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Downloaded from
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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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Maltin: In 1923,

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Georges Méliès,
cinema's first magician,

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inventor of the first-ever
special effects,

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destroyed all his work
in a fit of desperation.

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[ Upbeat piano music playing ]

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The original negatives

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of the 520 films he directed
between 1896 and 1913

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went up in flames.

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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Were the dreams,
the enchanting visions,

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the masterpieces
really lost forever?

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Maybe not.

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100 years later,

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Méliès, the magician,
is to perform

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a final magic trick

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and will reappear
eternally youthful.

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But this is another
one of your tricks,

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isn't it, Monsieur Méliès?

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♪♪

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♪♪

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[ Gavras speaking French ]

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[ Gondry speaking French ]

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♪♪

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[ Mannoni speaking French ]

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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Maltin: Nothing predestined
Georges Méliès

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to become a master of fantasy
and illusion.

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Born in Paris in 1861,

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he was the youngest
of three sons

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of the wealthy
Jean-Louis-Stanislas Méliès,

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a luxury shoemaker.

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He enjoyed
a privileged childhood

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and received a good education

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but dreamed
of studying fine arts.

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His father refused.

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Georges had to join
the family business.

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At his father's factory,

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he was mainly in charge
of machine maintenance,

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which meant he acquired
excellent mechanical skills.

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♪♪

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In 1885, upon his return
from military service,

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he married Eugénie Génin,

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the daughter
of another shoe salesman.

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There's no escaping
your destiny.

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♪♪

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[ Mannoni speaking French ]

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♪♪

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♪♪

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Maltin: Méliès quickly mastered
the art of illusion

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and started performing on stage.

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He gave shows
in Parisian salon,

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at the Cabinet Fantastique,
at the Grévin Museum,

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and at the Theater of Magic
in the Galerie Vivienne.

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♪♪

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In 1888, when his father retired

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and left the business
to his sons,

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Georges used his share
of the inheritance

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to buy the famous
Robert-Houdin Theatre in Paris,

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a shrine to modern magic
on the grand boulevards.

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♪♪

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[ Mannoni speaking French ]

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Maltin: Méliès began
by renovating the theater.

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The place was well known
but had fallen on hard times

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since the death
of Robert Houdin in 1871.

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Méliès invented amazing
illusions for his new shows

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and quickly gained a reputation.

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♪♪

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♪♪

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The more new stage shows
he created,

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the greater his popularity.

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Méliès was soon a figurehead
of his profession.

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♪♪

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At the end of the 19th century,
Paris was sparkling.

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New attractions flourished
all along the grand boulevards.

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At the Grévin Museum,

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right next
to the Robert-Houdin Theatre,

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Emile Reynaud presented
his Pantomimes Lumineuses,

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a precursor of animated films.

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♪♪

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It was also on the boulevards
that Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope

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was first presented in Paris --

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a peculiar apparatus
allowing individual viewing

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of short scenes
recorded on film.

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Among the spectators

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was the photographer
Antoine Lumière,

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who was amazed by what he saw.

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He subsequently gave
his two sons, Auguste and Louis,

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the assignment of building
an apparatus

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that would allow the projection
of animated photographs.

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[ Clicking ]

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[ Méliès speaking French ]

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Maltin:
It was on December 28, 1895,

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and Georges Méliès' destiny
had changed forever.

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♪♪

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Having built his own camera,

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he began shooting
his first film,

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a card party,

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reprising a theme previously
used by the Lumière brothers.

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♪♪

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Seated on the left
is Lucien Reulos,

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who was his associate
for one year,

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the only associate
he ever had.

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Together, they registered
Méliès' trademark,

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the Star Film's star,
and invented the Kinetograph,

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a projection machine
that was difficult to sell

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and quickly forgotten.

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♪♪

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However, their film catalog
rapidly expanded

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with new titles presented
every night

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at the Robert-Houdin Theatre
beginning in April 1896.

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♪♪

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Although his first films were
similar to the Lumières' work,

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Méliès soon turned to more
original subjects

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inspired by performers who had
made his theater's reputation,

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such as the famous act
of the vanishing lady.

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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On-stage,
disappearance required

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special accessories
to hide the moment

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when the base
of the chair tilted.

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This allowed the young woman
to disappear through a trap door

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hidden under a newspaper.

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On film, Méliès could use
a far simpler trick.

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The idea came to him
completely by chance.

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[ Méliès speaking French ]

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Maltin: The first cinema
special effect was born.

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Méliès would use it
and abuse it for years to come.

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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The Lumière brothers
invented the Cinématographe,

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Méliès created
the cinematic spectacle.

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Louis Lumière himself said so.

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"In Georges' hands,

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the camera didn't attempt
to record reality

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but presented a world

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where fantasy
and magic reigned supreme."

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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[ Mannoni speaking French ]

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[ Méliès speaking French ]

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[ Speaking French ]

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♪♪

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♪♪

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[ Mannoni speaking French ]

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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[ Mannoni resumes
speaking French ]

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[ Somber music playing ]

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♪♪

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Maltin: In 1898, France faced

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a serious political
and social crisis.

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The Dreyfus affair
divided public opinion.

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Unfairly convicted
of spying for Germany,

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Captain Dreyfus,
of Jewish descent,

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had been rotting in prison
for four years.

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♪♪

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Eventually, the real culprit
was acquitted.

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To defend Dreyfus was equal
to attacking the army,

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the pride of the nation.

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Newsreels did not yet exist.

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In his studio,

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Méliès re-created
the main events of the affair,

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which would continue to unfold
for another eight years.

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♪♪

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He himself took the role of
Labori, Dreyfus' attorney,

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thus publicly exhibiting
whose side he was on.

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♪♪

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10 years earlier, when he had
been contemplating a career

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as an illustrator,
he'd already, in his drawings,

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fought General Boulanger's
threats

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against the recent
fragile French democracy.

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With "The Dreyfus Affair,"
the first-ever political film,

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Méliès revealed
new possibilities

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for the brand-new
cinema industry.

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♪♪

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The Star Film company
had now taken on all genres --

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advertisements,
dramas, comedies,

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even historical reenactments.

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♪♪

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But the verdict of audiences
was clear.

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They preferred extravaganzas --
trick films

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filled with lavish
and ingenious visual effects.

