duVoyage - Fondation Groupama Gan pour le Cinéma

Note that in 1944, Jehanne d’Alcy had this to say: “We had to make two exits that even trams could pass
through. Méliès had cars and theatre troupes go through. He made Joan of Arc in there.”
“The width of the studio now being more than 13 metres, a large two-storey building was built behind it, to
replace the smaller one; the ground floor had the ladies’ dressing rooms, and the first floor, the men’s dressing
rooms; two large case-loads of set decorations were housed in the ‘annexes’, on the right and left of the
stage, then we built a large hangar, adjacent to the studio and of the same size, with an asphalt floor, but
made up of iron frames supporting a canvas roof and shutters on the side, and enabling the room to be completely
closed as often as necessary (sheltered from the sun and the rain), or to serve as a simple empty space
in the day, with the shutters up so as not to block light into the studio when filming was taking place.
This new construction served generally to paint scenery and carpentry in the summer, to avoid the torrid heat
of the studio. From time to time, it was transformed into a large tent where a great number of actors could dress.
“Finally (...)”, continues Noverre, “a new small room was built behind the one that stored the camera, so that
it be possible to move this back even further and enable 11 metres wide shots. Modifications were made continually,
in successive waves, driven by changing needs so that this first studio ended up having a strange telescopic
appearance. Soon construction started around the studio. First, an enormous hangar which served as
storage space for heavy equipment (on set Méliès used balls, entire trains, trams, cruise ships, climbing frames
and stairs of all kinds, airplanes, etc. Everything having been built and stored in his workshops). Then a large
building with three floors, the ground floor of which became the wood store-room, and the two other floors
for customers; this building was made entirely of brick, ciment and iron, and had no wood, to reduce the risk
of a fire. Over 20,000 costumes of all kinds and from all eras, with their accessories, underwear, shoes, arms,
wigs, buffleteries, gloves, jewellery, etc....were kept here.”
Maurice Noverre, «The work of Georges Méliès. A retrospective study of the first “cinematographic studio”
designed for theatrical film-making», Le Nouvel Art cinématographique, 2 e série, n°3, Brest, juillet 1929, p.64-83
Workshop B
A second workshop, known as workshop B, was built at the end of 1907 to meet market requirements, particularly
that of America, again on the Montreuil property. From then on, Méliès could work on two films in
parallel.
The workshop was a structure made of glass and steel, built on a brick foundation. The studio was extremely
well-equipped: Méliès had arc lamps installed together with mercury vapour tubes which if “satisfactorily
combined’’ would allow the use of artificial light “together with natural light” (electricity was installed in
workshop A around 1902), and a crane enabled people and objects to be lifted up onto the stage.
In 1914, when he was already ruined financially, Méliès transformed workshop B into a local cinema. During
the war, the space was used for concerts, before being renamed the Théâtre des Variétés artistiques, inaugurated
in October 1917.
In 1923, what used to be workshop B was demolished in just one month.
Shortly after the second world war, workshop A was also destroyed.
Between 1896 and 1912, around 520 films were shot in Montreuil-sous-Bois.
The theatre company
“His troupe? A real café-concert crowd!”
Strictly speaking there was no Star Film theatre troupe. Georges Méliès simply composed the troupe he needed
depending on what was required for his films. Sometimes there were principal characters and extras, so-
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metimes numbering several dozen. They were a happy mix of Méliès’ close friends and family, neighbours
and theatre actors. As the years passed, more and more often the latter took the place of the former. For example,
Louvel, Méliès’ gardiner, appeared in the first ever camera test films, burning leaves, and the family, Octavia
Hunier, featured in Une partie de cartes (“A Game of Cards”), Méliès’ first film dating back to 1896. Here again
there were family members, such as Georges’ son, André (Un locataire diabolique), his daughter Georgette (Un
bon petit diable), a cousin, Paul (Le Sacré d’Edouard VII). There were also neighbourhood friends and acquaintances.
“When he needed actors, he invited all the staff, friends, parents and neighbours,” commented the operator
Maruice Astaix to the Commission for historical research.
However, Méliès knew that only professional actors would be able to act with sufficient grace and ease in the
roles he imagined. At the time, there were many actors to be found at the Châtelet theatre, or even the Folies
Bergères. Méliès did not intend to hire the stars of the day (they in any case would only accept cinema work
much later, around 1908, and then anonymously). No, what Georges Méliès was looking for were ordinary actors
capable of making his special effects work, and who could dance and move while playing their parts.
His links to the world of Parisian shows proved extremely useful. He recruited from the theatre and musichall.
Bleuette Bemon, who was singing at L’Enfer cabaret when Méliès spotted her, would play in 1899 in Cendrillon
(“Cinderella”) while continuing her career at the Eldorado. It was she who played “the woman in the
crescent moon”, in A Trip to the Moon.
He gradually built a core troupe as his career progressed: Jeanne Calvière, a stablewoman at the Cirque d’Hiver
(Winter Circus), at the Trianon Lyric theatre, was hired on the production of Jeanne d’Arc (1900), and would remain
part of his troupe for several years.
As for the actor André Deed, Méliès would claim that he was the only actor capable of appreciating the subtlety
of his special effects and the finesse of execution required to produce them. Paul Gilson commented: “His
troupe? Neighbours, helpers, eccentric wind-bags, roller skaters, Little Tich, acrobats from the Folies Bergères,
the Ping-Pong Girls, dancers from the Moulin-Rouge, Loïe Fuller, Fragson, Mamzelle Zizi Papillon...a real caféconcert
crowd ».
If to begin with Méliès himself recruited his actors and extras, very quickly he became known around Paris,
and was sought out in his office at the theatre. Confronted with the large number of candidates, he delegated
hiring actors and extras to his close friends and family. For Cendrillon, where a large number of extras was required,
he even employed a Chief Extra.
The case of Jehanne d’Alcy was unique. Not only because she became Méliès’ second wife, but because she was one
of the very first actresses to leave the theatre (where she had become quite famous by 1896), with the intention of
devoting herself entirely to cinema. She would feature in Méliès’ films until her physical appearance prevented
her from doing so, and then took care of costumes.
Compared to others (Pathé and Gaumont in particular), Méliès paid his actors well: one golden Louis a day, plus
lunch. People were hired the day before, for the following day. And when filming was sometimes impossible
due to lack of sunlight, Méliès still paid his actors.
Méliès’ operators
Méliès operators enjoyed much more stable employment, than say, the Lumière’s: they did not travel, were guaranteed
a salary and did not rely on a projection’s success for their earnings. Nonetheless, they were required
to carry out various tasks that went beyond their operator role. Thus, Leclerc, then François Lallement,
Maurice Astaix and Théophile Michault all developed film, and contributed to setting up scenery. Sometimes,
they even doubled as actors: Lallement played the Marine officer, for example, in A Trip to the Moon.
The role of operator was highly valued by Méliès. In fact, in addition to regularly turning the camera handle
(to avoid the picture moving from top to bottom in particular) or the ability to manipulate the speed of the
moving film (which had to be accelerated during battle scenes and slowed down during cloud-filming), Méliès’
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