Gaston Velle

Gaston Velle (1868–1953^[1]) was a French silent film director and pioneer of special effects, who was prominent in early French and Italian cinema during the first two decades of the 20th century.^[2] Like his father, the Hungarian entertainer Joseph "Professor" Velle, Gaston began his career as a travelling magician, before putting his illusionist skills to work in cinema and ultimately creating more than fifty films between 1903 and 1911.^[3] He worked under Auguste and Louis Lumière, before serving as the head of production for the Italian film studio Cines. But he is best remembered for his work at Pathé, where he was hired to produce trick films that might rival those of his contemporary, Georges Méliès, including classic shorts like Burglars at Work (1904). Some films pioneered lasting techniques, such as his Les Invisibles (1906) – the first known invisible man film.^[4]

Velle also created some of the first féerie films, such as tit-for-tat (1906).^[5] Additionally, Velle collaborated with other directors such as Segundo de Chomon and Ferdinand Zecca to create such silent film classics as the Moon Lover (1905), the Raja's Casket (1906), and the Hen that Laid the Golden Egg (1905), the latter of which was featured in the 1997 Martin Scorsese film, Kundun.

Velle mysteriously retired from film production in 1913, and little is known about the last several decades of his life. Still, Velle remained part of a prominent cinematic family. Most notably, his son Maurice Velle, a Parisian cinematographer, had a family with screenwriter Mary Murillo.

Filmography

1904 – Dévaliseurs nocturnes
1904 – La danse du Kickapoo
1904 – Le paravent mystérieux
1904 – La danse des apaches
1904 – Danses plastiques
1904 – Les dénicheurs d'oiseaux
1904 – La métamorphose du papillon
1904 – Japonaiseries
1904 – La Valise de Barnum
1904 – Métamorphose du roi de pique
1904 – Un drame dans les airs
1904 – Le Chapeau magique
1905 – La poule aux œufs d'or
1905 – Sidney, le clown aux échasses
1905 – La fée aux fleurs
1905 – Rêve à la lune ou L'amant de la lune
1905 – Les cartes lumineuses ou Les cartes transparentes
1905 – Ruche merveilleuse
1905 – Coiffes et coiffures
1905 – John Higgins, le roi des sauteurs
1905 – L'antre infernal
1905 – Un drame en mer
1905 – L'аlbum merveilleux
1906 – Le Bazar du Père Noël (Il Bazar di Natale)
1906 – Onore rusticano
1906 – Il pompiere di servizio
1906 – Heures de la mondaine (Le ore di una mondana)
1906 – Enlèvement à bicyclette (Il ratto di una sposa in bicicletta)
1906 – Il dessert di Lulù
1906 – L'accordéon mysterieux (L'organetto misterioso)
1906 – Bicyclette présentée en liberté
1906 – Mariage tragique (Nozze tragiche)
1906 – Le garde fantôme
1906 – Les Invisibles
1906 – La Peine du talion
1906 – Les effets de la foudre
1906 – Cuore e patria
1906 – La fée aux pigeons
1906 – Quarante degrés à l'ombre (Quaranta gradi all'ombra)
1906 – Otello
1906 – Voyage autour d'une étoile
1906 – L'есrin du rajah
1906 – Les Fleurs animées
1907 – Petit Jules Verne
1907 – Le secret de l'horloger
1907 – Le petit prestidigitateur
1907 – Le secret de l'horloger (Patto infernale)
1907 – Au pays des songes (Nel paese dei sogni)
1907 – Artista e pasticciere
1907 – Gitane (La gitana)
1907 – Pile électrique (La pila elettrica)
1907 – Petit Frégoli (Il piccolo Fregoli)
1907 – Fille du chiffonnier (La figlia del cenciaiolo)
1907 – Primavera senza sole
1907 – Triste jeunesse (Triste giovinezza)
1907 – Un moderno Sansone
1907 – Le crime du magistrat (Il delitto del magistrato)
1908 – Après le bal (Dopo un veglione)
1908 – Lapins du docteur (I conigli del dottore)
1908 – Confession par téléphone (La confessione per telefono)
1908 – Première nuit de noces (La prima notte)
1908 – Polichinelle (Le avventure di Pulcinella)
1908 – Le spectre(Lo spettro)
1908 – Dîner providentiel (Pranzo provvidenziale)
1908 – Le triple rendez-vous(Triplice convegno)
1910 – Isis
1910 – Cagliostro, aventurier, chimiste et magicien
1910 – Au temps des Pharaons
1910 – La rose d'or
1910 – Le charme des fleurs
1910 – Le fruit défendu
1910 – L'oracle des demoiselles
1910 – Rêve d'art
1911 – Fafarifla ou le fifre magique
1911 – L'armure de feu
1911 – Le cauchemar de Pierrot
1913 – La nuit rouge

References

^ Bibliotheque nationale de France
^ Oscherwitz, Dayna; Higgins, MaryEllen (2 September 2009). The A to Z of French Cinema. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7038-3.
^ Solomon, Matthew (2010). Disappearing Tricks: Silent Film, Houdini, and the New Magic of the Twentieth Century. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-07697-8.
^ Williamson, Colin (22 October 2015). Hidden in Plain Sight: An Archaeology of Magic and the Cinema. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-7256-7.
^ Dahlquist, Marina; Galili, Doron; Olsson, Jan; Robert, Valentine (1 November 2018). Corporeality in Early Cinema: Viscera, Skin, and Physical Form. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-03366-6.

External links

[1] Bibliotheque nationale de France

[2] Oscherwitz, Dayna; Higgins, MaryEllen (2 September 2009). The A to Z of French Cinema. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7038-3.

[3] Solomon, Matthew (2010). Disappearing Tricks: Silent Film, Houdini, and the New Magic of the Twentieth Century. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-07697-8.

[4] Williamson, Colin (22 October 2015). Hidden in Plain Sight: An Archaeology of Magic and the Cinema. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-7256-7.

[5] Dahlquist, Marina; Galili, Doron; Olsson, Jan; Robert, Valentine (1 November 2018). Corporeality in Early Cinema: Viscera, Skin, and Physical Form. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-03366-6.

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