Watch almost 200 Georges Méliès classic films for free online

He was a true visionary of filmmaking back when no one was even sure what to do with a camera. Where others were capturing life, he was capturing his dreams.

All we often see are snippets of his films, or we need to go to special exhibitions to see them screened in full. At least, that's how it used to work.

A YouTube channel has pulled together 194 of his films from across the platform into a chronological playlist to make it easy to enjoy his catalogue of work. He made around 500 films, but this 194 represents almost all of the films known to have survived to this day.

Enjoy below (probably best to go check it out on YouTube and save it for future reference).

A catalogue full of magic tricks, clever camera illusions creating ghosts and disappearing acts, alongside fantastical voyages and elaborate stage productions.

There's a version of cinema that may not have blossomed without his creativity appearing so early in the growth of the technology. It's always worth going back to think about what it would take for someone to just decide that all this was possible in the 19th Century where no one else could see it yet.

This I learned – a LOT more films about devils and Satan than I expected. Maybe he just wanted to use the costumes more than once. He sure loved special effects, but by today's box office – don't we all?