Saturday, October 1, 2011

An Early Sci-Fi Short





This little science fiction gem dates from 1908 and can rank up there as being one of the most famous early movie remakes.  It is a remake of Georges Meliese's Le Voyage dans la luna (A Trip To The Moon) which dates from 1902.  Interestingly this film, though hand tinted in color, shares something in common with the remake of Psycho, in that it is an almost frame for frame copy of it's original black and white parent film.




Made in France by Segundo de Chomon, a pioneer of the earliest Spanish cinema and of early special effects.  It was made for the famous early French cinema "production" company Pathé Freres.  Today only a fragment of the original tinting has survived.  Despite that the director was Spanish and actually ordered a copy with Spanish title cards, the surviving copy has only title cards in the original French.  It's a pretty cool little film for it's time.

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