Georges Méliès
Directing • Born 1861-12-08 – Died 1938-01-21
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 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
150 credits
A Trip to the Moon
Movie • 1902
Professeur Barbenfouillis / La Lune
The Impossible Voyage
Movie • 1904
Mabouloff
The Cook in Trouble
Movie • 1904
Cinematógrafo 1900
Movie • 1979
Self (archive footage)
El hombre que quiso ser Segundo
Movie • 2014
Self (archive footage)
The Untamable Whiskers
Movie • 1904
Man with whiskers
The Living Playing Cards
Movie • 1905
The Magician
The Infernal Cauldron
Movie • 1903
Devil
The One-Man Band
Movie • 1900
All the members of the orchestra
The Four Troublesome Heads
Movie • 1898
Conjurer
A Midnight Episode
Movie • 1899
The Sleeping Man (uncredited)
Joan of Arc
Movie • 1900
Père de Jeanne
Faust and Marguerite
Movie • 1897
Méphistophélès
A Terrible Night
Movie • 1896
L'homme qui essaie de dormir
The Vanishing Lady
Movie • 1896
Le magicien
Le château hanté
Movie • 1897
Mephisto
The Astronomer's Dream
Movie • 1900
Astronomer
Cinderella
Movie • 1899
le gnome de la pendule / le suisse à l'entrée de l'église
The Indian Sorcerer
Movie • 1908
The Fakir
The Conquest of the Pole
Movie • 1912
Le professeur Mabouloff
The Wandering Jew
Movie • 1904
Le manoir du diable
Movie • 1896
Mephistopheles
The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès
Movie • 2012
Self (archive footage)
A Desperate Crime
Movie • 1906
Delirium in a Studio
Movie • 1907
Ali Barbouyou
The Wonderful Living Fan
Movie • 1904
The Black Imp
Movie • 1905
The Monster
Movie • 1903
The priest
The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship
Movie • 1905
The Temptation of St. Anthony
Movie • 1898
Saint Antoine
The Diabolic Tenant
Movie • 1909
Le locataire diabolique
The Man with the Rubber Head
Movie • 1901
The Chemist / The India Rubber Head
The Mermaid
Movie • 1904
The Devil in a Convent
Movie • 1899
The Devil
Long Distance Wireless Photography
Movie • 1908
An Up-to-Date Conjurer
Movie • 1899
Magician
The Merry Frolics of Satan
Movie • 1906
Satan
The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match
Movie • 1900
Wrestler
The Hilarious Posters
Movie • 1906
The Bill Poster
The Infernal Cake-Walk
Movie • 1903
Devil
The Dreyfus Affair
Movie • 1899
Fernand Labori
The Clockmaker's Dream
Movie • 1904
The Melomaniac
Movie • 1903
Summoning the Spirits
Movie • 1899
Extraordinary Illusions
Movie • 1903
Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer
Movie • 1904
The Human Pyramid
Movie • 1899
Hat of Many Surprises
Movie • 1901
Going to Bed Under Difficulties
Movie • 1900
The Man
Up-to-Date Spiritualism
Movie • 1900
Le comique excentrique
Jupiter's Thunderballs
Movie • 1903
The Terrible Turkish Executioner
Movie • 1903
The Executioner
The Bewitched Inn
Movie • 1897
The Traveler
Whimsical Illusions
Movie • 1909
The Magician
Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid
Movie • 1903
The Ballet Master's Dream
Movie • 1903
Apparitions
Movie • 1903
The Prolific Magical Egg
Movie • 1902
The Diabolical Church Window
Movie • 1911
Satan in Prison
Movie • 1907
Satan
Méliès: Tales of Terror
Movie • 2021
The Melomaniac
The Dwarf and the Giant
Movie • 1901
The Oracle of Delphi
Movie • 1903
The Doctor's Secret
Movie • 1909
A Moonlight Serenade
Movie • 1903
The Magician's Cavern
Movie • 1901
A Mesmerian Experiment
Movie • 1905
The Mysterious Retort
Movie • 1906
Playing Cards
Movie • 1896
Un joueur de cartes
An Impossible Balancing Feat
Movie • 1902
The Magician
Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter
Movie • 1904
Bluebeard
Movie • 1901
Barbe-bleue
The Witch
Movie • 1906
The Fairy Carabosse
Faust in the Underworld
Movie • 1903
Mephistopholes
The Treasures of Satan
Movie • 1902
