Original subtitles

Step right up! Step right up! Ladies and Gentlemen.

Come to fly, come to dream!

Step right up! Step right up! No pushing please.

If you haven't got any money, that's okay.

A bunch of radishes, a lettuce leaf, or a leg of chicken will do.

Come and discover the animated scenes by the king of spectacular special effects.

The one and only Georges Melies, Mr. Georges Melies

The creator of the cinema extravaganza.

Travel to the moon with the Jules Verne of the cinema.

Come inside, and see 15 films by the magician Melies.

Step right up, Ladies and Gentlemen, please. Children are of course welcome too.

Soldiers and children's nannies pay half price.

Welcome to the boulevard of cinema in this palace of illusion and magic,

the Grevin Museum.

Good evening

Good evening

It's a pleasure to be here with you this evening in this magical place.

It's the theatre of the Grevin Museum.

Just imagine, over a hundred years ago in 1890, my grandfather Georges Melies

would do conjouring tricks here,

because before being a great filmmaker and a pioneer,

he was a great illusionist and a great magician.

He ran the Robert-Houdin Theatre nearby for many years.

But tonight you're here to see some of Melies' films,

films which were shot between 1898 and 1909.

So I ask you to make a great leap backwards in time

You are here in the Grevin Museum in the 1900s,

and you're here for a cinematography presentation.

There were always three people present in the cinema

since they were silent movies, but they were never quiet.

First, there was the barker, that's me,

who told the stories and who announced the titles of the films.

There was a second person, the projectionist, who turned the crank,

and counted, because the films were shown at eighteen frames per second.

And there was a third person, very important, who was the pianist.

The pianist with us tonight is the composer and improviser Eric Le Guen.

And we're going to start the first part of our screening

with a film which Melies himself appears in, because he acted in all his films.

He was producer, distributor, lead actor, scriptwriter, special effects man ...

and gag writer.

And so, this film is called The Man with Four Heads.

It was made in 1898, a century ago.

It only lasts for 50 seconds, but for us, for you,

it's 50 seconds of bliss.

Now we will accompany Melies on his immortal trip to the Moon from 1902.

We have the privilege of attending tonight

a special meeting of the members of the Institute of Incoherent Astronomy.

Scholars from all over the world, here for the conference,

are waiting impatiently for a speech by the famous Professor Barbenfouillis.

Professor Barbenfouillis presents to his honourable colleagues

his bold plan to make a trip to the Moon

with the help of a shell fired from a giant cannon.

But there are several objections.

Finally, five courageous heroes agree to accompany him on his mad enterprise.

We see the shell being built.

The casting of the giant cannon.

Finally the day to leave is here.

The launching ramp is set up above the roofs of the town.

In the distance can be seen the Earth

Inside the Moon, the cave of giant mushrooms.

But the Moon is inhabited by the Selenites.

Prisoners of the King of the Moon, the King of the Selenites.

Will our intrepid heroes manage to escape.

A great procession, decorations and public festivities.

In 1903, a dance was all the rage in Paris: the cake-walk.

Melies used this idea to make a film called The Infernal Cake-Walk

and himself played the role of the Devil, and danced the cake-walk

in the middle of the film after coming out of a giant cake.

In 1905, the Prefect of the Police Lepin had outlawed a number of gaming clubs in Paris.

Melies immediately used the idea to make The Scheming Gambler's Paradise.

The croupier turns off the light.

In the darkness,

thinking they're arresting the gamblers, the policemen fight each other.

But the police chief turns the light back on.

In 1903, Melies brilliantly played with his head in The Music Lover.

And now here's a film in colour.

In 1903, some films were already in colour.

Each frame was coloured by hand.

Here is Melies in The Infernal Boiling Pot.

In 1902, Melies made The Man with the Rubber Head.

Melies was a magician, an illusionist, and a very skilful conjuror.

In The Living Playing Cards,

he begins with a magic trick which I saw him perform:

the ever growing cards,

and then, of course, he continues with cinematographic special effects.

