Born Today February 14: Ernest Legouve

1807-1903

French dramatist Ernest Legouve was born Valentine's Day in Paris; his birth name was Gabriel Jean Baptiste Ernest Wilifrid Legouvé.  Though writing came as an inheritance--his father was a poet, and his grandfather was a well known writer and reader--his young life was rocked with tragedy.  His mother died when he was only 3, and his father was soon after placed in lunatic asylum.  The family was extremely well-of and he inherited that fortune at this young age and was carefully educated by a tutor.  By his early 20's he was already an award winning poet and would go on to find success and fame both inside and outside of academia.  Today he is by far most well known for the collaborative play Andrienne Lecouvreur, which he wrote with A. E. Scribe.  He is also known for being the grandfather of the French writer Maurice Desvailliéres.  Almost all the films that have used his work as source material have been based on that play.  In the silent era, 5 films were produced using his work for screenplays, the first coming in 1913 with a French short rendition of Adrienne Lecouvreur, which is unfortunately a lost film.  The last silent film made from his work was Dream Of Love, starring Joan Crawford. The first sound film to use his work for a film production came in 1929 with Devil-May-Care, a comedic musical, starring Dorothy Jordan and the tragic "other Latin Lover" Ramon Novarro.  The sound was by Western Electric System and the film sported one color sequence with the early Technicolor 2-strip technique. The most recent film to be produced from his work came in 2000 with a very lavish production of Adrienne Lecouvreur, under the title Adriana Lecouvreur, made in Italy.  Lagouve died in Paris at the age of 96 (!) on 14 March 1903, exactly one month after his birthday.  He was a lifelong proponent of physical exercise and made fencing his sport and workout of choice.  He is buried in Paris' Cimetiere de Montmartre.

 

[source: Tyler Li (Find a Grave)]

[Source: Tyler Li (Find a Grave)]

 

IMDb

Wikipedia

Leave Virtual Flowers @ Find A Grave

View of Montmartre facing a major road over pass [Rue Caulaincourt]--showing how urban the cemetery really is.

Born Today February 4: Marivaux

1688-1763

French writer Pierre de Marivaux, more popularly known simply as Marivaux, was born Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux on this day in Paris.  His father was a Norman financier whose actual surname was Carlet; he assumed both the surnames of Chamblain and Marivaux, was the director of the royal mint in Auvergne--the family lived in two towns in that region.  Young Pierre produced his first play at age of 18 (it was actually published several years later), and it would be that medium that he became the most prolific in, though he was also an essayist and he wrote in the novel form, though none of those works were actually finished.  The plays he produced were mostly in the French-Comedy or Italian-Comedy genre (my translation); and he would, in fact, become one of the important and influential playwrights of the 18th century.  Only one film was made from his work during the silent era; that came in 1914 with I nostri figli, a short Italian film based on one of his plays.  It would not be until 1940 that another film would be produced based on his writing.  Over the decades, many films have made use of his writings as source material, with the most recent coming last year with a made for television film Les fausses confidenses (2016); produced in his native France.  He died on 12 February 1763, just 8 days after turning 75.  He is buried in Paris' Catholic Church of Saint-Eustache.  To read more about his remarkable life, follow links below.

Wikipedia

Britannica

IMDb

Born Today January 30: (François) Félix Faure (Slightly Sorted Edition!)

1841-1899

France's future president Faure was born Félix François on this date in Paris.  He was the son of a furniture maker. He worked as a tanner and later as a merchant at France's second largest port in Le Havre (where he was also initiated into Freemasonry); managing to acquire a significant amount wealth along the way.  He entered politics, and in August of 1881 he was elected to the National Assembly.  From this seat, he worked his way up the political ranks, until reaching the office of President in 1895.  He would remain President until his untimely death in 1899. For the purposes of silent film, Faure was the subject of numerous short documentaries (or early newsreels) detailing some his presidential activities starting in 1896--most of them were produced by Lumiere. The first was Fêtes franco-russes: Cherbourg, Entrée des Souverains russes et du président de la Republique sous le hall (with a title like that, who needs to watch the 1 minute film??).  The last film featuring his appearance as President of France came posthumously in a German reel entitled Leichenbergräbnis des verstorbenen französischen Präsidenten Félix Faure, and was released in April 1899 following his death in February of the same year.  Faure died under a cloud of scandal on the 16th of February while engaging in some type of sexual activity with his 30 year old mistress, Marguerite Steinhall; he is reported to have had a "bout of apoplexy" which caused his death several hours later--his was 58 years old.  Famed French trickster filmmaker Meliese was reported to have filmed his funeral, but it doesn't seem to have survived.  During his presidency the infamous and shameful Dreyfus Affair came to a head; it remains a stain on his reputation to this day. Faure is buried (like so many other famous Frenchmen) in the huge Parisian burial ground of Pére Lachaise Cemetery in very melodramatic sculpted tomb.

