October 9: Some Méliès in Black & White Gifs

 

Spooktober 24: Little Red Riding Hood (1901)

 

 

 I felt it was time to feature some more Méliès, and it is also a good idea to occasionally take the time to turn a little attention to some of his films that are, at present, lost to us. Many only have titles, and are known only by catalog entries; but some, like this one have extant materials.  In this case, all that remains of Méliès Le petit chaperon rouge [Little Red Riding Hood] is one of his drawings. What currently survives of this 1901 short, which was probably released in the spring of 1901 in France, is the color illustration made by Georges Méliès himself of his intents for the final scene of the film. We do know that the film was quite popular as it was released in both the U.K. and the U.S.; though only in the U.K. was it properly promoted. We also know that the film had hand tinting, due to the distribution in England by the Warwick Trading Company, as they had the choice to distribute the film in either color or in black and white. One small hope that we have that a copy may be found, say perhaps in the Library of Congress, in a mislabeled storing is that Edison's company, in all definitions of the word "stole" the film from Star Pictures and promoted it in the United States as an Edison production. Shockingly, laws in the U.S. at the time (written largely due to lobbying by Edison and like companies) permitted this. For this reason, it, ironically, gives film historians and film lovers some hope that copy may turn up under this bogus title.

Spooktober 5: The Spiritualist Photographer (1903)

 

I feel like I would be remiss if I didn't feature a Méliès film in the first week of Spooktober, so I am going with one of his lesser known "trick films." One of literally hundreds that he made between the last five years of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twetith (many lost, as one can well imagine), Le Portrait Spirituel (or The Spiritualist Photographer) isn't so much a horror film, or even a fantasy picture, as it is a light hearted fancy that pokes fun of the spirit photography tradition that was an absolute craze in the late 1900's, but had waned by 1903. There is nothing derogatory in this little 2+ minute affair; rather it focuses more on Méliès' well honed editing talents. It's really more like a "magic" film (say, in like the David Copperfield tradition). But, it is fun and very atmospheric for this time of year. Besides, Méliés is credited with making the very first actual horror film, back in 1896.  Happy Halloween Season 🎃

 

Born Today December 31: Gottfried August Bürger

 

1747-1794

 

