmare
Man
6.0
1896
The Haunted Castle
Mephistopheles
6.4
1896
Conjuring
Himself
5.4
1896
A Terrible Night
L'homme qui essaie de dormir
5.1
1896
The Vanishing Lady
Magician
6.2
1896
Playing Cards
Un joueur de cartes
4.8
1896