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In a word...[speaks French]

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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[ Gavras speaking French ]

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[ Carnival music playing ]

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[ Indistinct conversations,
children laughing ]

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[ Mannoni speaking French ]

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[ Clicking ]

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Maltin: In 1902, Méliès
presented his masterpiece,

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"A Trip to the Moon" --
a truly spectacular film --

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in 30 scenes, which required
3 months' work.

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This was unprecedented.

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[ Gavras speaking French ]

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[ Gondry speaking French ]

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[ Speaking French ]

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♪♪

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♪♪

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Maltin: The success
of "A Trip to the Moon"

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was bound to attract
competitors...

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especially Charles Pathé,

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who immediately made
his own version of it.

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♪♪

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♪♪

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Often copied but never equaled,
Méliès' films combined magic

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and cinema in an extremely
clever combination

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of theatrical machinery, optical
and pyrotechnical effects,

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cross-fades
and superimpositions.

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All of this
was gleefully devised

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by Méliès to render
the imaginary

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and the impossible
clearly visible on film.

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♪♪

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♪♪

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♪♪

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For several years,
Star Film was successful

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and renowned worldwide.

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Everyone wanted
more Méliès films.

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At the time, elaborate, new
special-effects scenes

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would emerge from the Montreuil
studio every month,

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new fairy tales and fanciful
journeys ever more spectacular.

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♪♪

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♪♪

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Running at full capacity,
the studio became cramped.

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♪♪

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So Méliès built a second studio
in 1907 on his vast property,

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liening against
his father's old house.

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From then on, he was able to
shoot two films at the same time

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in an attempt
to meet the demands

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of an ever-changing market.

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[ Mannoni speaking French ]

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Maltin: In February 1909,

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the Film Publishers Congress
met in Paris

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with Georges Méliès as chairman.

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He was surrounded by
Leon Gaumont, Georges Eastman,

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Charles Pathé, and all the major
international producers

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ready to dictate
the new rules of the game

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because cinema had become
an industry,

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a serious business.

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♪♪

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In big cities,
more and more theaters

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were being built solely
dedicated to showing film.

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00:24:30,458 --> 00:24:33,958
These permanent structures
generated an entirely different

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economic model
for film distribution.

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00:24:38,958 --> 00:24:41,417
Prints were no longer
sold on fairgrounds

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to traveling exhibitors
as before,

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but rented out in order
to renew programs

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more quickly
and increase revenue.

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♪♪

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This change required
an organization,

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an investment that Méliès
could not provide.

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He had never set up a company

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and had always financed
everything himself.

270
00:25:05,333 --> 00:25:11,083
But his one-time fortune
was now only a distant memory.

271
00:25:11,167 --> 00:25:15,583
Moreover, the new system forced
him to produce more product,

272
00:25:15,667 --> 00:25:17,917
just as special effects
and fairy tales

273
00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,083
were going out of fashion.

274
00:25:20,167 --> 00:25:23,000
♪♪

275
00:25:23,083 --> 00:25:26,250
He delegated the direction
of some films to his assistant,

276
00:25:26,333 --> 00:25:31,167
Manuel, but the results
were unsatisfactory.

277
00:25:33,458 --> 00:25:36,375
[ Gavras speaking French ]

278
00:26:00,250 --> 00:26:05,958
Maltin: From then on, the Pathé
empire dominated world cinema.

279
00:26:06,042 --> 00:26:08,708
Charles Pathé is seen here
with Ferdinand Zecca,

280
00:26:08,792 --> 00:26:10,375
the company's staff director,

281
00:26:10,458 --> 00:26:13,917
who stole ideas from Méliès
for years.

282
00:26:15,625 --> 00:26:17,375
Paradoxically, in 1911,

283
00:26:17,458 --> 00:26:21,042
even though Méliès hadn't
shot anything for a whole year,

284
00:26:21,125 --> 00:26:24,750
his long-standing rival offered
to finance

285
00:26:24,833 --> 00:26:26,500
some new Star Films --

286
00:26:26,583 --> 00:26:31,792
one last chance, which may have
been a pact with the devil.

287
00:26:31,875 --> 00:26:39,625
♪♪

288
00:26:39,708 --> 00:26:45,500
♪♪

289
00:26:45,583 --> 00:26:50,167
Unfortunately, the last
six films were all failures.

290
00:26:50,250 --> 00:26:53,708
In 1913, Méliès was ruined,

291
00:26:53,792 --> 00:26:57,417
and the Star Film Studios
closed down.

292
00:26:58,708 --> 00:27:00,833
[ Dramatic music playing ]

293
00:27:00,917 --> 00:27:06,042
♪♪

294
00:27:06,125 --> 00:27:11,125
♪♪

295
00:27:11,208 --> 00:27:13,292
He still had to earn a living,
so during the war,

296
00:27:13,375 --> 00:27:16,875
the Montreuil studio
was turned into a theater.

297
00:27:16,958 --> 00:27:20,333
♪♪

298
00:27:20,417 --> 00:27:22,417
The whole family
was put to work.

299
00:27:22,500 --> 00:27:25,708
Méliès naturally reserving
for himself the tasks

300
00:27:25,792 --> 00:27:28,625
of directing and stage design.

301
00:27:33,458 --> 00:27:36,042
Meanwhile, in Paris,
the Robert-Houdin Theatre

302
00:27:36,125 --> 00:27:37,708
was serving as a cinema,

303
00:27:37,792 --> 00:27:41,333
where soldiers on leave
could discover Chaplin,

304
00:27:41,417 --> 00:27:44,750
the new king
of the big screen.

305
00:27:44,833 --> 00:27:48,042
Cinema had entered a new era.

306
00:27:50,833 --> 00:27:56,375
♪♪

307
00:27:56,458 --> 00:27:58,458
In January 1922,

308
00:27:58,542 --> 00:28:01,917
Méliès was evicted from
the Robert-Houdin Theatre,

309
00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:03,750
which was to be
demolished to allow

310
00:28:03,833 --> 00:28:07,958
for the expansion
of the Haussmann Boulevard.

311
00:28:08,042 --> 00:28:10,083
The following year,
he was forced to sell

312
00:28:10,167 --> 00:28:13,417
his Montreuil property
to pay his debts.

313
00:28:13,500 --> 00:28:17,375
Méliès later said,
"I didn't have anywhere to keep

314
00:28:17,458 --> 00:28:19,667
the hundreds of film negatives.

