The Witch (1906 film)
The Witch (French: La Fée Carabosse ou le Poignard fatal) is a 1906 French short silent film by Georges Méliès. It was sold by Méliès's Star Film Company and is numbered 877–887 in its catalogues, where it was advertised as a grande légende fantastique bretonne en 20 tableaux.[1]
| The Witch | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Georges Méliès |
Production company | |
Release date |
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| Country | France |
| Language | Silent |
The film was one of several commissioned from Méliès by the Grands Magasins Dufayel department store,[2] which projected féerie films for children to watch in an adjoining room while their parents were shopping.[3] The Dufayel showings were accompanied by various arrangements of sound effects, music, and spoken commentaries. They were so successful that, according to one recollection, children always complained when their parents came to collect them again.[2]
Preproduction sketches indicate that Méliès initially planned to call the film La Princesse Fatale.[3] The title lettering style, seemingly inspired by Gothic art, was used the same year in Méliès's films The Tramp and the Mattress Makers and Soap Bubbles. Special effects in the film were carried out using stage machinery, horizontally rolling scenery, pyrotechnics, substitution splices, multiple exposures, and dissolves.[3]
References
- Malthête, Jacques; Mannoni, Laurent (2008), L'oeuvre de Georges Méliès, Paris: Éditions de La Martinière, p. 204, ISBN 9782732437323
- Barnier, Martin (2014), "Le son féerique de Méliès", in Malthête, Jacques; Gaudreault, André; Le Forestier, Laurent (eds.), Méliès, carrefour des attractions; suivi de Correspondances de Georges Méliès (1904-1937), Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, pp. 73–83 (here 80–81)
- Essai de reconstitution du catalogue français de la Star-Film; suivi d'une analyse catalographique des films de Georges Méliès recensés en France, Bois d'Arcy: Service des archives du film du Centre national de la cinématographie, 1981, p. 267, ISBN 2903053073
