Robbing Cleopatra's Tomb

Robbing Cleopatra's Tomb (French: Cléopâtre, literally Cleopatra) was an 1899 short silent 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]

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

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 America (under the title Robbing Cleopatra's Tomb; its English release was simply titled Cleopatra's Tomb) and subsequently distributed many of Méliès other films.[1]

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]

References
  1. 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.
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