Robinson Crusoe (1902 film)

1902 French film

Les aventures de Robinson Crusoë

A frame from the film

Directed by| Georges Méliès
Written by| Georges Méliès
Based on| Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe
Starring| Georges Méliès

Production
company

Star Film Company

Release date

* 1902 (1902)

Running time

| 280 meters/910 feet[1]
(approx. 15 minutes)[2]
Country| France
Language| Silent

Robinson Crusoe (French: Les aventures de Robinson Crusoë) is a 1902 French silent film directed by Georges Méliès, based on Daniel Defoe's 1719 book of the same name.

## Plot

[edit]

Robinson Crusoe, a sailor, is shipwrecked on an island. He gathers what provisions he can from the wreck, including a dog and a cat, who are the only other survivors of the catastrophe. After signaling a passing ship to no avail, Crusoe builds a hut.

Elsewhere on the island, at the base of a cliff, cannibal natives have taken prisoners, and have eaten all but one of them. They are about to kill the last prisoner when Crusoe appears and scares them off with gunfire. Crusoe takes charge of the prisoner, naming him Friday. The two of them scale the cliff, fighting off natives attacking them as they go. The fight works its way up the cliff and into the hut. Together, Friday and Crusoe manage to kill all the attacking natives. Safe at last, Crusoe makes friends with Friday and teaches him some skills. They set up home in their hut, along with the dog and the cat as well as a parrot and a goat. Together they build a canoe, brave a hurricane, hunt, and sail around the island.

Twenty-five years after Crusoe’s shipwreck, some sailors land on the island; they have mutinied against, and imprisoned, the captain and officers of their ship. Friday and Crusoe attack the mutineers and set the prisoners free. The captain and officers let Crusoe and Friday onto their ship, and bring them to England. Landing in Southampton, Crusoe goes home and is reunited with his wife and children. Friday is adopted into the family. In a final "apotheosis" scene, Crusoe and Friday are shown once again after their fight with the natives, standing in glory on their island.[2]

## Production

[edit]

Méliès himself stars as the titular hero. The design of the film, also by Méliès, was inspired by J. J. Grandville's illustrations for the novel.[3] The film was released by Méliès's Star Film Company and is numbered 430–443 in its catalogues.[1]

## Survival

[edit]

The restored hand-colored print

A short black-and-white fragment of the film was the only known remnant until 2011, when a hand-colored print on nitrate film was found among a collection donated to the Cinémathèque Française. This print, roughly twelve and a half minutes of the film's original fifteen-minute running time, was restored in 4k resolution by the Cinémathèque. The restoration, with a new score by Maud Nelissen and with an English translation of Méliès's original narration read live by Paul McGann, premiered on 35mm film at the Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone in 2012.[3]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Hammond, Paul (1974). Marvellous Méliès. London: Gordon Fraser. p. 141\. ISBN 0900406380.
2. ^ a b Méliès, Georges (1905), Complete Catalogue of Genuine and Original "Star" Films, New York: Geo. Méliès, pp. 21–22, retrieved 19 December 2014
3. ^ a b Hutchinson, Pamela (10 October 2012). "Georges Méliès's Robinson Crusoé film resurfaces in Pordenone". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 June 2013.

## External links

[edit]

* Robinson Crusoe at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe

Characters|

* Friday

Sequel novels|

* The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
* Serious Reflections of Robinson Crusoe

Films|

* Robinson Crusoe (1902)
* The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1922)
* Robinson Crusoe (1927)
* Robinson Crusoe (1947)
* Robinson Crusoe (1954)
* Robinson Crusoe (1974)
* Crusoe (1988)
* Robinson Crusoe (1997)

Film variations|

* Mr. Robinson Crusoe (1932)
* Miss Robin Crusoe (1954)
* Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)
* Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. (1966)
* Robby (1968)
* Man Friday (1975)
* Mr. Robinson (1976)
* Shipwrecked (1990)
* The Wild Life (2016)

Television|

* The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1964)
* Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a Sailor from York (1982)
* Robinson Sucroe (1994)
* Crusoe (2008)

