George Albert Smith
- Directing
- January 4, 1864 · Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK
- May 17, 1959
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
Known for
Filmography
- Early British Films from the Filmoteca de Catalunya 1897-1909 · Director
- Animated Doll and Toy Town Circus · Director
- Choice Bouquets · Director
- Fording the River · Director
- Choosing the Wallpaper · Director
- A Visit to the Seaside · Director, Producer
- Woman Draped in Patterned Handkerchiefs · Director
- Tartans of Scottish Clans · Director
- Two Clowns · Director
- 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
- The Sick Kitten · Director
- Dorothy's Dream · Director
- Mary Jane's Mishap · Director, Producer
- Old London Street Scenes · Director
- Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes · Director, Producer
- The Coronation of Edward VII · Camera Operator
- At Last! That Awful Tooth · Director
- Tommy and the Mouse in the Art School · Director
- Policeman and Burglar · Director
- The Death of Poor Joe · Director
- Photograph Taken From An Area Window · Director
- The Little Doctor And The Sick Kitten · Director
- Visit to Pompeii · Director
- Grandma's Reading Glass · Producer, Director
- The Old Maid's Valentine · Director
- The House That Jack Built · Director
- As Seen Through a Telescope · Producer, Cinematography
- Spiders on a Web · Director
- Let Me Dream Again · Director
- A Quick Shave and Brush Up · Director
- Grandma Threading Her Needle · Director
- The Rival Clothiers · Director
- Two Old Sports · Director
- The Dull Razor · Director
- Scandal Over the Teacups · Director
- The Kiss in the Tunnel · Husband, Producer
- The Inexhaustible Cab · Director
- Ally Sloper · Director
- Santa Claus · Director
- The Corsican Brothers · Director
- Cinderella · Director
- Early Fashions on Brighton Pier · Director
- Faust and Mephistopheles · Director
- Photographing a Ghost · Director
- Making Sausages · Director
- The Sign Writer · Director
- The X-Ray Fiend · Production Design, Writer
- Comic Shaving · Director
- Train Entering Hove Station · Director, Producer
- Comic Face · Director
- Weary Willie · Director
- The Maid in the Garden · Director
- Hanging Out the Clothes · Producer, Director
- The Miller and the Sweep · Director
- Brighton Seagoing Electric Car · Director
- Down Exeter Incline · Director