315
00:28:19,750 --> 00:28:23,000
In a moment of anger
and exasperation,

316
00:28:23,083 --> 00:28:25,625
I ordered for them
to be destroyed

317
00:28:25,708 --> 00:28:29,917
without realizing that I was
doing something as imprudent

318
00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:32,458
as it was irreversible."

319
00:28:32,542 --> 00:28:34,625
[ Fire whooshing ]

320
00:28:42,208 --> 00:28:44,708
[ Speaking French ]

321
00:29:06,708 --> 00:29:08,125
Maltin: A few years later,

322
00:29:08,208 --> 00:29:10,292
Georges Méliès could be found
running a toy stand

323
00:29:10,375 --> 00:29:14,417
at the Montparnasse train
station with Jehanne d'Alcy.

324
00:29:14,500 --> 00:29:18,000
She was a former star
of the Robert-Houdin Theatre,

325
00:29:18,083 --> 00:29:20,917
where thanks to her
tiny size and agility,

326
00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:23,667
she had performed wonders
in disappearing act.

327
00:29:26,167 --> 00:29:29,542
She had been the star
of Méliès first films,

328
00:29:29,625 --> 00:29:33,958
the first movie vamp,
and also his mistress.

329
00:29:34,042 --> 00:29:36,833
She was now his second wife.

330
00:29:36,917 --> 00:29:42,500
♪♪

331
00:29:42,583 --> 00:29:48,167
♪♪

332
00:29:48,250 --> 00:29:53,833
♪♪

333
00:29:53,917 --> 00:29:56,167
[ Mannoni speaking French ]

334
00:30:20,458 --> 00:30:26,250
♪♪

335
00:30:26,333 --> 00:30:31,167
Maltin: Méliès worked 7 days
a week, 15 hours a day.

336
00:30:34,292 --> 00:30:36,458
In his rare moments
of free time,

337
00:30:36,542 --> 00:30:38,792
he made drawings
of some of the great scenes

338
00:30:38,875 --> 00:30:41,542
from his past masterpieces.

339
00:30:41,625 --> 00:30:45,000
Even if they could no longer
be shown on screen,

340
00:30:45,083 --> 00:30:47,083
he never forgot them.

341
00:30:47,167 --> 00:30:55,875
♪♪

342
00:30:55,958 --> 00:31:04,417
♪♪

343
00:31:04,500 --> 00:31:09,250
Gradually, a new generation
of cinephiles began to visit him

344
00:31:09,333 --> 00:31:12,583
and were deeply moved
by his fate.

345
00:31:12,667 --> 00:31:14,250
In December of 1929,

346
00:31:14,333 --> 00:31:17,917
Jean Mauclaire,
manager of Studio 28,

347
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:21,542
organized a gala in his honor
at the Salle Pleyel.

348
00:31:21,625 --> 00:31:24,875
[ Applause ]

349
00:31:24,958 --> 00:31:26,167
For this tribute,

350
00:31:26,250 --> 00:31:29,375
they could find
just eight random films,

351
00:31:29,458 --> 00:31:33,000
often incomplete,
deformed, or scratched.

352
00:31:33,083 --> 00:31:40,208
♪♪

353
00:31:40,292 --> 00:31:42,125
It must have been heartbreaking
for the man

354
00:31:42,208 --> 00:31:46,625
who had invested everything in
the fabulous beauty of images.

355
00:31:46,708 --> 00:31:53,458
♪♪

356
00:31:53,542 --> 00:32:00,083
♪♪

357
00:32:00,167 --> 00:32:04,208
In 1932, Méliès was taken in
at the Château d'Orly,

358
00:32:04,292 --> 00:32:06,458
the film industry's
retirement home,

359
00:32:06,542 --> 00:32:08,833
where he would finally
be able to relax

360
00:32:08,917 --> 00:32:11,250
with Jehanne d'Alcy
and Madeleine,

361
00:32:11,333 --> 00:32:15,000
the granddaughter he had been
looking after since 1930.

362
00:32:15,083 --> 00:32:18,750
♪♪

363
00:32:18,833 --> 00:32:22,000
He received numerous visits
from young film enthusiasts

364
00:32:22,083 --> 00:32:26,333
who would later create
the Cinémathèque Francaise,

365
00:32:26,417 --> 00:32:30,375
as well as old friends,
movie people.

366
00:32:32,333 --> 00:32:34,667
They discussed a comeback...

367
00:32:36,375 --> 00:32:39,833
...but in the end,
his final screen appearance

368
00:32:39,917 --> 00:32:42,667
was in a simple
cigarette advertisement.

369
00:32:42,750 --> 00:32:49,375
♪♪

370
00:32:49,458 --> 00:32:56,083
♪♪

371
00:32:56,167 --> 00:32:59,667
One last film, one last trick...

372
00:33:01,292 --> 00:33:02,542
...and Méliès died

373
00:33:02,625 --> 00:33:06,208
on a gloomy day
of January 1938.

374
00:33:06,292 --> 00:33:12,083
♪♪

375
00:33:12,167 --> 00:33:17,792
♪♪

376
00:33:17,875 --> 00:33:23,083
His studio in ruins was left
to the weeds and street children

377
00:33:23,167 --> 00:33:26,750
and would eventually
be destroyed in 1945.

378
00:33:26,833 --> 00:33:35,250
♪♪

379
00:33:35,333 --> 00:33:43,583
♪♪

380
00:33:43,667 --> 00:33:45,625
Only when it came time
for tributes

381
00:33:45,708 --> 00:33:47,750
did the true quest
for the lost works

382
00:33:47,833 --> 00:33:52,250
and invisible films of the
magician from Montreuil begin.

383
00:33:52,333 --> 00:33:57,250
♪♪

384
00:33:57,333 --> 00:34:00,583
In 1948, the French Cinematheque
and its director,

385
00:34:00,667 --> 00:34:04,042
Henri Langlois, presented
the first exhibition

386
00:34:04,125 --> 00:34:06,042
entirely dedicated to him.

