''Cinderella'' (french: Cendrillon) is an 1899 French film directed by

Georges Méliès Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès (; ; 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938) was a French illusionist, actor, and film director. He led many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema. Méliès was well known for the use of ...

, based on the fairy tale by

Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , also , ; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was an iconic French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales ...

. It was released by Méliès's Star Film Company and is numbered 219–224 in its catalogues, where it is advertised as a ''grande

féerie ''Féerie'', sometimes translated as "fairy play", was a French theatrical genre known for fantasy plots and spectacular visuals, including lavish scenery and mechanically worked stage effects. ''Féeries'' blended music, dancing, pantomime, and ...

extraordinaire en 20 tableaux''.

Cast

The casts of Méliès's films are in many cases unidentified. Most of the following listing is based on cast identifications made by the film scholars

Georges Sadoul Georges Sadoul (4 February 1904 – 13 October 1967) was a French film critic, journalist and cinema writer. He is known for writing encyclopedias of film and filmmakers, many of which have been translated into English. Biography Sadoul was ...

, Jacques Malthête, and Laurent Mannoni. *

Mlle Barral Mademoiselle () is a French courtesy title, abbreviated Mlle, traditionally given to an unmarried woman. The equivalent in English is "Miss". The courtesy title " Madame" is accorded women where their marital status is unknown. From around 1970 o ...

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

. Barral had also acted in Méliès's bedroom farce ''

The Bridegroom's Dilemma ''The Bridegroom's Dilemma'' (french: Le Coucher de la mariée ou Triste nuit de noces) was an 1899 French short film, short silent film, silent comedy film by Georges Méliès. It was sold by Méliès's Star Film Company and is numbered 177–178 ...

'' earlier that year. *

Bleuette Bernon Bleuette Bernon (6 June 1878 – 15 June 1937) was a French film actress who appeared in at least five films made by Georges Méliès around the turn of the 20th century. The earliest films, made before 1900, were usually without plot and had a ...

as the

Fairy Godmother In fairy tales, a fairy godmother () is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies. In Perrault's ''Cinderella'', he concludes the tale with ...

. Méliès discovered Bernon in the 1890s, when she was performing as a singer at the cabaret L'Enfer. Her appearance in ''Cinderella'' is contemporaneous with her performances at the Eldorado cabaret. She also appeared as Phoebe, the woman on the crescent moon, in Méliès's famous '' A Trip to the Moon''. * Carmelli as the Prince. Carmelli was an actor at Méliès's theater of stage illusions, the

Théâtre Robert-Houdin The Théâtre Robert-Houdin, initially advertised as the Théâtre des Soirées Fantastiques de Robert-Houdin, was a Paris theatre dedicated primarily to the performance of stage illusions. Founded by the famous magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdi ...

in Paris. *

Jehanne d'Alcy Charlotte Lucie Marie Adèle Stephanie Adrienne Faës (20 March 1865 – 14 October 1956), known by her stage name Jeanne d'Alcy or Jehanne d'Alcy, was a French film actress. Biography D'Alcy had achieved success in theatrical productions by 1 ...

as the Prince's mother, the Queen. D'Alcy had achieved success in theatrical productions by 1896, but left the stage to devote herself to film, becoming one of the first performers to do so. She appeared in many of Méliès's films and later became his second wife. * Dupeyron as a party guest. *

as the genie of the midnight clock, and as a

halberdier A halberd (also called halbard, halbert or Swiss voulge) is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The word ''halberd'' is cognate with the German word ''Hellebarde'', deriving from ...

. All told, Méliès took an acting role in at least 300 of his 520 films.

Production

Méliès modeled the film's visual style on the engravings of

Gustave Doré Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré ( , , ; 6 January 1832 – 23 January 1883) was a French artist, as a printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor. He is best known for his prolific output of wood-engraving ...

, who had illustrated the story for an edition of Perrault's fairy tales. (Doré was stylistically influential across Méliès's career, especially in this film and in his film adaptations of four other works Doré had illustrated: ''

Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th century European folk tales. The two best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Brothe ...

'', ''

Blue Beard "Bluebeard" (french: Barbe bleue, ) is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in ''Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. The tale tells the s ...

'', ''The Wandering Jew'', and '' Baron Munchausen's Dream''.) The direct inspiration for the film of ''Cinderella'' was probably a stage adaptation premiered in 1896 by the Théâtre de la Galerie-Vivienne and played by the Troupe Raymond at Méliès's own theatre of illusions, the Théatre Robert-Houdin, at Christmastime of 1897.Frazer, p. 220 Méliès may also have been inspired by the

Théâtre du Châtelet The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a s ...

's lavish 1895 stage production of the story. ''Cinderella'' was Méliès's first film with multiple scenes (''tableaux''), using six distinct sets and five changes of scene within the film. (His catalogue, by dividing the action into smaller beats, lists twenty ''tableaux'' within the film, a generous numbering probably devised for publicity reasons.) So many extras were used in ''Cinderella'' that Méliès designated a Chief Extra to lead them. The film's special effects were created with

multiple exposure In photography and cinematography, a multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image, and double exposure has a corresponding meaning in respect of two images. The exposure values may or may not be ide ...

s, dissolves, and substitution splices.

Reception

''Cinderella'' was Méliès's first major cinematic success.Malthête & Mannoni, p. 106 It did well both in French fairground cinemas and at European and American music-halls, and inspired Méliès to create other lavishly designed storytelling films with multiple scenes. His next film with multiple scenes, ''

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

'' (1900), was his first to surpass 200 meters of film in length, and was also a marked success. According to the film historian

Lewis Jacobs Lewis Jacobs (1904 – February 11, 1997) was an American screenwriter, film director and critic. He authored several books, including ''The Rise of the American Film''. Early life Jacobs was born in 1904 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He ...

, ''Cinderellas use of spectacle on screen also influenced the films of

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...

. Méliès made another adaptation of the story, '' Cinderella or the Glass Slipper'', in 1912 under the supervision of

Pathé Frères Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest film equipme ...

. This version was not a success, partially because of directorial conflict between Méliès,

Ferdinand Zecca Ferdinand Zecca (19 February 1864 – 23 March 1947) was a Innovator, pioneer French film director, film producer, actor and screenwriter. He worked primarily for the Pathé company, first in artistic endeavors then in administration of the inter ...

, and

Charles Pathé Charles Morand Pathé (; 26 December 1863 – 25 December 1957) was a pioneer of the French film and recording industries. As the founder of Pathé Frères, its roots lie in 1896 Paris, France, when Pathé and his brothers pioneered the deve ...

, and partially because Méliès's theatrical style had fallen out of fashion by 1912.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cinderella 1899 1899 films 1890s French films French silent short films French drama short films French black-and-white films Films directed by Georges Méliès Films based on Charles Perrault's Cinderella Articles containing video clips 1890s drama films 1899 short films Silent drama films