MARCH 14, 2008 - THE DAILY PAGE

Georges Melies, First Wizard of Cinema (A+)

France; Georges Melies, 1896-1913, Flicker Alley/Blackhawk Films

by Mike Wilmington

It’ll sound like hyperbole. But this jewel-box of a five-disc set, containing 173 movies by the astonishing French cinematic pioneer/master Georges Melies, as well as Georges Franju's brilliant 1953 documentary Le Grand Melies, is definitely one of the most important DVD releases ever, as well as an unfailing source of cinematic joy and pleasure.

Melies' career began in ’96, shortly after the Lumiere brothers’ invention of motion pictures (or so the French have it; sorry, Tom Edison). Quickly, he became world-famous. A magician and creator of theatrical spectacles at his Robert Houdin Theatre, Melies instantly took to cinema, creating little mini-spectacles that would rivet the nickelodeon audiences, as well as the ones that packed the Robert Houdin (where he played piano and narrated his films).

He made several types of movies -- predominantly fantasies (romps full of imps, devils and playful monsters), journey and adventure films, including his most famous 1902 masterpiece, A Trip to the Moon; comedies (full of explosive slapstick), magic and trick films (based on his own magic acts) but also dramas and “actualities” (faked documentaries). He was almost outlandishly prolific.

This set includes 173 films and excerpts. But, in his life, in less than two decades, he made over 500. True, they weren’t features -- they ranged in length from a minute to a half hour -- but they’re as satisfying as many a feature. Watch these 13 hours' worth over several evenings, and don’t let the antique style (no close-ups, painted backdrops) throw you, and you’ll be infallibly, wildly entertained.

Melies was a true genius, a cinematic artist of the first rank, and this collection proves it. No only did he write and direct his little gems, but he designed and executed the gorgeous sets and fantastic creatures, and he’s also the bald, slender, bearded lead actor or comedian in many of them.

All his better-known masterpieces are here (with the original tinting and sometimes with Melies’ own narration re-created): A Trip to the Moon, The Kingdom of Fairies (1903), The Impossible Voyage (1904), The Palace of the Arabian Nights (1905), The Merry Frolics of Satan (1906), The Eclipse (1907) and The Conquest of the Pole (1912), as well as some gems you’ve probably missed, like The Christmas Dream (1900), The Devil in the Convent (1899), Blue Beard (1901), The Infernal Cakewalk (1903), The Inn Where No Man Rests (1903), A Moonlight Serenade (1904), The Chimney Sweep (1906), and Baron Munchausen's Dream (1911).

But there are also some films and genres you wouldn’t expect: an 1899 serial on the Dreyfus Affair; some Lumiere-like “actualities”; outdoor and real-life train films; a 1900 historical epic on Jeanne d’Arc; adaptations of Rip van Winkle; Faust and (twice) Cinderella. And continuing the dark theme of this week's column, there is what I suspect is the first-ever film noir, the 1906 true crime thriller A Desperate Crime -- a mini-shocker that includes robbery, murder, a chase, a police battle, a death row expressionist nightmare and a chillingly realistic beheading at the guillotine all in only seven breathless minutes.

It’s customary to juxtapose Melies and Lumiere as the poles of early cinema: fiction fantasy and documentary. True enough. But Melies was the greater inventor and genius. Sadly, he went bankrupt in 1913 and, desperate now himself, rashly burned all his priceless negatives in 1923 to get more living space for his family. It’s a sad tale (poetically told by Franju). But the films themselves, assembled from around the world, are unfailingly merry and brilliant. They make you almost drunk with delight. Melies was a cinematic Vivaldi; so masterly, one never cares if he repeats himself. Discover him again. You’ll be bewitched.