Conjugal Happiness [Robert Saidreau - Chapter 12]

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The Rope Around the Neck becomes Conjugal Happiness

This film, a collaboration with René Hervil for the screenplay, is rather well documented in the press under the title La corde au cou, which is its working title, under which it was never distributed. As a result, Jean Tulard was deceived and included this working title in his Dictionary of Cinema as a separate production.
On January 21, 1922, production was announced by Comœdia and the start of filming announced on March 31, 1922 by Cinémagazine.
It was on May 18, 1922 that Comœdia simultaneously announced the end of filming and the change of title. And Bonsoir announces on November 27 the press presentation for Tuesday November 28 at the Marivaux. This film and the following one (The Idea of ​​Françoise) are exclusives for the National Cinematographic Agency.

Denise Legeay and Pierre Etchepare

The plot

In Mon Ciné of April 12, 1923, the plot is given: Jack (Etchepare) is a young fickle partygoing man. His uncle (André Dubosc) wants him to marry a serious, rich and plain looking young girl (Denise Legeay) and threatens to disinherit him, although he prefers the beautiful and intriguing Lucienne Legrand who does not have a penny in her pocket. This element pushes the young man to comply with his uncle's wishes and to marry Legeay, which does not prevent him from fleeing to Nice to have fun with Legrand.
Jack's friend, in misery, commits suicide in the suit given by Jack, and the police confuse the two men, so that his grieving wife organizes his funeral, which he does not fail to attend by following the procession in a taxi , thus learning whom he can trust.
He goes back to his wife who forgives him and a child comes to crown the happy end.

Lucienne Legrand

One Lucienne too many?

Mon Ciné of September 28, 1922 details the main cast: Pierre Etchepare, André Dubosc, Dacheux, Denise Legeay, Lucienne Debrienne.
This last person is a puzzle. If there is indeed a Lucienne who plays a preponderant role, it is Lucienne Legrand. However, this one is not listed. As for this Lucienne Debrienne, she is not mentioned in any other film. But Lucienne Legrand, in September 1922, is not a very well-known figure: she was only seen in only one film, La vivante épingle, released barely 7 months before the publication of the article. The film Les hommes nouveaux, already shot, has not yet been released.
The site of the Cinémathèque Française lists this mysterious name also, but the site also confuses the roles of Legeay and Legrand, as well as actor Georges de La Noë as the name of the character played by Dacheux rather than one of the actors in the film. We can therefore doubt the veracity of the information.
Is this name the result of a journalist error, or of a temporary desire to adopt a pseudonym on the part of an actress at the start of her career?
In any case, when talkies arrive, she leaves the profession (and the director Donatien) and, if we are to believe her statements in 1934 when she arrives in the United States, she is then a stylist and travels with her mother. Émilie, because she is officially single at the time. It is because she has probably already met the stylist André Pérugia, already married and now making a career in the United States, whom she will marry in 1952!

As for the other actors, we find here, for the first time, Pierre Etchepare, who will only shoot with Robert Saidreau on his next 5 films. The film The Idea of ​​Françoise, although shot with him later, will even be released a month before the present film. André Dubosc is already an actor known for having already performed some good roles with Henry Roussel, Henri Fescourt, and ... René Hervil! Two familiar faces of the silent screen also seem to start their careers with this film: Gilbert Dacheux and Georges de La Noë. However, it's possible that their names simply haven't been identified in earlier films yet.
One actress we have already met during my article on I Have Killed, one of her last films, is Denise Legeay. She has an unexpected reaction to the film and its director: the newspaper Bonjour indeed tells us on October 26, 1922 that Saidreau, to get the tears he wanted from her in a scene, slapped her. One would expect her to have a legitimate resentment with him. However, in Le Petit Journal of December 1, 1922, she did not let it appear and gave a quick summary of the film, presented the day before. Even more surprisingly, during her interview by J.-A. de Munto in Mon Ciné of April 12, 1923, Denise Legeay confides that it is then the favorite of all her roles, despite all those she has shot before and since. Considering that her career ends shortly thereafter, this is an edifying statement! Of Robert Saidreau, she says he's a charming director. “And one of our best,” whispered Munto. To which she replies: "That's also my opinion."

