PROFILES
Describing the street-life scenes that
appeared on the screen before him,
Georges Méliès, the renowned magician
and director of the Théâtre Robert-
Houdin in Paris, remarked, “We stared
flabbergasted at this sight, stupefied and
surprised beyond all expression. At the
end of the show there was completechaos. Everyone wondered how such a
result was obtained.’’ Legend has it that
when audiences viewed the Lumières’
film The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat
Station in 1896, the sight of the approach-
ing train sent viewers running away in
terror. In such lore lives truth, however,
and the legend echoes Méliès’s reaction:A moving picture was a shock to the sens-
es, revolutionary to behold.A Legacy of Light
In 1896 the Lumières opened Cinémat-
ographe theaters in London, England;
Brussels, Belgium; and New York City,
showing the more than 40 films that they
had shot of everyday French life: a child
looking at a goldfish bowl, a baby being
fed, a blacksmith at work, and soldiers
marching. Footage of the French Photo-
graphic Society marked the
first newsreel, and the Lyon
Fire Department became the
subject of the world’s first
documentary. Audiences
were riveted, fascinated by
seeing life’s moments unfold
on the big screen.
The day after the first pub-
lic screening of the Lumières’STILLS FROM THE 1895 FILM WORKERS
LEAVING THE LUMIÈRE FACTORY, THE WORLD’S
FIRST PUBLICLY SCREENED MOTION PICTUREPHOTOS:ORONOZ/ALBUMPOSTER PROMOTING
THE LUMIÈRE
CINÉMATOGRAPHETHE LUMIÈRES not only invent-
ed the very first night at the
movies, they also pioneered
the use of the movie post-
er. In the Paris of the belle
epoque, posters were the
best form of advertisement.
After their initial screening
in December 1895, the Lu-
mières contracted lithogra-
pher Henri Brispot to create
a poster (right) to promote
future demonstrations of the
Lumière Cinématographe.
The first screening had only
attracted 30 people, but after
word spread of the incredible
experience, thousands want-
ed to see the moving pictures
in early January 1896.COME ONE,
COME ALLLA VIE EN ROSE
IN 1907, when the Lumière brothers launched the
autochrome plate for taking color photographs,
New York critic Alfred Stieglitz gave his verdict: “All
are amazed by the... wonderful luminosity of the
shadows, that bugbear of the photographer in mono-
chrome; the endless range of grays, the richness of
the deep colors. In short, soon the world will be color-
mad and Lumière will be responsible.”PACKET OFLUMIÈRE AUTOCHROME PLATES
SSPL /GETTY IMAGES
8 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019