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Cinderella - Cendrillon (1899) Full Video

 







Cinderella (1899)
Original Title: Cendrillon
Story: Charles Perrault


Cast: Mlle Barral, Bleuette Bernon, Carmelli, Jehanne d'Alcy, Dupeyron, Georges Méliès


Release Date: October 1899
Country of Origin: France


A fairy godmother transforms a pumpkin into a coach and Cinderella's rags into a gorgeous attire. Will Cinderella remember to depart before the charm wears off after meeting the Prince at the ball?

The remarkable fairy tale cinema version of author Charles Perrault's "Cendrillon" by George Méliès is credited with being the first to employ a dissolve transition between scenes. The director depicts the famous tale of Cinderella, in which the Fairy Godmother uses her magic to change a poor and tattered girl into a beautiful noble lady at the King's Ball, using twenty exquisitely colored engravings by Gustave Doré to accompany the storyline's interchanging scenes. Everything is here in less than seven minutes, from the noble Prince Charming and the delicate slipper to the majestic, enchanted carriage and the envious sisters. Naturally, time is of the essence here as well.

Many of Méliès's films have unnamed casts. Georges Sadoul, Jacques Malthéon, and Laurent Mannoni, three film academics, identified the cast for the majority of the listings that follow.


Cinderella, played by Mlle Barral. Earlier that year, Barral had also performed in Méliès's bedroom farce, The Bridegroom's Dilemma.

The Fairy Godmother, played by Bleuette Bernon. When Bernon was singing in the cabaret L'Enfer in the 1890s, Méliès came upon her. Her performances in the Eldorado cabaret coincide with her role in Cinderella. She also made an appearance in Méliès's well-known A Trip to the Moon as Phoebe, the woman on the crescent moon.

The Prince is Carmelli. Carmelli performed in the Théâtre Robert-Houdin in Paris, Méliès's theater of theatrical illusions.

Jehanne d'Alcy as the Queen, the mother of the Prince. By 1896, D'Alcy had made a name for herself in theater, but she quit the stage to focus on film, becoming one of the first performers to do so. She became Méliès's second wife after making numerous appearances in his movies.

Dupeyron as a party guest.

Georges Méliès as the genie of the midnight clock, and as a halberdier. All told, Méliès took an acting role in at least 300 of his 520 films.

Georges Méliès's 1899 French trick film Cinderella (French: Cendrillon) is based on Charles Perrault's fairy tale. It was released by Méliès's Star Film Company and is listed as a grande déerie extraordinary en 20 tableaux in its catalogues, numbers 219–224.

It is the first known film adaptation of the traditional fairy tale.

The 1899 film Cinderella (French: Cendrillon), directed by the legendary Georges Méliès, stands as a pivotal monument in cinematic history. While many know Méliès for A Trip to the Moon (1902), Cinderella was actually his first massive global success and the film that fundamentally transitioned cinema from a "sideshow attraction" to a narrative storytelling medium (Malthête & Mannoni, 2008).

Historical Significance & Cinematic "Firsts"

Before 1899, films were typically single-shot "actualities" or brief magic tricks. Cinderella shattered this mold with several revolutionary innovations:

  • The First Narrative Film: It is widely considered the first film to tell a cohesive story through multiple scenes (tableaux). Méliès used six distinct sets and five scene changes to create a narrative arc (A Cinema History, 2013).

  • The Invention of the Dissolve: To signify the passage of time or a change in location, Méliès invented the lap dissolve (cross-dissolve). Previously, scene changes were abrupt cuts; here, one image fades out while the next fades in (MUBI, n.d.).

  • First Dream Sequence: The film contains what is believed to be the first dream sequence in cinema history—a scene where Cinderella is haunted by dancing clocks that mock her with the impending midnight deadline (A Cinema History, 2013).

Production Trivia & Artistic Style

  • The Gustave Doré Influence: Méliès, a former magician and artist, modeled the film's visual style directly on the wood-engravings of Gustave Doré, who had illustrated Charles Perrault's fairy tales. This gave the film a "living book" aesthetic that was highly sophisticated for the time (Wikipedia, 2026).

  • Hand-Coloring: Though the film was shot in black and white, several premium prints were hand-colored frame-by-frame by a workshop of women in Paris. A small, surviving fragment of this original color print still exists today (Kaufman, n.d.).

  • The "20 Tableaux" Marketing: In his catalog, Méliès advertised the film as having "20 tableaux" (scenes). In reality, there are only about six sets. He reached the number 20 by counting every minor action or "beat" within the scenes to make the film sound more epic to potential buyers (Wikipedia, 2026).

The Cast and Méliès's Personal Connection

  • A Family Affair: The role of the Queen was played by Jehanne d'Alcy, a successful stage actress who became one of the first professional film performers. She later became Méliès’s second wife and helped run his film business (Wikipedia, 2026).

  • Méliès's Cameo: As was his custom, Méliès appeared in his own film. He played the Genie of the Midnight Clock (the gnome who jumps out to taunt Cinderella) and a halberdier (Wikipedia, 2026).

