Melies Encore: 26 Additional Rare and Original Films

Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'Melies Encore: 26 Additional Rare and Original Films by the First Wizard of Cinema (1896-1911)')

Directed by Georges Méliès
France 1896 - 1911

Georges Méliès built the world's first movie studio in 1896 and from it cascaded many fantastic films, as featured on Flicker Alley’s monumental thirteen-hour, five-DVD box, Georges Méliès, First Wizard of the Cinema. Since it was published, an additional 26 films produced by Méliès between 1896 and 1911 have been found and made available for this single-disc, supplemental collection. They further support that Méliès was the most accomplished filmmaker in the world during the first years of cinema.

The films collected here are presented as in the earlier set, in chronological order with excellent new music. Although the print quality is variable, most look very nice; five boast beautiful, original hand-coloring, while another five have original English narrations written by Méliès. Two are fragments, as the complete films are lost. As a bonus, this collection also includes two films in the Méliès style by Segundo de Chomon, which for many years were misidentified as Georges Méliès’ own work.

Excerpt from The Flicker Alley Website located HERE

Theatrical Release: 1896 - 1911 - France

DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Flicker Alley - Region 0 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Flicker Alley - Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:52:28
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.30 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	(Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Flicker Alley Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: February 16th, 2010 Cardboard fold-out Case Chapters: 26

Comments:

In our 2008 DVD of the Year poll HERE, Georges Méliès, First Wizard of the Cinema had strong support placing third. Flicker Alley are now treating us to an 'encore' with 26 more shorts - running almost 2-hours.

Quality Predictably varies from almost unwatchable (Post No Bills) to quite moderate all things considered - and there are some color entries like An Hallucinated Alchemist. The image has some ghosting due to the frame rate conversion but it looks to be progressively transferred not exemplifying that reaction. All-in-all, I'd say most are as good, with a few possibly a notch below, the original DVD package; Georges Méliès, First Wizard of the Cinema.

Sources come from various institutions including Les Archives Françaises du Film (CNC), Filmarchiv Austria, British Film Institute, Carlo Montanaro Ciné-Archives, fonds audiovisuel du PCF, La Cinémathèque Française, Cineteca del Comune di Bologna, Cineteca del Friuli, Cineteca Italiana, Danish Film Museum, David Pfluger, George Eastman House, Gosfilmofond, Instituto Valenciano del Audiovisual, Lawrence Jordan, Lobster Films, Munich Film Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, Národní filmový archiv, Nederlands Filmmuseum, New Zealand Film Archive etc.

The English narrations (2.0 channel) on this set were originally written by Georges Méliès, and were designed to be read aloud during the presentation of these films. They have been adapted for this edition by David Shepard and spoken by Serge Bromberg and Pauline Richard.

Titles included are:

Post No Bills
The Haunted Castle
An Hallucinated Alchemist
On The Roof
The Last Cartridges
Sea Fighting In Greece
Off to Bloomingdale Asylum
The Prolific Magical Egg
Eruption of Mount Pele
Robinson Crusoe (Fragment)
The Mystical Flame
Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter
Fugitive Apparitions
The Wandering Jew
The Christmas Angel
A Mesmerian Experiment
The Mysterious Island
The Inventor Crazybrains and his Wonderful Airship
Robert Macaire and Bertrand Under the Sea
How Bridget's Lover Escaped
Satan in Prison
The King and the Jester
The Doctor's Secret
The Spider and the Butterfly
The Diabolical Church Window
Magic Roses
Excursion to the Moon

It's a ton of fun to sit back and watch these feeling yourself surely drifting back to when they were the height of fascination... and fashion. One must marvel at their sheer existence in any condition. It's strangely addictive and for fans of the first Méliès Flicker Alley package - we certainly recommend!