Georges Méliès
- Known for
- Directing
- Born
- December 8, 1861
- Died
- January 21, 1938 (aged 76)
- Birthplace
- Paris, France
Biography
Georges Méliès (December 8, 1861 - January 21, 1938), full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French illusionist and filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema. One of the first filmmakers to use multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, tracking shots, dissolves, and hand-painted color in his work, Méliès pioneered effects that would define cinematic special effects for decades to come. A prolific innovator in the use of special effects, Méliès accidentally discovered the substitution stop trick in 1896, a method of creating seamless disappearing and/or appearing effects used throughout both films and television for decades to come. Because of his ability to seemingly manipulate and transform reality through cinematography, Méliès is sometimes referred to as the first "Cinemagician". Two of his best-known films are A Trip to the Moon (1902) and The Impossible Voyage (1904). Both stories involve strange, surreal voyages, somewhat in the style of Jules Verne, and are considered among the most important early science fiction films, though their approach is closer to fantasy. Méliès was also an early pioneer of horror cinema, which can be traced back to his Le Manoir du diable (1896). In early 1909 Méliès stopped making films to protest Thomas Edison's Motion Pictures Parents Company monopoly, and presided over the first meeting of the International Filmmakers Congress in Paris. Further financial hardships created by his opposition to Edison and diminishing influence, Méliès disappeared from public life. By the mid-1920s he made a meager living as a candy and toy salesma in Paris, with the assistance of funds collected by other filmmakers. Although he was recognized for his contributions in cinema, Méliès spent most of his later years in poverty before being accepted into La Maison du Retraite du Cinéma, the film industry's retirement home in Orly.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
An Angelic Servant
Movie · Director
The Woes of Roller Skaters
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Méliès: Tales of Terror
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Georges Méliès: The First Wizard of Cinema (1896-1913)
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Gala Méliès
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The Voyage of M. Bourrichon
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The Conquest of the Pole
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The Knight of the Snow
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Cinderella or The Glass Slipper
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The Hallucinations of Baron Munchausen
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The Diabolical Church Window
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The Diabolic Tenant
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The Spider and the Butterfly
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Whimsical Illusions
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The Doctor's Secret
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Hypnotist's Revenge
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Tribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler
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The Indian Sorcerer
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Long Distance Wireless Photography
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Buncoed Stage Johnnie
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The Prophetess of Thebes
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A Tricky Painter’s Fate
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Not Guilty
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The Good Shepherdess and the Evil Princess
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The Dream of an Opium Fiend
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Les malheurs d'un photographe
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The New Lord of the Village
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The Miser
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French Cops Learning English
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Justinian's Human Torches
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The Broken Violin
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The Genii of Fire
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Grandmother's Tale and Child's Dream
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Why That Actor Was Late
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Les infortunes des patineurs
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In the Barber Shop
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His First Job
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Sideshow Wrestlers
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Pharmaceutical Hallucinations
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Mishaps of the New York-Paris Auto Race
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Humanity Through the Ages
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L'agent gelé
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The Fortune Favors the Brave
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A Night With Masqueraders in Paris
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A Mistaken Identity
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A Lover's Hazing
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A Fake Diamond Swindler
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Curiosity Punished
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Pranks With a Fake Python
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Up-to-Date Clothes Cleaning
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Hunting the Teddy Bear
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The Little Peace Maker
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A Love Tragedy in Spain
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The Mystery of the Garrison
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The Magic of Catchy Songs
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The Forester's Remedy
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Two Crazy Bugs
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The Hotel Mix-Up
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Oriental Black Art
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Two Talented Vagabonds
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Fun With the Bridal Party
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The Helping Hand
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The Old Footlight Favorite
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The Wonderful Charm
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Honeymoon in a Balloon
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Incident from Don Quixote
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The Duke's Good Joke
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The Fairy Dragonfly
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Moitié de polka
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The Living Doll
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Why That Actor Was Late
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The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon
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Good Glue Sticks
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20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
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Tunneling the English Channel
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The Skipping Cheese
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Delirium in a Studio
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Sightseeing Through Whisky
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Rogues' Tricks
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Satan in Prison
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How Bridget's Lover Escaped
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The King and the Jester
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The Knight of Black Art
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The Good Luck of a 'Souse'
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In the Bogie Man's Cave
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Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
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A Mischievous Sketch
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A New Death Penalty
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Drink! A Great Temperance Story
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The Bewildering Cabinet
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Chopin's Funeral March Burlesqued
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A Forester Made King
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Shakespeare Writing "Julius Caesar"
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Bakers in Trouble
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The Mysterious Retort
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The Hilarious Posters
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The Merry Frolics of Satan
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Punch and Judy
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Soap Bubbles
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A Roadside Inn
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A Mix-Up in the Gallery
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The Witch
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The Tramp and the Mattress Makers
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A Desperate Crime
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Jack the Chimney Sweep
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The Luny Musician
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Robert Macaire and Bertrand
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Old and New Style Conjurers
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Who Looks, Pays!
