George Melies was a French illusionist and filmmaker responsible for the development of many techniques in the early days of film making. He directed 531 films between 1896 and
1913. Most known for A TRIP TO THE MOON(1902) and THE IMPOSSIBLE VOYAGE(1904). THE HAUNTED CASTLE(Le Manoir du Diablo), although played for laughs, is considered the first horror film. It opened on Christmas Eve, 1896 at a theater in Paris.
THE ASTRONOMER’S DREAM is a farce where the Moon comes down to Earth and eats his telescope. We have little men tumbling out of it’s mouth, witches, and all manner of nonsense.
In THE RED SPECTRE, a magician attempts to perform his act in a grotto and is confronted by a spirit.
Edison Studios, owned by the Edison Company of Thomas Edison, made 1200 films between 1894 and 1918, fifty-four of them full length, the rest shorts. A TRIP TO MARS has a scientist invent an anti-gravity powder and going to Mars. Thought to be the first American science fiction movie.
Edison Studios was the first to tackle Mary Shelley’s classic novel. It’s a twelve minute piece.
Pictured below is the cover of the Edison Studios film catalogue.
For more conventional overlooked movies, as always on Tuesdays, go check out Todd Mason over at his blog, SWEET FREEDOM,
Not The Baseball Pitcher 
The first I heard of him was in the movie Hugo… I was surprised to find that the cinematographer in it was a real person… Amazing work!. Thanks for sharing some of his work. 🙂
I became familiar with his work through Hugo as well.
Some great choices Randy – there’s a real charm about these films. Scorsese’s HUGO is a very loving tribute to the Melies films. Peter Bogdanovich suggested something more sinister about Edison in NICKELODEON on the other hand …
I wish these were shown on a big screen more often. I think it is far easier to see their charm on big screens.