Méliès Later in Life

Melies doing magicMéliès was unable to repeat his successes of the years around the turn of the century.

Pathe and Gaumont, two competing French firms, made films faster and had more sophisticated business plans that allowed them to capture the market.

Ben Kingsley plays Méliès in Hugo (2011)Méliès made his last film in 1914.  By the late 1920s, he was selling candy and toys in a Paris train station.  Most of his films were melted down to make boot heels during World War I.

His plight was publicized by  journalists and the French government awarded him the Legion of Honor and gave him a small pension.  He died in 1938.

Next: Porter

Clapper SymbolIn 2nd photo: Ben Kingsley plays Méliès in Hugo (2011), a film about a boy who finds Méliès selling toys in the Paris Metro.   

Jehanne d'Alcy (1865-1956) played a critical role in Melies' life. She had started performing for Melies at the Robert-Houdin in 1888. She was performing in films for him by 1896 and was in many...including numerous that were considered very risque. She appears as the Moon Maiden (sitting on the cresent moon) in Voyage (and she also designed many of the costumes for the film). d'Alcy was Melies' mistress by the early 1900s. He married her after his first wife died. Her family owned the toy shop at the Montparnasse train station in Paris that supported her and Melies after the end of his film career. d'Alcy died in '52.