German poet and ballad writer Gottfried August Bürger was born on this day in the Prussian village of Molmerswende (now incorporated into Mansfeld in Saxony-Anhalt) to a prominent Lutheran pastor.   A fanciful and somewhat morose child who preferred to keep to himself in nature, he also began to write verses at a very early age, almost as early as he learned to write.  He was also a sensitive child who was sent off to boarding school to be groomed for a career in theology, at an unreasonably early age, causing trouble with his studies, particularly classical languages, but not for lack of intelligence. What he possessed in intelligence he lacked in discipline; as soon as he was at University in 1764 to study theology, he quickly switched his focus to literature, only to switch (after family urging) again to the study of law in 1868. He did make progress in this field, but added the study of classics to his menu in the 1870's.  He had never given up his study of literature however, and though it was well read in the literature of the continent, he was particularly found of Shakespeare and of English and Scottish balladry--both the ballads themselves and their makers (when known).  In 1773 he published his own ballad Lenore; it was to become his most famous work--widely translated and read. Gothic in nature and full of the fanciful dark places that he used to frequent as a child, it basically a ghost story--but it has also been interpreted as a vampire tale, especially in the 20th century after the 1897 publication of Bram Stoker's epistolary Dracula (and I have personally wondered more than once if the name might not be, if not the answer, at least an answer to where Edgar Allan Poe came to use the name in his own poetry).  The work certainly shows up in the writings of others, including Shelley and Dickens, but also Stoker himself. On this point, there is no doubt that aspects of the poem have been used in screenplays, for which Bürger has never once been credited (two screenplays explicitly come to mind: Dan Curtis' Dracula from 1974 written by Richard Matheson & Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula from 1992 written by James V. Hart).  Rather is is his translation and "interpretation" and "elaborations" on Raspe's novel Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia for which he gets film credit (up to a point). Bürger translated the book into other languages, including English; which were so popular that there were successive editions. To this end, Bürger admitted embellishing the tale tales and adding to some of the more excessive boasts of the Baron, but he was also improperly supposed to have written the work in the first place in England for a long time.  And it is his name that appears in the credits of the very first film made from the tales. Ironically, the film is not English, it is French and made by the master of the original trick film himself: Mèliés.  His The Hallucination of Baron Munchausen (a rough translation--for English marketing purposes--from his original French title that literally translates as The Adventures of Baron von Munchausen); a later film for him made in 1911, it gives sole credit to Bürger for the book with no mention of Raspe (probably because he was unknown to the filmmaker entirely); French novelist Théophile Gautier is also credited as the translator. The one other silent film made from the Baron Munchausen material was also produced in France the following year by Gaumont.  The Wonderful Adventures of Herr Munchausen was directed by Ëmile Cohl and credits both Bürger and Raspe for "inspiration" no other writers are credited.  Given that Cohl was a pioneer in animation, I have to wonder if the film didn't contain some animations, despite it being a short. The very next version of the film, probably the second most famous behind Terry Gilliam's version; and, disturbingly, it is also a brilliant piece of German propaganda.  Münchausen (or The Adventures of Baron Munchausen), doesn't credit either of them (neither does Gilliam's version, for that matter).  They both get writing credit in the 1962 Czech language version, while Rasp gets sole credit for a 1967 and a 1979 version. Bürger again gets solo credit in a Hungarian version of the book released in 1978; and again in an animated French film released the following year. Gilliam's film was released in 1988 and that is where the credit for Munchausen ends for Bürger.  He has one more writing credit for the historical television mini-series Absender from West Germany from 1982, where he is also the subject on of one of the episodes that aired on the 24th of October.  Bürger himself continued to write and teach throughout his life with the same, if reduced, hectic approach that characterized his early life.  At one point he was given a teaching accolade with position attached to it, but without even so much as a stipend to go with it; so while he had a "major award" he was also obliged to teach for free. Naturally these kinds of turns in his life lead to poverty later in life.  By the time of his death on the 8th of June at the age of just 46, he was on government assistance.  He is buried at Bartholomäusfriedhof in Gottingen in Lower Saxony. It is a pity that none of his actual writing has been adapted for film, as he  wrote several very influential poems and his ballads (of which there are many) are considered among the best ever written in the German language. 

[source: Wikimedia Commons]

[source: Wikimedia Commons]

 

Wikipedia 

Find A Grave

 

More Mèliés Tricks

Back from dealing with Hurricane Michael yesterday, and wanted to share a little Mèliés flummery to express my sense of relief! This dates from 1903 and shows his prowess at careful film editing at it's best. 

Silent Horror Of The Day Embed--Mèliés The Vanishing Lady (1896)

This was not Mèliés' first horror film, but it was close.  He is credited with making the very first horror film earlier in 1896 (there is one Edison short from the year before that counts as the first horror film...it just wasn't intended to be when it was produced). This, like many of Mèliés' films, has several titles in both French and English.  It is one of is his rather delightful and macabre trick films--he was the master of them!

Released 114 Years Ago

Méliès film La Chaudron Infernal or The Infernal Boiling Pot was released 114 years ago today.  It is now considered one of the earliest horror films, made by the man who is credited with making the very first horror film back in the 1890's. Happy Early Halloween! 