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A Spiritualist Meeting
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A Seaside Flirtation
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The Enchanted Sedan Chair
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The Scheming Gambler's Paradise
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The Living Playing Cards
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The Black Imp
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A Mesmerian Experiment
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The Lilliputian Minuet
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The Magic Dice
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The Palace of the Arabian Nights
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An Adventurous Automobile Trip
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Ulysses and the Giant Polyphemus
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An Improvised Fireworks Display
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A Crazy Composer
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Rip's Dream
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The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship
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The Tower of London
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The Angler's Nightmare, or A Policeman's Troubles
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Life-Saving Up-to-Date
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The King of Sharpshooters
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Mr. Dauber and the Whimsical Picture
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The Venetian Looking-Glass
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The Chloroform Fiends
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The Impossible Voyage
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The Untamable Whiskers
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The Mermaid
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The Cook in Trouble
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The Imperceptible Transmutations
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The Wandering Jew
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The Firefall
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The Bewitched Trunk
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Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter
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The Fugitive Apparitions
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The Devilish Plank
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A Miracle Under the Inquisition
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The Clockmaker's Dream
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Tit for Tat
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The Christmas Angel
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Faust and Marguerite
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The Wonderful Living Fan
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Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer
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A Wager Between Two Magicians, or, Jealous of Myself
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The Wonderful Rose Tree
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Benvenuto Cellini or A Curious Evasion
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The Mischances of a Drunkard
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The Providence of the Waves
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The Invisible Siva
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The Fake Russian Prophet
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Uncle Rube's Birthday
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The Barber of Seville
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The Animated Costumes
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Simple Simon's Surprise Party
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The Astonishing Frame
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The Shadow Lady
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A Wedding by Correspondence
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The Grotto of Surprises
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The Impossible Dinner
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The Kingdom of the Fairies
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The Monster
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The Infernal Cauldron
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The Melomaniac
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The Infernal Cake-Walk
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The Oracle of Delphi
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The Marvellous Wreath
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The Magic Lantern
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Apparitions
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The Enchanted Well
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Extraordinary Illusions
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The Inn Where No Man Rests
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Misfortune Never Comes Alone
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Faust in the Underworld
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Jupiter's Thunderballs
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Ten Ladies in an Umbrella
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The Mystical Flame
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A Moonlight Serenade
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The Terrible Turkish Executioner
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The Mysterious Box
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The Witch's Revenge
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The Ballet Master's Dream
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Alcofribas, The Master Magician
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Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid
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Jack Jags and Dum Dum
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Comical Conjuring
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The Drawing Lesson
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A Spiritualist Photographer
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Les Mousquetaires de la reine
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The Enchanted Basket
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Beelzebub's Daughters
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A Trip to the Moon
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The Colonel's Shower Bath
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The Microscopic Dancer
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The Magician and the Imp
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The Treasures of Satan
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The Human Fly
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An Impossible Balancing Feat
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Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants
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The Coronation of Edward VII
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The Dwarf and the Giant
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The Devil and the Statue
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Robinson Crusoe
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The Terrible Eruption of Mount Pelee and Destruction of St. Pierre, Martinique
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The Prolific Magical Egg
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Sure Cure for Indigestion
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The Catastrophe of the Balloon "Le Pax"
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Cabinet Trick of the Davenport Brothers
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Wine Cellar Burglars
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Drunkard and Inventor
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Marvelous Suspension
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Bluebeard
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The Man with the Rubber Head
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The Brahmin and the Butterfly
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An Extraordinary Dislocation
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The Magician's Cavern
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The Bachelor's Paradise
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The Prince of Magicians
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Hat of Many Surprises
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Off to Bedlam
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The Triple Headed Lady
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Little Red Riding Hood
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A Maiden's Paradise
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The Temple of the Sun