Literature|

* Friday, or, The Other Island
* Canadian Crusoes
* Foe

Other|

* Alexander Selkirk
* Robinson Crusoe Island
* Robinsonade
* Robinson Crusoé
* Robinson Crusoe economy
* Robinson Crusoes of Warsaw

* v
* t
* e

Georges Méliès

Actualities|

* Actualities (1896–1900)
* Reconstructed actualities (1897–1902)

Films|

| 1896|

* Playing Cards
* Conjuring
* Watering the Flowers
* The Rag-Picker
* Post No Bills
* The Rescue on the River
* A Terrible Night
* Arrival of a Train (Joinville Station)
* A Lightning Sketch
* Conjurer Making Ten Hats in Sixty Seconds
* A Serpentine Dance
* Miss de Vère (English Jig)
* The Vanishing Lady
* The Haunted Castle
* Tom Old Boot

|

1897|

* A Nightmare
* Comedian Paulus Singing
* A Funny Mahometan
* An Hallucinated Alchemist
* The Haunted Castle
* On the Roofs
* D. Devant, Conjurer
* The School for Sons-in-law
* The Last Cartridges
* The Surrender of Tournavos
* Sea Fighting in Greece
* Gugusse and the Automaton
* Between Calais and Dover
* The Laboratory of Mephistopheles
* The Barber and the Farmer
* The Bewitched Inn
* A Private Dinner
* After the Ball
* A Hypnotist at Work
* Dancing in a Harem

1898|

* A Novice at X-Rays
* Divers at Work on the Wreck of the "Maine"
* The Magician
* The Famous Box Trick
* Pygmalion and Galatea
* Adventures of William Tell
* The Astronomer's Dream
* The Cave of the Demons
* The Four Troublesome Heads
* The Temptation of Saint Anthony

1899|

* A Dinner Under Difficulties
* Robbing Cleopatra's Tomb
* The Bridegroom's Dilemma
* An Up-to-Date Conjuror
* The Devil in a Convent
* The Pillar of Fire
* The Clown and Automobile
* A Mysterious Portrait
* Christ Walking on the Water
* Summoning the Spirits
* The Dreyfus Affair
* The Human Pyramid
* Cinderella
* The Snow Man
* The Mysterious Knight

1900|

* Addition and Subtraction
* The Miracles of the Brahmin
* The Cook's Revenge
* The Misfortunes of an Explorer
* Paris Exposition, 1900
* The One-Man Band
* Joan of Arc
* The Rajah's Dream
* The Two Blind Men
* The Artist and the Mannikin
* Thanking the Audience
* The Christmas Dream
* Crying and Laughing
* Coppelia, the Animated Doll
* Fat and Lean Wrestling Match
* A Fantastical Meal
* Going to Bed Under Difficulties
* The Doctor and the Monkey
* What Is Home Without the Boarder
* China Versus Allied Powers
* The Brahmin and the Butterfly
* The Triple-Headed Lady
* Dislocation Extraordinary
* Red Riding Hood

1901|

* The Magician's Cavern
* Excelsior!
* The Sacred Fountain
* Blue Beard
* The Man with the Rubber Head

1902|

* The Eruption of Mount Pelee
* The Catastrophe of the Balloon "Le Pax"
* A Trip to the Moon
* The Shadow-Girl
* The Coronation of Edward VII
* The Treasures of Satan
* The Human Fly
* Up-to-Date Surgery
* Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants
* Robinson Crusoe
* The Marvellous Wreath

1903|

* Misfortune Never Comes Alone
* The Infernal Cake Walk
* The Mysterious Box
* The Queen's Musketeers
* The Enchanted Well
* The Inn Where No Man Rests
* The Drawing Lesson
* The Mystical Flame
* The Witch's Revenge
* The Oracle of Delphi
* A Spiritualistic Photographer
* The Melomaniac
* The Monster
* The Kingdom of the Fairies
* The Infernal Cauldron
* The Apparition
* Jupiter's Thunderbolts
* Ten Ladies in One Umbrella
* Jack Jaggs and Dum Dum
* Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid
* Extraordinary Illusions
* Alcofrisbas, the Master Magician
* Jack and Jim
* The Magic Lantern
* The Ballet-Master's Dream
* The Damnation of Faust
* The Terrible Turkish Executioner
* A Moonlight Serenade

