Cinderella (1899 film)

Cinderella French Cendrillon is an 1899 French film directed by Georges Mlis, based on the fairy tale by Charles Perrault. It was released by Mliss Star Film Company and is numbered 219224 in its catalogues, where it is advertised as a grande ferie extraordinaire entableaux.

Mlis modeled the films visual style on the engravings of Gustave Dor, who had illustrated the story for an edition of Perraults fairy tales. Dor was stylistically influential across Mliss career, especially in this film and in his film adaptations of four other works Dor had illustrated Red Riding Hood, Blue Beard, The Wandering Jew, and Baron Munchausens Dream. The direct inspiration for the film of Cinderella was probably a stage adaptation premiered in 1896 by the Thtre de la GalerieVivienne and played by the Troupe Raymond at Mliss own theatre of illustions, the Thatre RobertHoudin, at Christmastime of 1897 Mlis may also have been inspired by the Thtre du Chtelets lavish 1895 stage production of the story.Cinderella was Mliss first film with multiple scenes tableaux, using six distinct sets and five changes of scene within the film. His catalogue, by dividing the action into smaller beats, lists twenty tableaux within the film, a generous numbering probably devised for publicity reasons. So many extras were used in Cinderella that Mlis designated a Chief Extra to lead them. ........

Source: Wikipedia