  • The Fairy Godmother: Bleuette Bernon, who played the Fairy Godmother, was a cabaret singer Méliès discovered at the L'Enfer cabaret. She later achieved cinematic immortality as the "Lady in the Moon" in A Trip to the Moon (Wikipedia, 2026).

Technical "Magic"

The film's effects were created using a combination of stagecraft and early film tricks:

  • Substitution Splices: To turn the pumpkin into a carriage, Méliès would stop the camera, swap the props, and then restart the camera—a technique he discovered by accident when his camera jammed while filming a bus (Ettleman, 2017).

  • The Glass Studio: The film was shot in Méliès's famous iron-and-glass studio in Montreuil. This was the first of its kind, designed like a greenhouse to allow maximum sunlight (essential for slow film stock) while protecting sets from the weather (ResearchGate, 2023).


Cendrillon (1899) is a French silent film directed by the pioneering filmmaker Georges Méliès. It is historically significant as the first known film adaptation of the classic Cinderella fairy tale. Based on the version by Charles Perrault, the film is a six-minute "trick film" that showcased Méliès' innovative use of special effects. 

Its pioneering achievements include:
  • Introduction of Multiple Scenes (Tableaux): It was Méliès’s first film to feature multiple distinct scenes and sets, moving away from the single-shot "actualities" common at the time. While not the first multi-scene film ever, it was one of the first to unify these scenes into a single, cohesive narrative reel rather than selling them as individual clips.
  • First Use of Dissolves: It is credited as the first film to use dissolve transitions (cross-fades) to move between scenes. This technique, inspired by magic lantern shows, allowed for seamless shifts from Cinderella’s cottage to the royal ball.
  • Advanced Special Effects: The film showcased a "bag of tricks" including substitution splices (stop-camera tricks) to transform pumpkins into coaches and rags into gowns, as well as multiple exposures.
  • Narrative Expansion (The Féerie Genre): It established the féerie (fairy film) as a major cinematic genre, prioritizing visual spectacle and elaborate storytelling over mundane daily life.
  • Commercial and International Success: Cendrillon was Méliès’s first major international hit, achieving massive popularity in European and American music halls. Its success in the U.S. was so significant that it sparked resentment from Thomas Edison, who attempted to block its distribution.
  • Production Scale: The film featured an unusually large cast of over 35 people, leading Méliès to appoint a "Chief Extra" to manage the performers—a precursor to modern production roles. 

Georges Méliès’s 1899 production of Cinderella (Cendrillon) is a landmark in cinematic history. It wasn’t just a retelling of a fairy tale; it was a technical manifesto that proved film could be used for scripted, multi-scene storytelling rather than just capturing brief moments of daily life.

Pioneering Achievements

  • The "Multiple Scenes" Narrative: Before Cinderella, most films were "actualities"—short, single-shot clips of trains or workers. Méliès used multiple scenes (or "tableaux") to tell a cohesive story. It is considered one of the first films to use a sequential narrative structure.

  • Dissolves and Transitions: Méliès pioneered the use of the dissolve (overlapping the end of one shot with the beginning of the next). This allowed for smoother transitions between scenes, creating a "magical" flow that suited the fairy tale theme.

  • Complex Special Effects: The film showcased Méliès's mastery of "trick photography," specifically the substitution splice (stopping the camera to swap an object or actor). This was used for the iconic transformation of the pumpkin into a carriage.

  • Large-Scale Production Design: It was one of the first films to feature elaborate, hand-painted sets and a large cast of extras. This moved cinema away from the streets and into the controlled environment of a professional studio.

  • Color Tinting: While many copies were black and white, deluxe versions were hand-colored frame-by-frame by workshops (notably that of Elisabeth Thuillier), marking an early peak in cinematic color aesthetics.




References


Footnote Sources

Source Type      Reference Information
Academic TextCook, D. A. (2016). A History of Narrative Film. W. W. Norton & Company. (Discusses the transition from "cinema of attractions" to narrative storytelling).
Biographical AnalysisFrazer, J. (1979). Artificially Arranged Scenes: The Films of Georges Méliès. G. K. Hall. (Detailed breakdown of the production and effects of Cendrillon).
Archival DatabasePizello, S. (2002). "The Magic of Méliès." American Cinematographer. (Focuses on the technical evolution of the substitution splice and dissolves).
Film History JournalAbel, R. (1998). The Ciné Goes to Town: French Cinema, 1896-1914. University of California Press. (Contextualizes Méliès's success in the early global film market).
Digital ArchiveThe Méliès Project. Cendrillon (1899) Restoration Notes. (Technical details regarding hand-coloring and the recovery of original nitrate prints).

Note on "Firsts": While Cinderella is a pioneer of the multi-scene format, historians often debate whether it or Méliès’s earlier works (like The Dreyfus Affair) holds the absolute title of "first." However, Cinderella was undeniably the film that proved narrative cinema was a massive commercial success.


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