A Trip to the Moon

A Trip to the Moon 1902

7.92

Professor Barbenfouillis and five of his colleagues from the Academy of Astronomy travel to the Moon aboard a rocket propelled by a giant cannon. Once on the lunar surface, the bold explorers face the many perils hidden in the caves of the mysterious planet.

1902

The Impossible Voyage

The Impossible Voyage 1904

7.20

Using every known means of transportation, several savants from the Geographic Society undertake a journey through the Alps to the Sun which finishes under the sea.

1904

The Haunted Castle

The Haunted Castle 1897

5.67

A man has an encounter with several spooky apparitions in a castle that is evidently owned by the Devil.

1897

After the Ball

After the Ball 1897

5.10

A woman arrives home after the ball. Her servant helps her undress and bathe.

1897

Divers at Work on the Wreck of the

Divers at Work on the Wreck of the "Maine" 1898

5.93

Divers go to work on a wrecked ship (the battleship Maine that was blown up in Havana harbour during the Spanish-American War), surrounded by curiously disproportionate fish.

1898

Cinderella

Cinderella 1899

6.20

A fairy godmother magically turns Cinderella's rags to a beautiful dress, and a pumpkin into a coach. Cinderella goes to the ball, where she meets the Prince - but will she remember to leave before the magic runs out? Méliès based the art direction on engravings by Gustave Doré. First known example of a fairy-tale adapted to film, and the first film to use dissolves to go from one scene to another.

1899

The Pillar of Fire

The Pillar of Fire 1899

5.89

A devil wearing bat-like wings and brandishing a trident dances around a giant pot, conjuring forth flame from his trident to lit a fire beneath the pot. After the devil works the fire with bellows, an angelic woman emerges from the pot. The devil and the pot vanish as the woman performs a dance, waving about her diaphanous sleeves until she conjures forth another fire, then she rises amongst the smoke into the air.

1899

The Infernal Cauldron

The Infernal Cauldron 1903

6.28

A green-skinned demon places a woman and two courtiers into a flaming cauldron.

1903

The Haunted Castle

The Haunted Castle 1896

6.47

In a medieval castle, a dark magician thought to be Mephistopheles conjures up a series of bizarre creatures and events in order to torment a pair of interloping cavaliers.

1896

Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe 1902

5.50

Georges Méliès adaptation of Robinson Crusoe, the first film adaptation of the story. Filmed in black & white, Méliès would then paint the film by hand to colour it. Originally a 15 minute film, twelve and a half minutes of painted film have been found and have been restored.

1902

The Devil in a Convent

The Devil in a Convent 1899

6.28

A priest is officiating at a convent, when suddenly he is transformed into the devil, who frightens away the nuns and turns the place into pandemonium.

1899

The Bewitched Inn

The Bewitched Inn 1897

6.29

A weary traveler stops at an inn along the way to get a good night's sleep, but his rest is interrupted by odd happenings when he gets to his room--beds vanishing and re-appearing, candles exploding, pants flying through the air and his shoes walking away by themselves.

1897

The Four Troublesome Heads

The Four Troublesome Heads 1898

7.10

One of the greatest of black art pictures. The conjurer appears before the audience, with his head in its proper place. He then removes his head, and throwing it in the air, it appears on the table opposite another head, and both detached heads sing in unison. The conjurer then removes it a third time. You then see all three of his heads, which are exact duplicates, upon the table at one time, while the conjurer again stands before the audience with his head perfectly intact, singing in unison with the three heads upon the table. He closes the picture by bowing himself from the stage.

1898

The Kingdom of the Fairies

The Kingdom of the Fairies 1903

6.90

At the royal court, a prince is presenting the princess whom he is pledged to marry when a witch suddenly appears. Though driven off, the witch soon returns, summons some of her servants, and carries off the princess. A rescue party is quickly organized, but the unfortunate captive has been taken to a strange, forbidding realm, from where it will be impossible to rescue her without some special help.

1903

The Diabolic Tenant

The Diabolic Tenant 1909

6.80

A man rents an apartment and furnishes it in remarkable fashion.

1909

Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc 1900

6.90

A divinely inspired peasant woman becomes an army captain for France and then is martyred after she is captured.

1900

The Conquest of the Pole

The Conquest of the Pole 1912

6.30

A science fantasy film that deals with an extraordinary race to the north pole by rival parties of balloonists. Based on the novel "The Adventures of Captain Hatteras" by Jules Verne.

1912

The Melomaniac

The Melomaniac 1903

6.70

The leader of a marching band demonstrates an unusual way of writing music.

1903

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 1907

5.30

The film, a parody of the novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, follows a fisherman, Yves, who dreams of traveling by submarine to the bottom of the ocean, where he encounters both realistic and fanciful sea creatures, including a chorus of naiads played by dancers from the Théâtre du Châtelet. Méliès's design for the film includes cut-out sea animals patterned after Alphonse de Neuville's illustrations for Verne's novel.

1907