Wikipedia

IMDb

First Horror Still Of The Day

Early Car Chase:  Les Vampires 1915-16.

Summoning The Spirits (1899)

Another haunted Melies short from the 1890's.

From France: A Trip To The Moon (1902)

It is United Nations Day, and over at the Scare Me On Fridays blog spot we are celebrating with a Countdown To Halloween theme of scary films from different countries, so I thought it would be fun to track that here.  First up is France, and more Melies.  The is perhaps his most famous film!  I've even seen tattoos of the moon are arms and backs!  At over 10 minutes long, this was considered a wonder of modern cinema when it debuted.  Happy Halloween!  Happy UN Day.

Fantomas: Al Ombre dela Guillotine (1913)

Part of a crime serial of the 1910's out of France.  There were 5 episodes total in the years 1913 and 1914 and all were directed by Louis Feuillade who also directed the crime serial Les Vampires. Each "episode" was just little shy of 55 minutes.

The Fall Of The House Of Usher (1928)

The Talion Punishment (1906)

A Silent Takes The Golden Globe!

When I saw that The Artist was nominated for best picture at the Golden Globes I thought it was really cool that a modern full length silent would be up for that category....but no way is it going to win.  The nomination just seemed like a long shot in the first place.  Boy was I soooo wrong!!  Glad to be wrong!  Congrats to everyone involved!

The Phantom Of The Opera (1925)

The Impossible Voyage (1904)

This embed if from the good folks over at Internet Archive.  It looks strangely out sized in the post, but it does play; it's probably best viewed in full screen.  This is another one Melies trick movies.  He really had a strange obsession with Jules Vern and H. G. Wells!

Excelsior!--Prince Of Magicians (1901)

It's a real pleasure being able to embed this little known Melies film.  It was found in an antique trunk purchased by Lobster Films from an antique dealer (I believe, in Paris) that turned out to be full of turn of the century films!  I love stories like this!!  It is part of film history that really fascinates me.  Over the last 15 years or so, several famously lost films, like Richard III from 1912 have been found in similar circumstances (if memory serves, in South Africa).  

Title card created for the film by Lobster

This print was amongst 30 Melies films in the trunk, 17 of which, including this one, were not previously known to exist anywhere else.  The print was printed on 35 mm negative in Haghefilm in The Netherlands (as was the entire collection).  This little fancy is another one of Melies "trick films" that were at there height of popularity at the time.  Though film historians debate Melies' importance or true film making merit at the turn of the 20th century, he certainly was very instrumental in two regards:  the pushing of a story line or narrative in film, and the invention of the special effects in film.  No small things!  So enjoy this little film fancy.  And:  HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

A Trip To The Moon (1902)

This is the original Le voyage dans la lune or The Trip to the Moon fro 1902 by cinematic pioneer of the "trick film" Georges Melies.  Happy Halloween!

Les Vampires (1915-1916) Part 10

Finally episode 10 of the ground breaking French serial Les Vampires.  My edition is the two disc edition put out in 2005 (which sadly is out of print and expensive).  This edition contains a lengthy liner notes essay by Fabrice Zagury.  It is a lengthy read, but worth the time, starting with Louis Feuillade's beginnings through to the film's posterity.  I think he stresses some key points as the the film making of Feuillade's place as a true pioneer in early cinema over all, and I believe, in early horror films in particular.  

He says of Fueillede in the important year of 1913, when Gaumont started producing true feature length films; "In the  eyes of posterity and from this moment on he would remain the glorious pioneer of the serial film.  Les Vampires, which describes the achievements of a secret society of criminals and their muse, is regarded as Feuillade's masterpiece in this genre.  It was shot during the war in the empty and grey streets of Paris."

Passerby inspecting a Vampires poster

He later concluded:  "Feuillade, the father of the Vampire, enriched the collective imaginary of the French by exploiting the latent fascination and magical powers coming from the serial film."  Here is the final installment of his ground breaking Vampires.

Les Vampires (1915-1916) Part 9

Les Vampires (1915-1916) Part 8

Les Vampires (1915-1916) Part 7

This is Part Seven of Les Vampires--entitled Satanas.  For the Wikipedia entry on the series, click here

Les Vampires (1915-1916) Part 6

Les Vampires (1915-1916) Part 5

Here is part 5 of the 10 episodes of Les Vampires: