Research Catalog

Title

Magnificent Mélìes : the authorized biography / by Madeleine Malthête-Méliès ; translated by Kel Pero ; edited by Matthew Solomon.

Author

Malthête-Méliès, Madeleine, 1923-

Publication

• Ann Arbor, Michigan : University of Michigan Press, 2022.
• ©2022

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Pero, Kel
• Solomon, Matthew
• Michigan Publishing (University of Michigan), publisher.

Description

xxvii, 369 pages : illustrations, portraits, genealogical table; 24 cm

Summary

The films of Georges Méliès (1861-1938) are landmarks in the early history of narrative filmmaking and cinematic special effects. He was a harbinger of modern aesthetics and media manipulation, and this book, written by his granddaughter, is the only one that tells his full story. Magnificent Méliès is a thoroughly researched but highly accessible book that is a crucial source for the scholar and an entertaining read for the nonspecialist. The core of the biography provides detailed accounts of Méliès' filmmaking years (1896-1913), from his first motion pictures shortly after the public premiere of the Lumière Cinématographe through such worldwide successes as his film Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) and his eventual marginalization by the very industry he had helped to found. The biography also chronicles Méliès' formative work as director of Paris's preeminent magic theater, the Théâtre Robert-Houdin; his subsequent career staging operettas for the Théâtre des Variétés Artistiques (1917-1923) in Montreuil on the site of one of his former film studios; and his later years selling toys and candy at the Gare Montparnasse (1926-1932) before being rediscovered by journalists and the avant-garde. These and other fascinating chapters highlight the remarkable range of Méliès' creative work while suggesting how his singular life was nevertheless shaped by the seismic historical shifts of Second Empire and Third Republic France.

Uniform Title

Georges Méliès l'enchanteur. English

Alternative Title

Georges Méliès l'enchanteur.

Subject

• Méliès, Georges, 1861-1938
• Motion picture producers and directors > France > Biography
• Motion pictures > France > History
• Motion picture producers and directors
• Motion pictures
• France

Genre/Form

• Biographies.
• History.

Note

• Keywords: Méliès, early film, film history, magic, magician, special effects, French cinema, biography, France, Paris, film, cinema, film pioneer, film studio, trick film, trick cinematography, short film, theater, Belle Epoque, fin-de-siècle

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references.

Additional Formats (note)

• Also issued online as an e-book

Language (note)

• Includes translation from the French.

Call Number

MWES (Melies, G.) 23-679

ISBN

• 9780472132584
• 047213258X

OCLC

1345520543

Author

Malthête-Méliès, Madeleine, 1923- author.

Title

Magnificent Mélìes : the authorized biography / by Madeleine Malthête-Méliès ; translated by Kel Pero ; edited by Matthew Solomon.

Publisher

Ann Arbor, Michigan : University of Michigan Press, 2022.

Copyright Date

©2022

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references.

Additional Formats

Also issued online as an e-book

Language

Includes translation from the French.

Added Author

Pero, Kel, translator.

Solomon, Matthew, editor.

Michigan Publishing (University of Michigan), publisher.

Research Call Number

MWES (Melies, G.) 23-679