387
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:10,375
[ Gavras speaking French ]

388
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:35,792
♪♪

389
00:34:35,875 --> 00:34:44,292
♪♪

390
00:34:44,375 --> 00:34:49,833
♪♪

391
00:34:49,917 --> 00:34:53,333
[ Gavras resumes
speaking French ]

392
00:34:57,583 --> 00:35:03,042
♪♪

393
00:35:03,125 --> 00:35:06,125
[ Mannoni speaking French ]

394
00:35:39,250 --> 00:35:45,875
♪♪

395
00:35:45,958 --> 00:35:49,083
[ de Pastre speaking French ]

396
00:36:08,458 --> 00:36:12,625
♪♪

397
00:36:12,708 --> 00:36:16,208
Maltin: In 1961, at the time
of Méliès' centenary,

398
00:36:16,292 --> 00:36:19,500
about 60 of his films
had been found.

399
00:36:22,458 --> 00:36:24,542
The search continued.

400
00:36:26,833 --> 00:36:30,000
Thanks to discoveries
in basements and attics,

401
00:36:30,083 --> 00:36:31,250
old released prints

402
00:36:31,333 --> 00:36:33,750
were regularly located
around the world.

403
00:36:33,833 --> 00:36:37,500
♪♪

404
00:36:37,583 --> 00:36:39,208
By the early 2000s,

405
00:36:39,292 --> 00:36:42,458
around 200 of the 520 films
he shot

406
00:36:42,542 --> 00:36:45,417
had been located
and were visible again.

407
00:36:50,125 --> 00:36:54,042
But most of the prints
were mediocre or damaged,

408
00:36:54,125 --> 00:36:55,625
very often incomplete.

409
00:36:55,708 --> 00:37:02,875
♪♪

410
00:37:02,958 --> 00:37:04,917
This was also a race
against time

411
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:09,083
because old prints were made on
chemically unstable film stock,

412
00:37:09,167 --> 00:37:11,958
which inevitably decomposes.

413
00:37:12,042 --> 00:37:18,458
♪♪

414
00:37:18,542 --> 00:37:21,875
The film becomes sticky,
images disappear,

415
00:37:21,958 --> 00:37:25,458
and the film roll
ends up as dust.

416
00:37:25,542 --> 00:37:29,792
♪♪

417
00:37:29,875 --> 00:37:33,083
While every new discovery
added a piece to the puzzle,

418
00:37:33,167 --> 00:37:37,250
some could turn out
to be of particular importance.

419
00:37:49,167 --> 00:37:51,542
In 2016, while trying to fill

420
00:37:51,625 --> 00:37:54,000
in the missing parts
of "The Wandering Jew,"

421
00:37:54,083 --> 00:37:57,500
the Parisian preservationists
at the company Lobster Films

422
00:37:57,583 --> 00:38:00,292
learned that it had survived
in the USA

423
00:38:00,375 --> 00:38:03,667
at the Library of Congress.

424
00:38:03,750 --> 00:38:05,958
In a spectacular turn of events,

425
00:38:06,042 --> 00:38:09,000
what had survived was not
a simple release print,

426
00:38:09,083 --> 00:38:14,917
but the original camera negative
with exceptional image quality.

427
00:38:17,750 --> 00:38:20,167
As part of the preservation
process,

428
00:38:20,250 --> 00:38:24,500
the best source is always
the original camera negative.

429
00:38:24,583 --> 00:38:27,583
Now, this is the real film
that was in the camera

430
00:38:27,667 --> 00:38:30,458
on the set
capturing those images.

431
00:38:30,542 --> 00:38:32,125
It is incredibly sharp.

432
00:38:32,208 --> 00:38:35,708
It has all the detail.

433
00:38:35,792 --> 00:38:37,417
Maltin:
By comparing the negative

434
00:38:37,500 --> 00:38:39,125
with the print found in France,

435
00:38:39,208 --> 00:38:42,125
it could easily be determined
that it was the same movie,

436
00:38:42,208 --> 00:38:46,750
even with the obvious
difference in quality.

437
00:38:46,833 --> 00:38:48,333
But in comparing the two,

438
00:38:48,417 --> 00:38:51,167
another slight
difference appeared.

439
00:38:53,708 --> 00:38:55,833
A little shift
in the camera angle,

440
00:38:55,917 --> 00:38:59,917
giving a strange effect
of parallax and depth.

441
00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:01,625
-Wow!
-Wow!

442
00:39:01,708 --> 00:39:04,583
Could Méliès have been
the first filmmaker

443
00:39:04,667 --> 00:39:10,167
to shoot a film in 3D
as early as 1903?

444
00:39:10,250 --> 00:39:12,083
Who knows?

445
00:39:13,833 --> 00:39:16,250
There were more surprises
in store.

446
00:39:16,333 --> 00:39:19,583
Upon investigation,
instead of just one,

447
00:39:19,667 --> 00:39:22,625
there were 80 original negatives
sitting on the shelves

448
00:39:22,708 --> 00:39:24,917
at the Library of Congress.

449
00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:26,417
How is this possible

450
00:39:26,500 --> 00:39:29,917
since Méliès had burned them
all in his garden?

451
00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:35,333
This was a mystery
that simply had to be solved.

452
00:39:35,417 --> 00:39:39,250
The investigation would yield
one surprise after another,

453
00:39:39,333 --> 00:39:42,292
eventually leading
to a large rescue operation

454
00:39:42,375 --> 00:39:47,208
to restore a previously unknown
part of Georges Méliès' work.

455
00:39:50,708 --> 00:39:53,042
To understand
how those events unraveled,

456
00:39:53,125 --> 00:39:55,083
let us rewind a little.

457
00:39:55,167 --> 00:40:02,583
♪♪

458
00:40:02,667 --> 00:40:10,208
♪♪

459
00:40:10,292 --> 00:40:12,042
In August 1902,

460
00:40:12,125 --> 00:40:15,292
Méliès finished the production
of "A Trip to the Moon,"

461
00:40:15,375 --> 00:40:18,500
on which he had spent
10,000 francs,

462
00:40:18,583 --> 00:40:21,083
a huge amount of money
at that time.

463
00:40:21,167 --> 00:40:23,208
He naturally hoped
to recoup his investment

464
00:40:23,292 --> 00:40:27,208
by selling prints
of the film around the world.

465
00:40:27,292 --> 00:40:28,750
But in the United States,

466
00:40:28,833 --> 00:40:32,333
some prints were not purchased
to be screened at all.

467
00:40:32,417 --> 00:40:36,750
Dishonest buyers sent them
to laboratories to be copied.