You have just seen eight short films by Melies

and you now know what an extraordinary, extravagant person he was.

In his films, there's a sense of gaiety, good humour and jubilation.

We get the impression that he had a lot of fun.

He worked hard, but he also loved creating

these films which intrigued parents and amused their children.

He made 503 films during his career, which stretched from 1896 to 1912.

He was also one of the inventors of advertising films,

the short commercials which you can now see on television.

You saw that when he was not wearing a wig, he was bald.

Well, he made a commercial for Pilocarpin which was a hair restorer.

So in the film, he introduced himself and took a bottle of Pilocarpin out of his pocket.

He covered his head with Pilocarpin

and grew a magnificent head of hair which reached his shoulders.

He splashed a few drops of Pilocarpin on his shoes, and his shoes sprouted hair too.

He shot around 20 very funny little films,

which were shown on the mezzanine floor of the Robert-Houdin Theatre

and which the public could watch from the Boulevard des Italiens.

They were such a success that two police constables were brought in.

The police officers enjoyed themselves so much,

that they joined the Robert-Houdin Theatre and became magicians.

We will begin this second part with a film called Billboards on a Spree.

In this film Melies, who is a bill poster,

makes fun of the advertisments of his day.

Hilarious Posters, 1905

You can see a little "Death to the cops" at the bottom the reserved space.

In these parodies of advertisments,

"Tripaulin" refers to the brand of paint "Ripaulin"

"Meat and leek extract" is beef extract.

And Melies puts up a poster for the Parisiana music hall,

which is putting on a revue entitled Love on Credit.

In 1909, A Devilish Tenant,

a colour film in which each frame was hand coloured at the time.

Melies plays the part of a tenant who goes to see the concierge,

because he's looking for a good apartment.

The day the rent is due.

Melies was an excellent draughtsman and charicaturist.

We have kept many of his drawings.

Here is a glimpse of this unusual talent in Untamable Whiskers.

Clown

Georges Melies dressed as a chinaman in Tchin-Chao: The Chinese Conjuror.

In 1901, Georges Melies as Bluebeard.

Lord Bluebeard had been married seven times and widowed seven times.

These women disappeared in very mysterious circumstances.

He is now looking for his eighth wife.

So he invited all the lords from the area

so he could meet their daughters.

He finds them all very charming.

But the feeling is not mutual.

What an old fogey! All the girls are very scared of him.

Fortunately, Bluebeard is very rich, very rich.

He has bags full of gold.

And he owns cackets full of jewels.

If Bluebeard is unable to win over the girl,

he has certainly won over the father.

Here's my daugter. Lord Bluebeard, I bless you.

But you must strike while the iron is hot.

Notary, bring your writing case and your goose quill.

The marriage contract is signed by the father,

and very reluctantly, by the girl.

The notary wants payment for his services.

But Bluebeard is short tempered and very bad at paying.

The visit to the kitchens of Bluebeard's castle

and the preparations for the wedding feast.

An illicit advertisment for Mercier Champagne flashes past.

Madam, I have to go away on a very long journey.

I'm sorry I have to leave you.

I give you the keys to the castle.

You may go anywhere, except...

except this room, which is forbidden.

How dark it is in this room!

I'll open a shutter.

How horrible! And the key, it's fallen in the blood.

This stain, cursed stain!

It's impossible to remove it.

You silly little girl!

I'm your godmother and I've come to help you.

But what have you done?

The indelible stain is the mark of your disobedience to Bluebeard.

Madam, what have you done! You disobeyed me!

Give me that key!

Madam, you are going to die!

Oh Lord Bluebeard, give me some time to pray.

Sister Anne, my sister Anne, can't you see anything?

I see only the green grass and the dust rising up from the road.

Ah! I see two men on horseback. They're our brothers, quick!

And Bluebeard's seven wives come back to life.

And get married.

All's well that ends well.

A parody of fairground wrestling matches in 1900,

with Jeanne d'Alcy, the world's first movie star.

Fat and Lean Wrestling Match.

In 1900, a century ago, Melies played himself

In The One Man Band.