Méliès, Georges

(1861-1938)

   film producer, director

   Georges Méliès, a pioneer filmmaker whose work had a profound effect on early cinema, was born in Paris. An illusionist by profession (he directed the Théâtre Robert-Houdin) and set designer, he made of cinema, still in its infancy, a true art form by the richness of his poetic and inventive genius. of some 300 films that he produced between 1896 and 1913, he was inspired by three general themes: the world of fairy tales and fantasy (Cendrillon, Le Palais des Mille et Une Nuits, La Fée Libellule); science fiction—often inspired by the stories of jules verne (Le Voyage dans la Lune, 1902, Le Voyage à travers l'impossible, 20,000 Lieues sous les mers, La Conquête du pole); and history (L'Affair Dreyfus, La Civlisation à travers les âges). The creator of cinematographic direction and founder of the first film studios (at Montreuil), as well as the creator of special effects, Méliès, the pioneer of the seventh art, who had a free sense of imagination and knew poverty during his career and was for a time forgotten, was recognized and acclaimed before his death. In 1931, he was awarded the legion of honor. In 1936, the majority of Méliès's works were saved and restored by archivists.