Hilarious French Comedy: 1901

While he was best known for a Trip to the Moon, these very early George Melies shorts are still pretty funny - and their visual inventiveness is astounding.

Un Hommes de tetes

Melies The Melomaniac

The Conjurer

The Hilarious Posters

Satan's Cakewalk

The poignancy of very early movies only increases through time - the good-natured absurdity, the explosive dancing, the cute girls cavorting around - long after their lives, they all become deeply beautiful.