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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 1287

The Mysterious Knight

18992 minFrance
Fantasy

Synopsis

Medieval imagery becomes the setting for a comic display of impossible transformations, including a living head in a vase. Méliès treats the knightly world as material for magic rather than historical reconstruction.

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Video edition
Wikimedia Commons
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified.
This copy runs
1:26
Subtitles
No subtitle track in this language

No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified. No subtitle track in this language.

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · Georges Méliès · Public domain

This copy runs shorter than the reference runtime. Editing and playback speed can differ between editions.

Cast

DirectorsGeorges Méliès

Behind the scenes

The detached head was created by rewinding and re-exposing film, with black cloth masking the surrounding set. Long thought lost, the film returned to public exhibition after a print was identified at George Eastman House.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film referenceWikidata — film identity and credits

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 16, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

  • Georges Méliès — Georges Méliès; Publicity materials for an exhibition at La Caixa Foundation: http://press.lacaixa.es/socialprojects/exhibiton-georges-melies-magic-of-cinema-caixaforum-barcelona-eng__816-c-17952__.html · Public domain

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