Georges Méliès: A Life Between Cinema and Magic

Georges Méliès is a name that resonates in the world of cinema and magic. A complete artist, this man made history by being a director, producer, actor, and magician. His influence on the early days of cinema was immense, and his legacy continues to inspire many artists even today. But who was Georges Méliès really? What did he contribute to these arts? We take a look in this article!

Georges Méliès' Beginnings

Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès was born on December 8, 1861, into a family of shoemakers. Initially wanting to become a painter, he began working in his father's business before the latter sent him to England in 1883 to improve his English. It was there that he learned the basics of conjuring, particularly at the Egyptian Hall, a mecca for magic at the time.

Egyptian Hall facade in 1815

Back in France, he gave magic shows in a few breweries that would host him, and even in the fantastic cabinet of the Musée Grévin, which then had its own theater where magicians took turns presenting their acts.

Alongside his fascination with magic, Georges Méliès continued to have a passion for painting, and more generally for drawing. He became the caricaturist for the newspaper La griffe, signing his drawings with his pseudonym Geo Smile, a near anagram of his surname. Later, he would design the costumes for his films, their sets, and continue to create caricatures until his death.

Newspaper La Griffe with caricature by Georges Méliès, Cinémathèque collection

In 1888, Georges Méliès decided to leave the family business by selling his shares to one of his brothers to buy a theater. This theater was none other than Robert-Houdin's Théâtre des soirées fantastiques, then managed by Émile Robert-Houdin's widow. He became its director and would revitalize this mythical place of French magic.

The Théâtre Robert-Houdin

By acquiring the Robert-Houdin theater, Georges Méliès became its director. He also bought most of Robert-Houdin's automatons, which he continued to present, and created new illusions to show to the public. Thus, illusions such as Le Nain jaune (The Yellow Dwarf), Un tableau de fantaisie (A Fantasy Picture), Le décapité récalcitrant (The Recalcitrant Decapitation), and many others graced the theater's stages.

Notebook cover depicting the illusion of the Yellow Dwarf, Centre de Recherche sur la Prestidigitation collection

On stage, Georges Méliès was assisted by several other magicians who took turns ensuring the performances. One could thus see Okita in his Japanese recreations, Duperrey, Raynaly, Legris and many others in their conjuring exercises.

Georges Méliès would direct this theater until its closure in 1917. In 1924, the theater was demolished to allow for the enlargement of Boulevard Haussmann.

The discovery of cinema

In 1895, Georges Méliès was invited by the brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière to the presentation of a brand new device: the first public projection of the cinematograph. Georges Méliès was fascinated by the device, and immediately saw the potential it could offer him. He asked the Lumière brothers if he could buy their patents, which Auguste and Louis Lumière refused. Far from being discouraged by this obstacle, Georges Méliès then bought the rights to a similar device from the Isola brothers (famous magicians and theater directors) and the rights to an English device. He thus founded his own production company Star Film in 1897. Armed with this new technology, Georges Méliès built two studios for his company, located on his property in Montreuil near Paris.

Georges Méliès in his studio

In the first films he directed, Georges Méliès paid tribute to the theater he had acquired by producing the film "Escamotage d’une dame au théâtre Robert-Houdin" in 1896. Lasting less than 2 minutes, it shows Georges Méliès himself welcoming a lady and having her sit on a chair before covering her with a sheet. After a few magic passes, the sheet is removed, and the lady has disappeared. This film is one of the first, if not the first, to use video trickery for the needs of a film, in this sense, Georges Méliès is considered one of the pioneers of video trickery. His future productions would not escape the rule, and many magical scenes would be created using tricks directly made on the reels, notably by the process of cutting and pasting different reels together.

It is estimated that in seventeen years of activity, Georges Méliès directed nearly 600 films, mainly in the fantasy, science fiction, and historical reconstruction genres. Unfortunately for us, only a handful of his entire body of work has survived. Indeed, around 1923, when Georges Méliès was burdened with debt, he sold part of his property, and his films were scattered everywhere by various merchants. In a moment of anger, Georges Méliès himself burned some of his films.

A few decades later, thanks to the passionate work of his descendants and the Cinémathèque de Paris, part of this tragedy would be remedied, and this heritage still exists, thanks to certain films that were miraculously saved. Many could be cited, but one of them is certainly one of the most famous images in French cinema, depicting a moon with a human face and a shell in its right eye. This image, taken from the film Le voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon), is one of Georges Méliès' masterpieces, a film lasting almost fifteen minutes in which astronomers decide to go to the Moon aboard a rocket to discover life on this celestial body. This is followed by a meeting with the indigenous people of the Moon before a heroic return to Earth. See the video of A Trip to the Moon below.

Georges Méliès' Last Years

With the arrival of large American production companies and World War I, Georges Méliès encountered financial difficulties. Plagued by debt, he sold almost all of his assets and had to close his studio. No longer having the Robert-Houdin theater, nor his studios, nor his films which were scattered everywhere, his work gradually fell into oblivion. Georges Méliès then became a toy and confectionery seller at a train station in Paris.

Georges Méliès' shop, French Cinémathèque collection

Only his passion for drawing remained, requiring few resources, and it was in these circumstances that he caricatured himself chained behind the counter of his small shop, like a prisoner forced to work.

Sad caricature of Georges Méliès by himself, French Cinémathèque collection

A glimmer of hope finally emerged in the 1920s when his work was rediscovered and he was celebrated for his contributions to what would later become the seventh art. A few years later, he would also receive the Legion of Honor for his contribution to cinema.

Today, Georges Méliès is recognized by audiences all over the world. His legacy continues to live on through the many artists inspired by his work, and through his descendants (such as Madeleine Malthête-Méliès) who strive to make his story known. The Cinémathèque de Paris is attempting to compile a documentary collection about his life. His ability to combine magic and cinema opened new creative avenues and inspired many directors. The production of biographies, documentaries, and mainstream films directly inspired by his life are proof of the artist's influence, notably in the case of Hugo Cabret, whose story takes place at the time Georges Méliès worked in his toy shop at Montparnasse Station. Madeleine Malthête-Méliès, Georges Méliès' granddaughter, also wrote a biography about her grandfather: Georges Méliès, l'enchanteur (Georges Méliès, the Enchanter), published in 1973, which provides more insight into this French artist.