Fifty Before ’50: Four by Méliès

<p>&nbsp;<i>by JB</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqRbdF8PYLBrbX_NaC19NXeSiqgr-iSaUZ02i8pMZ_W7IrU2Rg5BWEkotcZ8dUq05c2zp09kqHyZxe2pPnzVVhjNFxSzprYpNuybDk07RbEbBw3Rir7kXgpp8ti5n8WAhZUFcJYtnrZLRntaYSXSxvy15hZF8OP_6ZB7duGmiaSuPSb0GrhGPiMrLLNaI/s4512/MeliesHeader.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3159" data-original-width="4512" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqRbdF8PYLBrbX_NaC19NXeSiqgr-iSaUZ02i8pMZ_W7IrU2Rg5BWEkotcZ8dUq05c2zp09kqHyZxe2pPnzVVhjNFxSzprYpNuybDk07RbEbBw3Rir7kXgpp8ti5n8WAhZUFcJYtnrZLRntaYSXSxvy15hZF8OP_6ZB7duGmiaSuPSb0GrhGPiMrLLNaI/w400-h280/MeliesHeader.jpeg" width="400" /></a></i></div>A few (extremely) short subjects for a boring Tuesday morning.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />

<br />

George Méliès is, by popular acclaim, the father of fantastic cinema. Born to a wealthy family in 1861, he eschewed his family’s boot business for a life in the theater. He invented dozens of illusions for the Theater Robert-Houdin in Paris, named for the French magician who would later supply young American Eric Weiss with his “nom de magic.” Méliès eventually bought the theater.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbZZfxZ8o6nTOrwT3x6g1BEYR5J_N2SEqhoCMPNxFn2rkekshKPA0RAza-1UqViF0Nk8QLkiq8mIViXBiMmnB8qpV-VgS2EF_-OaACkIcJd1Nc-RMHY4-qsxWRboYjCdPOMLP0cAbAddnrvp3Yf6U1pEuQ_7zbUBgLHXn21KjOPFB6ZDyi0BoybslDgE/s595/Melies1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="595" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbZZfxZ8o6nTOrwT3x6g1BEYR5J_N2SEqhoCMPNxFn2rkekshKPA0RAza-1UqViF0Nk8QLkiq8mIViXBiMmnB8qpV-VgS2EF_-OaACkIcJd1Nc-RMHY4-qsxWRboYjCdPOMLP0cAbAddnrvp3Yf6U1pEuQ_7zbUBgLHXn21KjOPFB6ZDyi0BoybslDgE/w400-h226/Melies1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>In 1895, he attended the Lumiere Brothers’ first public film exhibition. The Lumieres refused to sell Méliès a camera and projector, so Méliès travelled to London and persuaded Robert Paul to sell him the equipment he needed. The theater Robert-Houdin soon started showing short film programs between magic acts; most of the films directed by Méliès himself. Méliès was prolific: he made 78 short films in 1896 and 52 in 1897. He continued to make films until 1912 when a bad confluence of events essentially ended his film career.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4CijI5JUgQNwTVcNa5WSBvA81bDEmThmueRZzgoN7SHtcA84H_kFaGQpwa-E3orL2lK2sbl_Hc7aBBb0Gnem8CvJmDoMw71w92gR1Yl1pBAdJAdI9-y-ySkQvaO11pYQGvSGDI2aO2nKRu5mQX9NEkEU8BDeIctXxHL_4diWCd4XY5FhYIpx9nsMxxMM/s2104/Melies2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="2104" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4CijI5JUgQNwTVcNa5WSBvA81bDEmThmueRZzgoN7SHtcA84H_kFaGQpwa-E3orL2lK2sbl_Hc7aBBb0Gnem8CvJmDoMw71w92gR1Yl1pBAdJAdI9-y-ySkQvaO11pYQGvSGDI2aO2nKRu5mQX9NEkEU8BDeIctXxHL_4diWCd4XY5FhYIpx9nsMxxMM/w400-h229/Melies2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Today, only about 200 of 500 Méliès's films still exist. Méliès destroyed most of his original negatives, thinking them worthless; the French army confiscated many of his prints during WWI; and the delicate nitrate film was subject to deterioration and fire. The majority of Méliès’ films that were preserved can be found at the Library of Congress. Méliès’ brother Gaston submitted paper prints of each frame of the “Star Films” in order to preserve copyright when he set up an American branch in 1902.<br />

<br /><i>

Gugusse and the Automaton</i> (1897)<br />

<br />

This one is the sta