468
00:40:36,833 --> 00:40:39,000
This meant there were
countless counterfeits

469
00:40:39,083 --> 00:40:42,208
of inferior quality
flooding the market.

470
00:40:42,292 --> 00:40:45,958
♪♪

471
00:40:46,042 --> 00:40:50,292
Here was the first act of piracy
in the history of cinema.

472
00:40:50,375 --> 00:40:58,208
♪♪

473
00:40:58,292 --> 00:40:59,708
Despite the fact that Méliès

474
00:40:59,792 --> 00:41:03,042
had embedded the Star Film
logo in the picture,

475
00:41:03,125 --> 00:41:05,167
this proved to be no problem
for pirates

476
00:41:05,250 --> 00:41:09,208
who simply scratched it off
before the print's recopy.

477
00:41:09,292 --> 00:41:14,333
♪♪

478
00:41:14,417 --> 00:41:17,708
In the early days of cinema
before World War I,

479
00:41:17,792 --> 00:41:19,542
the French were
incredibly competitive

480
00:41:19,625 --> 00:41:21,125
with American film producers.

481
00:41:21,208 --> 00:41:25,083
So a lot of the film being seen
in the United States

482
00:41:25,167 --> 00:41:27,042
was from France.

483
00:41:28,417 --> 00:41:30,583
The American film industry

484
00:41:30,667 --> 00:41:33,750
was a pretty ruthless
business.

485
00:41:33,833 --> 00:41:37,708
There was a lot of competition,
there was a lot of producers

486
00:41:37,792 --> 00:41:41,208
who were pretty unscrupulous
about the way

487
00:41:41,292 --> 00:41:46,250
they went about making their
films or even acquiring films.

488
00:41:46,333 --> 00:41:47,750
There was no such thing

489
00:41:47,833 --> 00:41:50,583
as copyright-protected
motion pictures

490
00:41:50,667 --> 00:41:52,167
until around 1911.

491
00:41:52,250 --> 00:41:54,458
So kind of anything went.

492
00:41:57,542 --> 00:41:59,708
Maltin: To counter
the fraudulent competition,

493
00:41:59,792 --> 00:42:02,875
Méliès decided to open
a branch of Star Film

494
00:42:02,958 --> 00:42:04,208
in the United States

495
00:42:04,292 --> 00:42:07,958
and entrusted his brother Gaston
with the task.

496
00:42:10,500 --> 00:42:12,000
Nine years his senior,

497
00:42:12,083 --> 00:42:14,792
Gaston had been in charge
of the family's shoe business,

498
00:42:14,875 --> 00:42:19,042
but it had closed in 1896
due to mismanagement.

499
00:42:19,125 --> 00:42:21,042
He therefore had time
on his hands

500
00:42:21,125 --> 00:42:23,250
and was ready for adventure.

501
00:42:23,333 --> 00:42:28,625
♪♪

502
00:42:28,708 --> 00:42:31,750
In March 1903,
Gaston arrived in New York

503
00:42:31,833 --> 00:42:36,208
and moved into premises
at 204 East 38th Street.

504
00:42:36,292 --> 00:42:39,667
♪♪

505
00:42:39,750 --> 00:42:42,125
Three months later,
the American branch was opened

506
00:42:42,208 --> 00:42:46,000
and ready to sell the Parisian
productions of Star Films

507
00:42:46,083 --> 00:42:48,792
and protect them
from counterfeiters.

508
00:42:48,875 --> 00:42:53,750
♪♪

509
00:42:53,833 --> 00:42:58,458
♪♪

510
00:42:58,542 --> 00:43:01,458
As customs fees
for importing films from France

511
00:43:01,542 --> 00:43:02,792
were high,

512
00:43:02,875 --> 00:43:05,208
Gaston was also responsible
for printing copies

513
00:43:05,292 --> 00:43:08,625
of Georges' films
directly on site.

514
00:43:10,917 --> 00:43:14,083
But in order for them
to maintain top quality,

515
00:43:14,167 --> 00:43:18,000
he needed a second
original negative.

516
00:43:20,542 --> 00:43:24,583
For this, in Paris,
Georges created a curious device

517
00:43:24,667 --> 00:43:26,000
allowing him to obtain

518
00:43:26,083 --> 00:43:29,083
two identical negatives
simultaneously

519
00:43:29,167 --> 00:43:31,250
when shooting a film.

520
00:43:31,333 --> 00:43:34,833
Identical or nearly identical.

521
00:43:34,917 --> 00:43:38,375
The lenses of both cameras
were a few centimeters apart,

522
00:43:38,458 --> 00:43:41,292
which explains the slight
difference in angle

523
00:43:41,375 --> 00:43:43,000
in the two prints.

524
00:43:43,083 --> 00:43:45,792
♪♪

525
00:43:45,875 --> 00:43:51,042
Two continents,
two negatives, two Méliès.

526
00:43:51,125 --> 00:43:54,875
Here is the key to that mystery.

527
00:43:54,958 --> 00:43:57,208
[ Speaking French ]

528
00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:29,375
♪♪

529
00:44:29,458 --> 00:44:36,625
♪♪

530
00:44:36,708 --> 00:44:38,875
Maltin: For a short while
at the American branch,

531
00:44:38,958 --> 00:44:40,042
business thrived.

532
00:44:40,125 --> 00:44:42,583
Georges,
who had financed everything,

533
00:44:42,667 --> 00:44:46,250
received a return on his
investment in less than a year.

534
00:44:46,333 --> 00:44:50,875
♪♪

535
00:44:50,958 --> 00:44:54,708
As for Gaston, he earns an
important share of the profits.

536
00:44:54,792 --> 00:45:02,208
♪♪

537
00:45:02,292 --> 00:45:04,958
But the American market
was not France,

538
00:45:05,042 --> 00:45:07,542
and the tide
had started to turn.

539
00:45:07,625 --> 00:45:12,333
♪♪

540
00:45:12,417 --> 00:45:15,000
[ speaking French ]

541
00:45:55,333 --> 00:46:03,208
♪♪

542
00:46:03,292 --> 00:46:11,208
♪♪

543
00:46:11,292 --> 00:46:19,208
♪♪

544
00:46:19,292 --> 00:46:20,667
♪♪

545
00:46:20,750 --> 00:46:23,000
Haberkamp: Gaston Méliès thought
that by joining in

546
00:46:23,083 --> 00:46:27,125
on Edison's patents companies
that he would be licensed

547
00:46:27,208 --> 00:46:29,625
and it would enable him
to distribute

548
00:46:29,708 --> 00:46:33,667
Georges' films coming in
from Paris and being imported.

