Is this a film with a main character who drinks absinthe? Or a representation of Alice Guy-Blaché’s mind after she took a trip with the green fairy? It appears to be the former, though I would love to see the latter.
Alice Guy, 1st Female Filmmaker – Wonderful Absinthe [La bonne absinthe] (1899)
April 11, 2012 — chrisgiddensMarch Melies Madness! – The Mysterious Knight [Le chevalier mystère] (1899)
March 22, 2012 — chrisgiddensThe conjurer (Méliès) appears at a blackboard and shows the head of a knight on it. He seizes the picture of the head, removes it from the blackboard, and it turns alive, bowing and smiling apparently without a body attached. The conjurer then seizes a sword and runs it completely through the head, entering at the neck and going right through the top of the skull. He then takes the head and places it upon a camera, which is mounted upon a tripod; then throwing a cloak around the legs of the tripod, the young lady to whom the head belongs appears instantly the cloak is removed, with head properly attached to her body. The conjurer then runs toward a door which stands in the middle of the wall, and making a jump in the air, vanishes into space.
March Melies Madness! – Cinderella [Cendrillon] (1899)
March 21, 2012 — chrisgiddensThis oldest known film adaptation of Charles Perrault’s 1697 fairy tale, Cendrillon, is also the first movie to utilize a dissolve transition between scenes. Méliès accomplished this by closing the lens aperture, rewinding the film, and then re-opening the aperture.
Music performed by Billy Duncan for Change Before Going Productions.
March Melies Madness! – The Dreyfus Affair [L’Affaire Dreyfus] (1899)
March 20, 2012 — chrisgiddensThe Dreyfus Affair (aka L’Affaire Dreyfus) is a multi-film narrative by Georges Méliès regarding the controversial political scandal surrounding Captain Alfred Dreyfus, convicted of Treason in 1894 France. After Emile Zola published his infamous letter, J’Accuse, which accused the government of anti-Semitism and unlawful jailing, Dreyfus was eventually re-tried. In 1906, he was exonerated and reinstated as a major in the French Army. This film, produced in the midst of the scandal, would become the 1st censored movie as it was banned in France.
March Melies Madness! – The Mysterious Portrait [Le portrait mystérieux] (1899)
March 19, 2012 — chrisgiddensA man (Méliès) interacts with a portrait of himself.
March Melies Madness! – The Pillar of Fire [La colonne de feu] (1899)
March 18, 2012 — chrisgiddensThe Pillar of Fire (aka La colonne de feu) is loosely based upon H. Rider Haggard’s 1887 novel, She. In beautiful, hand-colored tint, the devil (Georges Méliès) appears and summons a dancing lady.
March Melies Madness! – The Devil in a Convent [Le diable au convent] (1899)
March 17, 2012 — chrisgiddensIn The Devil in a Convent (aka Le diable au convent), the devil (Georges Méliès) takes advantage of some nuns while in the guise of a priest before finally being defeated.
Music performed by Billy Duncan for Change Before Going Productions.
March Melies Madness! – The Conjuror [L’impressionniste fin de siècle] (1899)
March 16, 2012 — chrisgiddensMéliès flawlessly recreates and augments one of his magical stage acts.
1st Dissolve Transition
February 8, 2012 — chrisgiddensCinderella (1899) – Georges Melies
This oldest known film adaptation of Charles Perrault’s 1697 fairy tale is also the first movie to utilize a dissolve transition between scenes. Georges Méliès accomplished this by closing the lens aperture, rewinding the film, and then re-opening the aperture.
Classic Movie Hub
The Giddy 