George Albert Smith
Born: 1864-01-04 in Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK
Died: 1959-05-17
Known For: Directing
Biography
Along with his better-known French counterpart Georges Méliès, George Albert Smith, usually credited as G.A. Smith, was one of the first filmmakers to explore fictional and fantastic themes, often using surprisingly sophisticated special effects. His background was ideal – an established portrait photographer, he also had a long-standing interest in show business, running a tourist attraction in his native Brighton featuring a fortune teller. His films were among the first to feature such innovations as superimposition (Smith patented a double-exposure system in 1897), close-ups and scene transitions involving wipes and focus pulls. He also patented Kinemacolor – the world's first commercial cinema color system--in 1906, which was extremely successful for a time, despite the special equipment required to project it
Filmography
2023
1912
- Animated Doll and Toy Town Circus ... (Director)
1910
- Choice Bouquets ... (Director)
- Fording the River ... (Director)
1909
- Choosing the Wallpaper ... (Director)
1908
- A Visit to the Seaside ... (Director)
- Woman Draped in Patterned Handkerchiefs ... (Director)
1906
- Two Clowns ... (Director)
- Tartans of Scottish Clans ... (Director)
1904
- Sir Hiram Maxim's Captive Flying Machines ... (Director)
- Venice and the Grand Canal ... (Director)
- Grand Display of Brock's Fireworks at the Crystal Palace ... (Director)
1903
- The Sick Kitten ... (Director)
- Mary Jane's Mishap ... (Director)
- Old London Street Scenes ... (Director)
- Dorothy's Dream ... (Director)
1902
- The Coronation of Edward VII ... (Camera Operator)
- Policeman and Burglar ... (Director)
- Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes ... (Director)
- Tommy and the Mouse in the Art School ... (Director)
- At Last! That Awful Tooth ... (Director)
1901
- The Death of Poor Joe ... (Director)
- Photograph Taken From An Area Window ... (Director)
- Visit to Pompeii ... (Director)
- The Little Doctor And The Sick Kitten ... (Director)
1900
- Grandma's Reading Glass ... (Producer)
- As Seen Through a Telescope ... (Producer)
- Let Me Dream Again ... (Director)
- A Quick Shave and Brush Up ... (Director)
- The Rival Clothiers ... (Director)
- Grandma Threading Her Needle ... (Director)
- The House That Jack Built ... (Director)
- Spiders on a Web ... (Director)
- The Old Maid's Valentine ... (Director)
- Two Old Sports ... (Director)
- The Dull Razor ... (Director)
- Scandal Over the Teacups ... (Director)
1899
- The Kiss in the Tunnel as Husband
- The Inexhaustible Cab ... (Director)
1898
- Santa Claus ... (Director)
- Cinderella ... (Director)
- Photographing a Ghost ... (Director)
- Faust and Mephistopheles ... (Director)
- Early Fashions on Brighton Pier ... (Director)
- The Corsican Brothers ... (Director)
- Ally Sloper ... (Director)
1897
- The X-Ray Fiend ... (Production Design)
- Comic Face ... (Director)
- Train Entering Hove Station ... (Director)
- Brighton Seagoing Electric Car ... (Director)
- Hanging Out the Clothes ... (Producer)
- Comic Shaving ... (Director)
- Weary Willie ... (Director)
- Making Sausages ... (Director)
- The Miller and the Sweep ... (Director)
- The Sign Writer ... (Director)
- The Maid in the Garden ... (Director)