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Painless Dentistry
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Fun in Court
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A Good Trick
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The Sacred Fountain
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A Phrenological Burlesque
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The Dragon Fly
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The Trials of a Schoolmaster
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The Dream of a Hindu Beggar
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The Elastic Battalion
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Crying and Laughing
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The One-Man Band
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The Astronomer's Dream
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Addition and Subtraction
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The Cook's Revenge
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Joan of Arc
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The Rajah's Dream or The Bewitched Wood
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The Wizard, the Prince and the Good Fairy
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The Magic Book
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Up-to-Date Spiritualism
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The Triple Conjurer and the Living Head
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The Christmas Dream
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The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match
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A Fantastical Meal
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Going to Bed Under Difficulties
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Eight Girls in a Barrel
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The Doctor and the Monkey
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How He Missed His Train
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What Is Home Without the Boarder
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The Two Blind Men
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The Misfortunes of an Explorer
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The Artist and the Dummy
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L'homme aux cent trucs
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China Versus Allied Powers
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Les miracles du Brahmine
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Cooks fight
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The Flea
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The Coup of Pere Francois
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The Bath
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The Stick
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The Unexpected Bath
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The Degradation of Dreyfus
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Dreyfus Leaving the Lycée for Jail
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An Up-to-Date Conjurer
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The Devil in a Convent
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The Pillar of Fire
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The Mysterious Portrait
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Dreyfus Court Martial - Arrest Of Dreyfus
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Dreyfus Put in Irons
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Suicide of Colonel Henry
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Landing of Dreyfus at Quiberon
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Dreyfus Meets His Wife at Rennes
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The Attempt Against the Life of Maitre Labori
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The Fight of Reporters
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The Court Martial at Rennes
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The Mysterious Knight
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Cinderella
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The Dreyfus Affair
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Summoning the Spirits
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The Human Pyramid
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Cleopatra's Tomb
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Fantastic Dining Room
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A Midnight Episode
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Lightning Change Artist
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Extravagant Struggles
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Devil's Island - Within the Palisade
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Christ Walking on Water
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Murder Will Out
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The Clown and Automobile
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Le conférencier distrait
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The Four Troublesome Heads
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Divers at Work on the Wreck of the "Maine"
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Panorama from Top of a Moving Train
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The Famous Box Trick
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Adventures of William Tell
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The Temptation of St. Anthony
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The Magician
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The Damnation of Faust
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Guerre de Cuba et l'explosion du Maine à La Havane
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Pygmalion and Galatea
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Visite de l'épave du Maine
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The Bridegroom's Dilemma
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A Woman Surprised
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The Cave of the Demons
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Carrefour de l'opéra
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A Novice at X-Rays
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The Surrender of Tournavos
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Between Calais and Dover
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The Bewitched Inn
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After the Ball
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On the Roof
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Naval Combat in Greece
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The Last Cartridges
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The Hallucinated Alchemist
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The Devil's Laboratory
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Faust and Marguerite
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An Irritable Model
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Boxing Match
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Fencing at the Joinville School
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The Grasshopper and the Ant
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A Terrible Night (Remake)
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D. Devant, Conjurer
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Le château hanté
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Dancing in a Harem
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Gugusse and the Automaton
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A Funny Mahometan
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A Twentieth Century Surgeon
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Bois de Boulogne
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Passage dangereux au Mont-Blanc
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Playing Cards
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A Terrible Night
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The Vanishing Lady
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A Nightmare
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Post No Bills
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Le manoir du diable
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Arrival of a Train at Vincennes Station
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Arrival of a Train (Joinville Station)
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A Serpentine Dance
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Watering the Flowers
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Conjuring
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Les tribulations d'un concierge
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Miss de Vère - English Jig
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Conjurer Making Ten Hats in Sixty Seconds
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A Soldier's Unlucky Salutation
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