Bluebeard (1901)
"Barbe-bleue" (original title)

A young woman becomes the eighth wife of the wealthy Bluebeard, whose first seven wives have died under mysterious circumstances.

Director:

Georges Méliès

Writers:

Georges Méliès (adaptation), Charles Perrault (fairy tale)

Stars:

Georges Méliès, Jeanne d'Alcy, Bleuette Bernon

Cast

Cast overview:
Georges Méliès	...	Barbe-bleue
Jeanne d'Alcy	...	Le nouvelle épouse de Barbe-bleue
Bleuette Bernon	...	La fée

Storyline

Lord Bluebeard is looking for a woman to become his eighth wife, as his first seven wives have all passed away. Many noble families bring their daughters to meet him, but none of the young women want to marry him. Bluebeard's great wealth, however, persuades one father to give his daughter's hand to him. She reluctantly marries him, and after a lavish wedding feast she begins her new life in his castle. One day as Bluebeard is going away on a journey, he warns his wife never to go into a certain room. When her curiosity finally gets the best of her, she realizes that she has placed herself in great danger.

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Plot Keywords:

curiosity | dragged down stairs | door key | blood stain | stain | 

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Genres:

Short | Fantasy | Horror

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Details

Country:

France

Release Date:

3 May 1902 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bluebeard

Company Credits

Production Co:

Star-Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

9 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Bluebeard (1944)

User Reviews

One of the very first narrative films

Georges Méliès Bluebeard is one of the earliest examples of narrative film-making. It is a dry run for Méliès later hugely influential A Trip to the Moon. Up until this point in time cinema was the preserve of visual trickery and pure realist reproduction. No one had really worked out how to tell stories via this new medium. It was left to the ultimate cinematic innovator Méliès to start thinking of film as a narrative form. And with this little movie we have a definite story; one which is also replete with the director's famed visual invention. It's one of the first times that he utilised his special effects into an actual story. There are several different sets, all of which have detailed design. The story itself is about the evil character Bluebeard. It's a much more macabre subject than Méliès more common fantasy based tales. This one still has those elements too but also has darker, more nightmarish content. In its most memorable moment, for instance, the heroine enters a secret room where the dead bodies of Bluebeard's seven previous wives hang. It's quite striking and one of the earliest examples of horror cinema. The whole fantasy dream sequence is overall very effective with a sprite that leaps out of a book, ghostly apparitions and giant dancing keys. It's an entertaining film whose main historical importance is that it is one of the very first twitches of narrative cinema.