Cléopâtre | |
Director: | Georges Méliès |
Producer: | Georges Méliès |
Starring: | Georges Méliès Jeanne d'Alcy |
Cinematography: | Georges Méliès |
Runtime: | 2 minutes |
Country: | France |
Language: | Silent film |
Robbing Cleopatra's Tomb (French: Cléopâtre, literally Cleopatra) is an 1899 silent trick film directed by Georges Méliès. One of the earliest horror films ever made, it is about resurrecting the mummy of Cleopatra. In it, a man chops the mummy of Cleopatra into pieces, and then "produces a woman from a smoking brazier."[1]
While today director Méliès is more known for his iconic film A Trip to the Moon, it was this film which caught the attention of producer Charles Urban, who released the film in the United States (under the title Robbing Cleopatra's Tomb; its British release was simply titled Cleopatra's Tomb) and subsequently distributed many of Méliès other films.[1] It's numbered 175–176 in the catalogue.
This is a lost film. A print was reported to have been discovered in France on 22 September 2005,[2] but it turned out to be a different film involving tomb robbery.[3]