01.11.06
Books About Georges Méliès
Anyone who knows me at all is all too aware of my passionate love for the films of Georges Méliès (aka George Melies). His most famous film is A Trip to the Moon (1901), with the iconic image of the Man in the Moon with a giant cannon shell embedded in one eye.
So, since I’m yammering about silent films and books ‘n’ stuff, here is a relevant excerpt from a previously posted comment I made to Mike Whybark’s blog (thanks, Mike!) in which I offer my (semi) humble opinion about various books about Mssr. Méliès.
Artificially Arranged Scenes: The Films of Georges Méliès by John Frazier (G.K. Hall & Co., 1979). The grail. Hopelessly rare, but absolutely superlative. It never even shows up at Bookfinder.com (which is saying something), and I only found a copy thanks to the Univ. of Washington graduate library. The first half or so is finely written bio-history. But the real treasure is the last half-plus, which consists of a film-by-film chronology of dang near every film he made, providing detailed scenarios, production details, and even info about which film archives have the surviving prints. Amply illustrated throughout. +/- 240 pp.
A Trip to the Movies. Georges Méliès, Filmmaker and Magician (1861 - 1938) by Paolo Cherchi Usai (International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House, 1991). Hideously expensive if you can find it (especially since it’s only 185pp.). But Signore Usai is one of the foremost silent film scholars in the world. As in Senior Curator of the Motion Picture Dept. at the George Eastman House. That said: I’ve never actually held one of these in my hands. So okay, caveat emptor.
Marvellous Méliès by Paul Hammond (St. Martin’s Press, 1975). Despite some weaknesses, probably the best of the more-available (and affordable) Méliès books, it is a somewhat rambling bio/history of Melies and his works. Includes a selected (though extensive) filmography (albeit with titles and years only). Does include some misconceptions resolved by later scholarship, though that’s not really the author’s fault. Extensively illustrated throughout.
‘Georges Méliès, Mage’ et ‘Mes Memoires par Méliès‘ by Maurice Bessy and Lo Duca (Prisma Editions, 1945). Another expensive one, alas, but the other grail for Méliès freaks. Published only en Francais, it consists of writings by the credited authors, as well as lengthy excerpts from Melies’ own memoir. Fortunately fer us dum Inglish talkerz, it is profusely illustrated throughout with stills, very rare original sketches by Méliès, and other fine treasures — which is what makes it worth the steep price you’re likely to find. The editions I see around online are all very expensive (tho lovely) hardbounds, but I know a softcover was published (because I’ve seen in the Univ. of Washington library).
Fwiw, I do not recommend the recent Elizabeth Ezra book, Georges Méliès: Birth of the Auteur — unless you really like ponderous, Masters-thesis-type film crit yammer.
