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Robbing Cleopatra's Tomb

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Cléopâtre
Directed byGeorges Méliès
Written byGeorges Méliès
Produced byGeorges Méliès
StarringGeorges Méliès
Jeanne d'Alcy
CinematographyGeorges Méliès
Release date
  • 1899 (1899)
Running time
2 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageSilent 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][unreliable source?]

References

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  1. ^ a b Guran, Paula (2007). "Chapter 13: The Mummy". In Joshi, S. T. (ed.). Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares (Volume 1). Greenwood Press. p. 389. ISBN 978-0313337802.
  2. ^ "Lost 106-Year-Old Movie Discovered". MovieWeb. 22 September 2005. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  3. ^ "Trivia for Cleopatra's Tomb (1899)". IMDb. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
[edit]


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