Mothers of France

Mothers of France 1916

4.70

A mother loses first her son and then her husband in the trenches of France during the First World War. She devotes herself to the French cause and to helping those wounded in the war.

1916

The Funny Regiment

The Funny Regiment 1913

1

The Twins, regular bad men of the regiment, have been condemned to the military prison, and it goes much against the grain of the kind-hearted Captain Hurluret to see these poor fellows confined to their cells. His leniency toward them, however, is speedily taken advantage of with most amusing results.

1913

Chicot the Jester

Chicot the Jester 1913

1

The film based on the novel of the same name by Alexandre Duma, is concerned with fraternal royal strife at the court of Henri III. Tragically caught between the millstones of history are the gallant Count de Bussy and the woman he adores, la Dame de Monsoreau.

1913

Small Local Trains

Small Local Trains 1960

6.60

Émile Durand, an insecticide manufacturer, is appalled to learn that his son Gérard has fallen in love with Suzy, the daughter of a travelling theatre company. Realising his father will never favour the union, Gérard joins the company on their next tour. In an attempt to heal the rift, Durand’s wife goes after Gérard and ends up performing in their next play…

1960

In the Limelight

In the Limelight 1912

5.00

Short melodrama. Two former lovers meet twenty years later when the man has to compete with the son of the woman.

1912

Protéa

Protéa 1913

4.80

Protéa is the last film directed by Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset, one of the early film pioneers in France. The hero of this film is a female spy, an acrobatic Mata-Hari, played by his favorite actress, Josette Andriot, who wore a characteristic costume of a close-fitting black jersey, two years before Musidora achieved cult status with her similar appearance as Irma Vep. This final masterpiece reflects Jasset's popular style: rhythmic action, fantastic realism, rich visuals, an anarchistic philosophy, a disdain for psychology, and an attention to lighting that earned him the nickname “the Rembrandt of the cinema". Although Jasset died shortly after completion, the film had considerable success and Andriot went on to make four more films in the series with other directors.

1913

In the Land of Darkness

In the Land of Darkness 1912

5.50

In 1912 Jasset turned from fantasy and spectacle to realism in making the first of two Zola adaptations, as part of Éclair's new series of social dramas. For Au pays des ténèbres, based on Germinal, he took his crew to Charleroi in Belgium to film in authentic locations, and although he updated the story to the present, he went to great lengths to recreate in the studio the detail of the actual mining galleries, exploiting the ability of film to be a recorder of contemporary reality.

1912

The Last Pardon

The Last Pardon 1913

1

No plot available. The director Maurice Tourneur perceived this film to be indicative of the advances French cinema could have taken had it not been derailed by World War I.

1913

Eugénie Grandet

Eugénie Grandet 1910

1

Eugenie Grandet has discovered where her father, a miserable old miser, keeps his treasure. Eugenie's cousin, Charles, is the bearer of a letter from his father to his uncle, Eugenie's father. The letter informs the miser that Charles' father, his only brother, is reduced to a state of utter ruin, and unless he can obtain immediate help, he contemplates suicide.

1910

Balaoo the Demon Baboon

Balaoo the Demon Baboon 1913

6.00

An ape, turned near human by Dr. Coriolis and given the name 'Balaoo', is smitten by the beauty of Coriolis' niece, Madeleine. Being inquisitive, though, he runs off, getting into mischief, and falls in with a poacher who saves his life. Acting now as his slave Balaoo kills a man for the poacher, but balks on his orders to kidnap Madeleine, deciding instead to set a trap for the poacher.

1913

Willy and the Conjuror

Willy and the Conjuror 1912

6.00

Willy wasnt very proud when he arrived home, for once again he was at the bottom of his class. As punishment his parents informed him that he would not be allowed to see the Conjuror...

1912