549
00:46:33,750 --> 00:46:36,333
Unfortunately,
Edison realized

550
00:46:36,417 --> 00:46:39,208
that those films were
very popular and profitable.

551
00:46:39,292 --> 00:46:41,875
And so he basically said
to Gaston, "I'm sorry.

552
00:46:41,958 --> 00:46:43,375
You can make your own films,

553
00:46:43,458 --> 00:46:46,208
but you can't distribute
these films

554
00:46:46,292 --> 00:46:49,208
because they violate
U.S. patent."

555
00:46:50,292 --> 00:46:52,292
It meant that
Georges Méliès' negatives

556
00:46:52,375 --> 00:46:53,625
were no longer of value

557
00:46:53,708 --> 00:46:55,458
because he couldn't
do anything with them.

558
00:46:55,542 --> 00:46:59,083
So suddenly these
really wonderful films

559
00:46:59,167 --> 00:47:03,917
were basically old news
and basically considered scrap.

560
00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:12,667
♪♪

561
00:47:12,750 --> 00:47:15,542
Maltin: Since he could no longer
distribute Georges' films,

562
00:47:15,625 --> 00:47:19,000
Gaston started to produce
his own in the U.S.

563
00:47:19,083 --> 00:47:20,625
and proceeded to set up

564
00:47:20,708 --> 00:47:23,625
the G. Méliès
Manufacturing Company.

565
00:47:23,708 --> 00:47:26,000
Georges, Gaston.

566
00:47:26,083 --> 00:47:28,250
One G. Méliès
replaced another,

567
00:47:28,333 --> 00:47:31,500
but the style
was quite different.

568
00:47:33,083 --> 00:47:37,708
Gaston's films included
Westerns, dramas, comedies --

569
00:47:37,792 --> 00:47:41,458
in a word, modern stories.

570
00:47:41,542 --> 00:47:45,958
Gaston could see that magic and
trick films were finished.

571
00:47:46,042 --> 00:47:53,917
♪♪

572
00:47:54,000 --> 00:48:01,708
♪♪

573
00:48:01,792 --> 00:48:04,667
While Georges was happy
to receive royalties

574
00:48:04,750 --> 00:48:07,792
from Gaston's films,
he didn't appreciate them.

575
00:48:07,875 --> 00:48:11,000
He especially didn't like that
his American production company

576
00:48:11,083 --> 00:48:14,125
carried his name
and worried that mixing genres

577
00:48:14,208 --> 00:48:17,292
would tarnish
his own reputation.

578
00:48:18,958 --> 00:48:22,167
This confusion probably
fooled many people.

579
00:48:22,250 --> 00:48:26,417
30 years later, Orson Welles,
a great admirer of Méliès,

580
00:48:26,500 --> 00:48:28,958
would pay a small tribute
to him.

581
00:48:29,042 --> 00:48:31,292
I'm going away
tomorrow night...

582
00:48:31,375 --> 00:48:32,458
indefinitely.

583
00:48:32,542 --> 00:48:35,208
I hope you have ever
so nice a time, George.

584
00:48:35,292 --> 00:48:36,708
I don't expect to have...

585
00:48:36,792 --> 00:48:39,875
unfortunately, the Méliès
film poster he chose

586
00:48:40,000 --> 00:48:43,167
was for a film made by Gaston.

587
00:48:43,250 --> 00:48:47,625
♪♪

588
00:48:47,708 --> 00:48:51,583
In January 1911,
Gaston left for California,

589
00:48:51,667 --> 00:48:55,333
which was fast becoming
the Eldorado of cinema.

590
00:48:55,417 --> 00:48:58,750
♪♪

591
00:48:58,833 --> 00:49:02,333
But gradually, his actors
and technicians left him

592
00:49:02,417 --> 00:49:04,583
to go to work for other,
more established

593
00:49:04,667 --> 00:49:08,208
and prestigious companies.

594
00:49:08,292 --> 00:49:10,542
Business was bad.

595
00:49:13,167 --> 00:49:16,792
So Gaston left the United States
for a 10-month trip

596
00:49:16,875 --> 00:49:18,500
to the Far East.

597
00:49:18,583 --> 00:49:22,250
♪♪

598
00:49:22,333 --> 00:49:24,583
Before his departure,
he made sure to sell

599
00:49:24,667 --> 00:49:27,208
50% of the G. Méliès company

600
00:49:27,292 --> 00:49:29,208
to the Vitagraph company
in Brooklyn,

601
00:49:29,292 --> 00:49:31,583
which continued
to distribute his films.

602
00:49:31,667 --> 00:49:35,375
♪♪

603
00:49:35,458 --> 00:49:39,167
Meanwhile, as Georges' negatives
no longer interested anyone

604
00:49:39,250 --> 00:49:42,875
and were very costly to store,
Gaston gave them to a friend

605
00:49:42,958 --> 00:49:45,833
who would keep them
in his basement.

606
00:49:45,917 --> 00:49:49,417
♪♪

607
00:49:49,500 --> 00:49:52,458
His travels led him to Tahiti,
New Zealand,

608
00:49:52,542 --> 00:49:57,458
Australia, Singapore, Cambodia
and finally to Japan.

609
00:49:57,542 --> 00:50:02,917
Gaston shot about 60 films there
that were not at all successful.

610
00:50:04,875 --> 00:50:10,583
1913, the Méliès brothers
had cranked their last camera.

611
00:50:10,667 --> 00:50:14,042
They were now
in complete disagreement

612
00:50:14,125 --> 00:50:16,292
and would never see
each other again.

613
00:50:18,667 --> 00:50:21,208
The curtain closed
on the American negatives

614
00:50:21,292 --> 00:50:23,750
of Georges and Gaston.

615
00:50:23,833 --> 00:50:27,375
Soon the war would wipe out
French youth

616
00:50:27,458 --> 00:50:32,250
and with them the memory
of the Méliès name.

617
00:50:32,333 --> 00:50:36,083
Yet the odyssey of the
American negatives of Star Film

618
00:50:36,167 --> 00:50:38,458
had only just begun.