The Devil and the Statue
Movie • 1901
The Mysterious Knight
Movie • 1899
Le chevalier mystère
The Artist and the Dummy
Movie • 1900
Artiste
The Christmas Dream
Movie • 1900
Beggar
Good Glue Sticks
Movie • 1907
The Mystical Flame
Movie • 1903
The Fugitive Apparitions
Movie • 1904
Gala Méliès
Movie • 1929
Himself
The Kingdom of the Fairies
Movie • 1903
Prince Bel-Azor
The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon
Movie • 1907
Professor of Astronomy
The Brahmin and the Butterfly
Movie • 1901
The brahmin
A Maiden's Paradise
Movie • 1901
The Wizard
The Temple of the Sun
Movie • 1901
A Roadside Inn
Movie • 1906
Drunk Traveler
The Knight of the Snow
Movie • 1912
Devil
The Magic Lantern
Movie • 1903
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Movie • 1907
Pygmalion and Galatea
Movie • 1898
Pygmalion
A Nightmare
Movie • 1896
Man
Alcofribas, The Master Magician
Movie • 1903
Tunneling the English Channel
Movie • 1907
Naval Combat in Greece
Movie • 1897
The Captain
Violons d'Ingres
Movie • 1939
Himself (archive footage)
The Extraordinary Voyage
Movie • 2011
Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
The Mysterious Portrait
Movie • 1899
L'illusioniste
Tit for Tat
Movie • 1904
The Devilish Plank
Movie • 1904
Conjuring
Movie • 1896
Himself
The Christmas Angel
Movie • 1904
The Rag-and-Bone Man / Beggar on Crutches / Coal Seller
Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants
Movie • 1902
Gulliver
The Prince of Magicians
Movie • 1901
Excelsior
The Human Fly
Movie • 1902
The Hindoo Magician
A Wager Between Two Magicians, or, Jealous of Myself
Movie • 1904
The Magician / The Double
Cleopatra's Tomb
Movie • 1899
un profanateur de la tombe de Cléopâtre
Rip's Dream
Movie • 1905
Rip Van Winkle
Robinson Crusoe
Movie • 1902
Robinson Crusoé
The Palace of the Arabian Nights
Movie • 1905
The Sorcerer Khalafar (uncredited)
The Mysterious Box
Movie • 1903
The Wizard, the Prince and the Good Fairy
Movie • 1900
Prince
Tribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler
Movie • 1908
The Roman
The Triple Headed Lady
Movie • 1901
The Pillar of Fire
Movie • 1899
The Méliès Mystery
Movie • 2021
Self (archive footage)
Misfortune Never Comes Alone
Movie • 1903
Lamplighter
The Marvellous Wreath
Movie • 1903
A Fantastical Meal
Movie • 1900
The Man
The Triple Conjurer and the Living Head
Movie • 1900
Conjurer
The Magic Book
Movie • 1900
The Magician
The Famous Box Trick
Movie • 1898
The Magician
The Magician
Movie • 1898
Le Sculpteur
Between Calais and Dover
Movie • 1897
The Man in the Checked Suit
The Firefall
Movie • 1904
Satan
The Fortune Favors the Brave
Movie • 1908
Gnome
Sure Cure for Indigestion
Movie • 1902
Doctor
Alcoléa & cie Documentary
Movie • 2024
The Lilliputian Minuet
Movie • 1905
The Enchanted Basket
Movie • 1903
Beelzebub's Daughters
Movie • 1903
Ulysses and the Giant Polyphemus
Movie • 1905
Ulysses (uncredited)
Les infortunes des patineurs
Movie • 1908
Passerby
French Cops Learning English
Movie • 1908
The Police Inspector
Not Guilty
Movie • 1908
The Old Farmer
The King and the Jester
Movie • 1907
Tribolet
The Magic of Méliès
Movie • 1997
Self / Various Roles (archive footage)
The Good Luck of a 'Souse'
Movie • 1907
Le commissaire de police
The New Lord of the Village
Movie • 1908
Le fantôme de César
In the Barber Shop
Movie • 1908
Dancing in a Harem
Movie • 1897
A Funny Mahometan
Movie • 1897
The Funny Mahometan
A Trip to the Melisverse
Movie • 2023
Archivo de imagen
The Bridegroom's Dilemma
Movie • 1898
Le marié
Satans Sacrilegious Saga
Movie • 2025
Devil
Gugusse and the Automaton
Movie • 1897
Gugusse
Faust and Marguerite
Movie • 1904
Méphistophélès
Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma
TV • 1978
Self (archive footage)