1904|

* Tit for Tat
* A Wager Between Two Magicians, or Jealous of Myself
* Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter
* The Bewitched Trunk
* The Fugitive Apparitions
* The Untamable Whiskers
* The Clockmaker's Dream
* The Imperceptible Transmutations
* A Miracle Under the Inquisition
* Faust and Marguerite
* Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer
* The Wonderful Living Fan
* The Cook in Trouble
* The Mermaid
* The Providence of the Waves
* The Barber of Seville
* The Wonderful Rose-Tree
* The Impossible Voyage
* The Firefall
* The Christmas Angel

1905|

* The Living Playing Cards
* The Black Imp
* The Crystal Casket
* The Lilliputian Minuet
* A Mesmerian Experiment
* The Venetian Looking-Glass
* The Palace of the Arabian Nights
* The Tower of London
* The Enchanted Sedan Chair
* An Adventurous Automobile Trip
* The Mysterious Island
* Unexpected Fireworks
* Rip's Dream
* The Scheming Gambler's Paradise
* The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship

1906|

* A Mix-up in the Gallery
* The Chimney Sweep
* The Tramp and the Mattress Makers
* The Hilarious Posters
* A Desperate Crime
* Punch and Judy
* A Roadside Inn
* Soap Bubbles
* The Merry Frolics of Satan
* A Seaside Flirtation
* The Mysterious Retort
* The Witch
* Robert Macaire and Bertrand

1907|

* Rogues' Tricks
* Under the Seas
* How Bridget's Lover Escaped
* Tunnelling the English Channel
* The Eclipse, or the Courtship of the Sun and Moon
* Hamlet
* Shakespeare Writing "Julius Caesar"
* Sightseeing Through Whisky
* Good Glue Sticks
* Satan in Prison
* Delirium in a Studio
* The Knight of Black Art
* The Good Luck of a "Souse"

1908|

* Humanity Through the Ages
* The Genii of Fire
* Why That Actor Was Late
* The Dream of an Opium Fiend
* Long Distance Wireless Photography
* The Prophetess of Thebes
* In the Barber Shop
* A Fake Diamond Swindler
* The New Lord of the Village
* The Miser
* Sideshow Wrestlers
* The Broken Violin
* A Love Tragedy in Spain
* Mishaps of the New York–Paris Race
* The Woes of Roller Skaters
* Love and Molasses
* The Mischances of a Photographer
* The Indian Sorcerer
* A Tricky Painter's Fate
* French Cops Learning English
* Fun With the Bridal Party
* Not Guilty
* Buncoed Stage Johnnie
* A Grandmother's Story
* The Helping Hand
* The Old Footlight Favorite
* Honeymoon in a Balloon
* The Duke's Good Joke
* Incident from Don Quixote
* The Fairy Dragonfly
* Moitié de polka
* Fortune Favors the Brave
* Hypnotist's Revenge
* Pharmaceutical Hallucinations
* The Good Shepherdess and the Evil Princess
* The Living Doll
* Seein' Things
* The Frozen Policeman
* Tribulation or the Misfortunes of a Cobbler

1909|

* The Doctor's Secret
* The Diabolic Tenant
* Whimsical Illusions
* King of the Mediums
* The Spider and the Butterfly

1911|

* Baron Munchausen's Dream
* The Diabolical Church Window

1912|

* The Conquest of the Pole
* Cinderella or the Glass Slipper
* The Knight of the Snows
* The Voyage of the Bourrichon Family

Related|

* Jehanne d'Alcy (wife)
* Gaston Méliès (brother)
* Georges Méliès in culture
* Le Grand Méliès (1952 documentary)
* Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film prologue)
* The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007 book)
* Hugo (2011 film)
* Théâtre Robert-Houdin

* Filmography
* Bibliography
* Category

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