619
00:50:41,625 --> 00:50:45,875
In the 1930s, Méliès was
once again celebrated

620
00:50:45,958 --> 00:50:48,417
at his Orly retirement home.

621
00:50:50,042 --> 00:50:51,875
Louis Lumière
finally presented him

622
00:50:51,958 --> 00:50:54,125
with the Legion of Honor.

623
00:50:54,208 --> 00:50:56,167
Compliments flowed.

624
00:50:58,208 --> 00:51:00,458
People suggested
he present his films

625
00:51:00,542 --> 00:51:03,792
to bring in some money
as he was now penniless,

626
00:51:03,875 --> 00:51:05,625
but they were no longer
in his possession

627
00:51:05,708 --> 00:51:08,417
since he had
destroyed them all.

628
00:51:10,208 --> 00:51:15,542
Then Méliès remembered
the American negatives,

629
00:51:15,625 --> 00:51:17,625
but how could
he get hold of them?

630
00:51:17,708 --> 00:51:19,667
Gaston had died in 1915,

631
00:51:19,750 --> 00:51:23,667
and the New York branch
was long closed.

632
00:51:27,000 --> 00:51:28,875
Méliès was not
the only person

633
00:51:28,958 --> 00:51:32,042
looking for his films.

634
00:51:32,125 --> 00:51:33,500
In the United States,

635
00:51:33,583 --> 00:51:36,000
Jean Le Roy,
another film pioneer,

636
00:51:36,083 --> 00:51:40,542
was trying to build a collection
dedicated to early cinema.

637
00:51:42,292 --> 00:51:45,792
Jean Le Roy,
what a strange character.

638
00:51:47,625 --> 00:51:50,083
He contacted Méliès
and told him

639
00:51:50,167 --> 00:51:51,833
an incredible story.

640
00:51:51,917 --> 00:51:54,125
"A few years ago," he wrote,

641
00:51:54,208 --> 00:51:57,958
"I had the Star Film
negatives in my basement."

642
00:51:59,583 --> 00:52:02,667
He was the friend to whom
Gaston had entrusted

643
00:52:02,750 --> 00:52:06,708
the precious treasure
back in 1911.

644
00:52:08,125 --> 00:52:11,542
Unfortunately, he no longer
had those negatives.

645
00:52:11,625 --> 00:52:14,500
In 1921, Gaston's son Paul

646
00:52:14,583 --> 00:52:18,500
had taken them back
and sold them all.

647
00:52:20,333 --> 00:52:22,458
Méliès was flabbergasted.

648
00:52:22,542 --> 00:52:24,583
To him, one thing was certain.

649
00:52:24,667 --> 00:52:27,458
He was the sole owner
of his movies.

650
00:52:27,542 --> 00:52:29,917
This was nothing
short of robbery.

651
00:52:30,000 --> 00:52:33,708
♪♪

652
00:52:33,792 --> 00:52:35,958
He wanted this
to become public knowledge,

653
00:52:36,042 --> 00:52:39,375
so he requested that Le Roy
publish ads in the press

654
00:52:39,458 --> 00:52:42,708
to prevent any exploitation
of his films.

655
00:52:42,792 --> 00:52:45,708
♪♪

656
00:52:45,792 --> 00:52:47,875
The mysterious buyer
was finally revealed

657
00:52:47,958 --> 00:52:52,542
and wasn't a thief at all,
but Leon Schlesinger.

658
00:52:52,625 --> 00:52:56,042
[ "Looney Tunes" theme playing ]

659
00:52:56,125 --> 00:52:58,792
Yes, indeed, Méliès' negatives
were in the hands

660
00:52:58,875 --> 00:53:02,500
of the future producer
of Bugs Bunny.

661
00:53:04,375 --> 00:53:07,625
He had 150 negatives
legally purchased

662
00:53:07,708 --> 00:53:10,750
and also had a contract
to prove it.

663
00:53:13,000 --> 00:53:15,333
Unfortunately,
Schlesinger had failed

664
00:53:15,417 --> 00:53:19,250
to put these antiquities
back into circulation.

665
00:53:20,833 --> 00:53:25,250
With the advent of talkies,
he had moved on to other things.

666
00:53:27,750 --> 00:53:29,250
At that time, he was, in fact,

667
00:53:29,333 --> 00:53:31,833
trying to sell them
to Paramount.

668
00:53:34,250 --> 00:53:37,708
Schlesinger nevertheless agreed
to make a deal with Méliès,

669
00:53:37,792 --> 00:53:40,833
whom he admired, offering him
a share of the profits

670
00:53:40,917 --> 00:53:45,167
and the possibility
of making copies for himself.

671
00:53:47,375 --> 00:53:49,292
Unfortunately, in the end,

672
00:53:49,375 --> 00:53:52,542
the advertisements about
the film theft years ago

673
00:53:52,625 --> 00:53:55,000
were harmful to all sides.

674
00:53:55,083 --> 00:53:59,458
The sale did not go through and
that's where things were left.

675
00:53:59,542 --> 00:54:01,792
Méliès never got
his films back

676
00:54:01,875 --> 00:54:04,000
but had the satisfaction
of knowing that,

677
00:54:04,083 --> 00:54:05,417
tired of resisting,

678
00:54:05,500 --> 00:54:08,708
Schlesinger had deposited them
with a museum.

679
00:54:10,500 --> 00:54:14,625
He later wrote, "A happy
coincidence, much overdue,

680
00:54:14,708 --> 00:54:18,083
meant that the extraordinary
productions of Georges Méliès

681
00:54:18,167 --> 00:54:20,667
would not be lost forever."

682
00:54:20,750 --> 00:54:23,792
♪♪

683
00:54:23,875 --> 00:54:26,667
The Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences

684
00:54:26,750 --> 00:54:30,000
finally inherited
the negatives in 1950

685
00:54:30,083 --> 00:54:33,292
after the death of
the Looney Tunes producer.

686
00:54:33,375 --> 00:54:37,208
But at that time,
there were only 53 cans left,

687
00:54:37,292 --> 00:54:39,542
containing 80 films.

688
00:54:39,625 --> 00:54:42,583
If we were to receive 53 cans

689
00:54:42,667 --> 00:54:46,333
of original Méliès'
negatives today,

690
00:54:46,417 --> 00:54:48,250
it would be a miracle.

