Star Film Company
The Manufacture de Films pour Cinématographes, often known as Star Film,[a] was a French film production company run by the illusionist and film director Georges Méliès.[1]
History
On 28 December 1895, Méliès attended the celebrated first public demonstration of the
Meanwhile, having studied the principles on which Paul's projector ran, Méliès designed a makeshift camera. With the help of a mechanic, Lucien Korsten, he built it in the workshop of the theater, using parts recycled from machines used in his illusions.[2] On 2 September 1896, Méliès, Korsten, and an associate, Lucien Reulos, obtained a patent on their work, christened the Kinétograph, and on 2 December Méliès created the Star Film trademark, with the slogan "The Whole World Within Reach."[3]
American branch
The American branch of the company was managed by Méliès' older brother Gaston Méliès and produced films in New York City, San Antonio, Texas and Santa Paula, California. Its most significant film was The Immortal Alamo (1911).[4]
History
Georges Méliès had produced films in France, which had become popular around the world. Some
Gaston arrived in New York City in 1902 and began distributing his brother's films. By 1903, Gaston began making films himself, mostly
The studio had actors
Star Film moved to
On July 24, 1912, Gaston, his wife and a crew of fourteen left for a Pacific and Asian voyage to make movies in exotic locales. Documentaries and dramas were filmed at various locations such as Tahiti, Bora Bora, New Zealand, Rarotonga, Australia, Java, Cambodia, Japan, and others. The footage was sent to New York for processing, but much of the footage arrived damaged because of the harsh conditions in which the negatives were shot or mishandling in transit. What was released met with an unappreciative audience and bad reviews in the trade press.[6]
Gaston stopped the tour in 1913 and settled in Corsica, where he died two years later. Gaston's son Paul sold what was left of the company to General Film Company in 1917. It was believed that "bad blood" developed between the Méliès brothers, but recent research indicates that despite losses in the American branch, Georges received all payments he was entitled to.[6]
Selected filmography
- The Man with the Rubber Head (1901)
- A Trip to the Moon (1902)
- The Yacht Race (1903)
- The Impossible Voyage (1904)
- Salt on the Bird's Tail (1910)
- In the Hot Lands (1911)
- Mary's Stratagem (1911)
- The Immortal Alamo (1911)
- When the Tables Turned (1911)
- The Kiss of Mary Jane (1911)
Footnotes
References
- ^ ISBN 9782732437323.
- ^ ISBN 0816183686.
- ISBN 0900406380.
- ^ a b c Thompson, Frank (2002). Texas Hollywood: Filmmaking in San Antonio Since 1910. San Antonio: Maverick Publishing Company. pp. 3–8.
- The Handbook of Texas. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
- ^ ISBN 1556224818.