The most dazzling, innovative films of French "cinemagician" Georges Melies are featured in this collection. Beginning with his very first work, "Playing Cards" (1896), the set includes such astonishing, effects-filled shorts as the famous "A Trip to the Moon" (1902), "The Merry Frolics of Satan" (1906), "The Conquest of the Pole" (1912), and 169 others. The five-disc set also includes the tribute biodrama "Le Grand Melies" (1952), starring Andre Melies as his famous father. 13 hrs. total. Standard; Soundtrack: music score. Silent with music score.

While the cinema was still in its infancy, France's Georges Melies was wowing audiences with fantastic images and flights of fancy. Along with Jacques Meny's 1997 documentary "The Magic of Melies," this collection includes the silent shorts "The Four Troublesome Heads" (1898), "The One-Man Band" (1900), "A Trip to the Moon" (1902), "The Living Playing Cards" (1904), "The Devilish Tenant" (1909), and many more. 185 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: French and English.

Eight rarely seen works by French cinema pioneer Georges Melies are offered on this collection. Included are such silent shorts as "Rip's Dream" (1905), which is hand-colored; "Le Magicien" (1898); "The Palace of the Arabian Nights" (1906); "The Ballet Master's Dream" (1903); and "The Merry Frolics of Satan" (1906); plus three more. 58 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: music score. Silent with music score.

Silent fans everywhere will recognize his hat, stick, and 'stache...and those who don't will love the comedy of Max Linder all the same! This compilation includes 12 hilarious Linder shorts, including "Max Learns to Skate" (1905), "The Legend of Ponchinella" (1907), "Max Fears the Dogs" (1909), "Max and the Quinquina" (1911), "Max Juggles for Love" (1912), "Max Plays at Drama" (1913), and six more. 115 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: music score. Silent with music score.

French film comedy legend Max Linder brought his innovative stylings to America for the hilarious silent romp "Seven Years Bad Luck" (1921), in which he is beset with an avalanche of calamities after breaking a mirror. Features Linder's famed "mirror routine" that inspired the Marx Brothers in "Duck Soup." Also includes the early shorts "Troubles of a Grasswidower" (1908), "Love's Surprises," "Max Takes a Picture" (1913), and "Max Sets the Style," as well as a clip from "Be My Wife." 117 min. Standard; Soundtrack: Dolby Digital stereo music score; behind-the-scenes footage; more. Silent with music score.

Responsible for such early classics as the thrilling serial "Judex," as well as the Alfred Hitchcock thrillers "The 39 Steps" and "The Lady Vanishes," the French film production studio Gaumont was instrumental in the development of the cinematic art form. This three-disc set features over 60 short films made by Gaumont luminaries Alice Guy-Blache, Louis Feuillade, and Leonce Perret, including "The Fisherman at the Stream" (1897), "The Birth, The Life, And the Death of Christ" (1906), "The Roman Orgy" (1911), "The Heart and the Money" (1912), the feature "The Child of Paris" (1913), and many more. 3 3/4 hrs. total. Standard; Soundtrack: music score; featurettes. Silent with music score.

Three-disc set features silent classics by European director Jacques Feyder. Two French Foreign Legion soldiers discover the mysterious kingdom of Atlantis (while serving in the Sahara Desert!) and its desirable queen, in the visually spectacular "Queen of Atlantis (L'Atlantide)" (1920). Jean Angelo, Stacia Napierkowska star. Next, French vegetable peddler "Crainquebille" (1922) experiences a deeply emotional journey after a rough encounter with the law and befriending a young orphan. Maurice de Feraudy, Jean Forest star. Finally, Forest stars in "Faces of Children (Visages D'Enfants)" (1925), playing a young boy struggling with the death of his mother and his father's decision to remarry. Victor Vina, Suzy Vernon also star. The restored films feature color tinting. 6 hrs. total. Standard; Soundtrack: music score. Silent with music score.

Legendary actress Sarah Bernhardt, in one of her rare on-screen performances, plays the title role of 16th-century England's beloved "Virgin Queen" in this rare French-made biodrama, filmed in the style of a stageplay and focusing on the monarch's doomed romance with the Earl of Essex (Lou Tellegen). 45 min. Standard; Soundtrack: music score; bonus shorts "Jack and the Beanstalk" (1902), "Cousins of Sherlocko" (1913). Silent with music score.

After the success of his crime serial "Les Vampires," French filmmaker Louis Feuillade turned to the right side of the law for impressive 12-part silent chapterplay. The mysterious avenger Judex, armed with hypnotic powers, an array of disguises, and a lair whose gadgetry includes a television device, seeks justice against the corrupt banker who ruined his family. Rene Creste, Yvette Andreyor, Musidora star. 5 1/4 hrs. on two discs. Standard; Soundtrack: Dolby Digital stereo music score; featurette. Silent with music score.

Based on the novel by Emile Zola, this stunningly photographed silent-era French drama centers on a farmer locked in a bitter land dispute with his scheming sons and the innocent woman caught in the middle. Armand Bour, Germaine Rouer, Rene Alexandre star. 97 min. Standard; Soundtrack: Dolby Digital stereo music score; interview; photo gallery. Silent with music score.

Surreal French epic about an 18th-century Polish nobleman who starts a liberation movement against Russia. On the run after being wounded in battle, the revolutionary is helped by an inventor who disguises him as a chess-playing mechanical man. Soon, the fate of Polish independence hinges on a chess match between the "robot" and Catherine the Great. Pierre Blanchar, Charles Dullin star. 140 min. Standard; Soundtrack: Dolby Digital stereo music score. Silent with music score.