691
00:54:48,333 --> 00:54:51,708
But at the time, in the 1950s,

692
00:54:51,792 --> 00:54:55,667
I don't know whether or not
it was known

693
00:54:55,750 --> 00:54:59,292
what this was,
the importance of these films.

694
00:54:59,375 --> 00:55:07,125
♪♪

695
00:55:07,208 --> 00:55:11,375
Maltin: At the time, the academy
didn't house its own archive.

696
00:55:11,458 --> 00:55:13,833
Some films were saved in 1958,

697
00:55:13,917 --> 00:55:17,042
but the machines then available
were not designed

698
00:55:17,125 --> 00:55:19,292
for fragile, shrunken,
old prints,

699
00:55:19,375 --> 00:55:22,333
and the originals
that were in good condition

700
00:55:22,417 --> 00:55:23,875
often ended up in pieces.

701
00:55:23,958 --> 00:55:27,542
The others continued
to decompose.

702
00:55:27,625 --> 00:55:31,875
♪♪

703
00:55:31,958 --> 00:55:34,042
20 years later
at the initiative

704
00:55:34,125 --> 00:55:36,208
of film archivist
David Shepard,

705
00:55:36,292 --> 00:55:37,917
who wished to show the films,

706
00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:41,417
the negatives were transferred
to the Library of Congress,

707
00:55:41,500 --> 00:55:44,917
which undertook
a new restoration campaign.

708
00:55:45,000 --> 00:55:48,667
♪♪

709
00:55:48,750 --> 00:55:52,250
But most still didn't fit
correctly in the machines.

710
00:55:52,333 --> 00:55:54,333
With every attempt
to make a copy,

711
00:55:54,417 --> 00:55:57,917
the negative
was further damaged.

712
00:55:58,000 --> 00:56:02,292
There were also unidentified
and abandoned films.

713
00:56:04,083 --> 00:56:08,458
Clearly, a new rescue operation
was essential.

714
00:56:08,542 --> 00:56:09,583
For that to happen,

715
00:56:09,667 --> 00:56:12,250
after a century
on American soil,

716
00:56:12,333 --> 00:56:15,000
the precious
35-millimeter negatives

717
00:56:15,083 --> 00:56:18,000
were returned to France.

718
00:56:20,000 --> 00:56:23,208
It's really great that,
in this particular case,

719
00:56:23,292 --> 00:56:26,083
we've had the academy
and the Library of Congress,

720
00:56:26,167 --> 00:56:31,167
the CNC, and Lobster films,
you know, to come together

721
00:56:31,250 --> 00:56:35,125
and to have these films end up
being restored

722
00:56:35,208 --> 00:56:37,958
in a way that we can
celebrate them once again

723
00:56:38,042 --> 00:56:40,708
and basically share them
with the world.

724
00:56:40,792 --> 00:56:42,875
It's really fantastic.

725
00:56:44,208 --> 00:56:47,792
This is the last opportunity
to properly preserve

726
00:56:47,875 --> 00:56:49,792
these films
for future generations,

727
00:56:49,875 --> 00:56:52,833
because these films
may not survive

728
00:56:52,917 --> 00:56:55,250
in 5, 10 years from now.

729
00:57:05,125 --> 00:57:07,375
[ de Pastre speaking French ]

730
00:57:52,750 --> 00:57:54,375
Maltin: The first step
of the restoration

731
00:57:54,458 --> 00:57:56,875
is to make the films
more flexible

732
00:57:56,958 --> 00:58:01,208
or to unstick the frames when
they have started to decompose.

733
00:58:01,292 --> 00:58:04,708
This requires a specific
chemical treatment,

734
00:58:04,792 --> 00:58:06,667
which is banned
in the United States

735
00:58:06,750 --> 00:58:10,000
for environmental reasons.

736
00:58:10,083 --> 00:58:14,208
Next, the films
are digitized frame by frame,

737
00:58:14,292 --> 00:58:19,000
using a high-quality scanner
which reveals their raw beauty.

738
00:58:19,083 --> 00:58:24,750
♪♪

739
00:58:24,833 --> 00:58:30,292
Numerous defects, the rips and
ravages of time still remain.

740
00:58:30,375 --> 00:58:32,125
Some are really terrible.

741
00:58:32,208 --> 00:58:35,458
That's when talented
preservationists step in

742
00:58:35,542 --> 00:58:37,167
and use image-editing programs

743
00:58:37,250 --> 00:58:40,292
that didn't exist
until recent times.

744
00:58:40,375 --> 00:58:45,458
♪♪

745
00:58:45,542 --> 00:58:47,583
The project
is only just beginning

746
00:58:47,667 --> 00:58:50,250
and will take many years
to complete,

747
00:58:50,333 --> 00:58:52,208
but it is the end
of a long journey

748
00:58:52,292 --> 00:58:55,208
these miraculous negatives
have taken.

749
00:58:55,292 --> 00:58:58,042
It is also the promise
of a new beginning

750
00:58:58,125 --> 00:59:03,000
of making these treasured
images available for eternity.

751
00:59:03,083 --> 00:59:07,833
For film lovers, it is nothing
short of a triumph.

752
00:59:07,917 --> 00:59:13,000
♪♪

753
00:59:13,083 --> 00:59:17,958
♪♪

754
00:59:18,042 --> 00:59:21,917
Film history teaches us
where we've gone before

755
00:59:22,000 --> 00:59:25,958
and where we can go
even further with our dreams

756
00:59:26,042 --> 00:59:29,000
because it's
the dream machine, right?

757
00:59:29,083 --> 00:59:36,750
♪♪

758
00:59:36,833 --> 00:59:44,458
♪♪

759
00:59:44,542 --> 00:59:52,208
♪♪

760
00:59:52,292 --> 01:00:00,458
♪♪

761
01:00:00,542 --> 01:00:08,625
♪♪

762
01:00:08,708 --> 01:00:16,750
♪♪

763
01:00:16,833 --> 01:00:21,000
♪♪

764
01:00:21,083 --> 01:00:25,333
♪♪

765
01:00:25,417 --> 01:00:29,667
♪♪

766
01:00:29,750 --> 01:00:33,958
♪♪

767
01:00:34,042 --> 01:00:38,250
♪♪

768
01:00:38,333 --> 01:00:42,542
♪♪

769
01:00:42,625 --> 01:00:46,875
♪♪

770
01:00:46,958 --> 01:00:51,333
♪♪