Born Today June 17: Adolphe d'Ennery

1811-1899

French playwright Adolphe Phillippe d'Ennery (sometimes spelled Dennery) was born on this day in Paris.  Though writing before finding success, his first successful drama was published in 1831 and was actually co-penned with another author: Charles Desnoyer.  It would be the first of several successful co-authorships for him (more than a 100 actually).  He was also a novelist (oddly many of his novels were adaptations of his own plays), but it is his plays that he is remembered for today.  The first time his work was used for the basis of a film scenario came in 1902 with the UK produced short A Duel With Knives, ironically based on one of his novels (the film is that not to have survived).  The first time one of his plays was used for film material came just 2 years later with The Voyage Across The Impossible (1904), a film made by none other than Melies.  Probably the most famous silent film to use his writing for a script was D.W. Griffith's own personal adaptation of one d'Ennery's co-authored novels in Orphans Of The Storm (1921), a 2 1/3 hour long epic starring the Gish sisters.  The first sound film to be produced from his work came in 1932 with It Happened In Paris.  One of his plays was first adapted for a television movie in 1957 in the Soviet Union in Don Sezar de Bazan.  The most recent use came in 2011, again made for television; this time a stage performance of an opera that he and Louis Gallet wrote the libretto for.  Le Cid was a French production.  He died in the city of his birth of the 25th of January 1899 at the age of 87.  He is buried in Pére Lachaise.

For More:

Wikipedia

IMDb

Couple Of Melies Shorts: The Four Troublesome Heads (1898) & The Haunted Castle (1896)

The Four Troublesome Heads is one of hundreds (many of them, sadly, lost) of Melies' trick photography films--it employs straight out tricks, as so many of his films do.  The Haunted Castle or House Of The Devil, in the other hand employs trick photography to get a narrative going.  It is widely regarded as the very first horror film, featuring both a haunting and a vampire. It was remade a year later by British film maker George Albert Smith, thus making it the first film to inspire a remake as well claiming the title of first horror film produced.

Short Comparison: Melies A Trip To The Moon (1902) vs. Chomon's An Excursion To The Moon (1908)

Countdown To Halloween: Melies' The House Of The Devil (1896)

Widely believed to be the first horror movie made.

Silent Horror Montage

I stumbled on this on YouTube this morning--wonderful Montage from 4 silent horror films, two by Melies from 1896, one my Chomon from 1908 and quite a lot from the the truly demented Swedish/Danish film Haxan:  Witchcraft Through The Ages, by Danish born director Benjamin Christensen (for more information watch it over at YouTube).  Happy Halloween!!  Oh, and Feliz Dia de la Brujas to folks in down Mexico way!

Here is a link to my own photo tribute to Haxan from Halloween two years ago.

The Silent Image In Modern Medium: "Uncle Grandpa" and The Funny Face Party

I just happened to be watching a streaming episode of the very quirky and strangely entertaining cartoon Uncle Grandpa yesterday, which features the funny face party of season one.  I immediately thought of  a Georges Melies film of 1901 that goes by several names, the two most famous being The Man With A Rubber Head or The India Rubber Head (L'homme á la téte de caoutchouc) , which had to be both the inspiration for the episode and an out and out homage to the Melies.  Both are hilarious and speak for themselves as imagery.  

Silent Horror Still Of The Day

Still from Melies 1903 film The Monster.

Silent Horror Image Of The Day

There is some controversy over where this tinted print comes from.  It is either a tinted Melies which was released in 1896, or it is from one of the very first British film "directors" George Albert Smith's The Haunted Castle, which dates from 1897.  If it is the later,  I guess that makes this one of the first, if not the very first, remakes in film history.

Silent Horror Image Of The Day

From Melies 1896 The Devil's Castle AKA The House Of The Devil

Summoning The Spirits (1899)

Another haunted Melies short from the 1890's.

The Bewitched Inn (1897)

Another early haunted horror trick film from Melies.

From France: A Trip To The Moon (1902)

It is United Nations Day, and over at the Scare Me On Fridays blog spot we are celebrating with a Countdown To Halloween theme of scary films from different countries, so I thought it would be fun to track that here.  First up is France, and more Melies.  The is perhaps his most famous film!  I've even seen tattoos of the moon are arms and backs!  At over 10 minutes long, this was considered a wonder of modern cinema when it debuted.  Happy Halloween!  Happy UN Day.

An Excursion To The Moon (1908)

Over at my Scare Me On Fridays blog we are celebrating the second day of the Countdown to Halloween with a  Science Fiction theme, so here is an early Sci-Fi from Spain.  This is yet another Segundo de Chomon remake of the an earlier Melies original in English A Trip To The Moon (1902).