Denise Legeay

The release

An article of February 2, 1923 invites to "see and re-examine" Pearl White and her lions in A Virgin Paradise and Conjugal Happiness which is therefore in general distribution on this date. On April 12, 1923, Conjugal Happiness was screened at the Maillot Palace
Lucien Doublon from Cinémagazine of December 15 underlines the improbable side of the story (Etcheparre finds himself at his own funeral) but concedes "it's cheerful, brilliant, and that can only please all audiences." This funeral scene was a big comic success and Cinémagazine of February 16, 1923 tells us that Saidreau took advantage of Baroness de Rothschild's funeral to shoot his sequences!

The intransigent confirms on December 9, 1922 that it is a "real success of exploitation" and publishes a good review on February 3, 1923.

The film still exists at the CNC in a beautiful copy as evidenced by Ann Harding's Treasures blog. The CNC website even specifies that it is in black and white and in color (probably tinted and / or toned).

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Love at first sight [Robert Saidreau - Chapter 11]

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In November 1921, René Jeanne announced in the magazine Le film that as the filming of La nuit de la St Jean was barely finished, Saidreau "set up a new film Le coup de foudre" planned to take place in Saint-Jean-de-Luz and in Biarritz , with Jacques de Féraudy ("the remarkable performer of La paix chez soi") as the only professional actor. This means that this would be the third and last time the director and the actor collaborated.
This bias and the fact of taking advantage of the exteriors chosen for "St Jean" suggests that it is perhaps a short film project to make the trip profitable. I have not found any effective proof of its release, but information for short films is even more difficult to find than for features of the time.
In any case, Le petit journal on November 18, 1921 corroborates the story and adds that "The screening of this film (...) will not fail to arouse a certain curiosity in the establishments of the Champs-Élysées district."

In fact, on October 14, 1921, Cinéa announced: "Robert Saidreau is going to shoot a series of comedies." Maybe it's related.

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The night of Saint John [Robert Saidreau - Chapter 10]

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After having shot Blanchette as an actor under the direction of René Hervil, Robert Saidreau, who made his last appearance there on the screen, embarked on the production of La nuit de la Saint-Jean. It was again Robert Francheville who provided the story, after providing that of The Strange Adventure of Doctor Works, Saidreau's previous film. After horror, here is a melodrama. The cabaret owner Etchebat lives in the Basque country with his daughter. He gets married again with a dancer and his sickly jealousy will make him commit the irreparable.

Saint John Feast

Shooting

Comœdia announces on May 18, 1921 the imminent departure of the film crew in the Basque country with, as a cinematographer, "Arnoux" (in fact, Maurice Arnou). However, in June and early July, the director was indeed in Paris, who attended a lunch in honor of American actress Pearl White on June 14, and saw the operetta "La galante épreuve" on June 23, and then "Asmodeus" on July 8. Comœdia specifies on July 9 that exteriors will be filmed in Boulogne-sur-mer, then in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port.

Cast

Jean Dax

The main actors of the film are Jean Dax and Maria Rousslana-Doubassoff
Jean Dax adds to the assurance of success of the film: he has starred in several films, including the adaptation of Zola's novel: L'Assommoir. With him, Saidreau has more and more access to first-rate actors. As for Maria Rousslana-Doubassoff, this is their second and last collaboration. After 3 films, if we are to believe Le film magazine, she retired with the project of opening a fashion house. We also find in the cast Hélène Darly who will then appear with Ivan Mosjoukine in the popular House of Mystery. Articles also mention in the cast a Miss "Ray", perhaps Paulette Ray, who will soon make the cover of cinema magazines such as Mon Ciné of May 4, 1922 where she will evoke all her films, including Maman Pierre, also shot in the Basque country, but does not mention Saint-Jean. But another supporting role captures all the attention of the press anyway.

Actress Geneviève Félix, Mrs Henri Kéroul with Father Baptiste

During the filming of Blanchette by René Hervil, Saidreau meets Father Baptiste, a former sailor to whom Hervil has given the role of roadmender Bonnenfant. He is apparently charmed by his natural interpretation and offers him the role of the sorcerer in his next achievement: The night of Saint John. This unusual actor is even the subject of a 3-page article by René Jeanne, with several photos in Cinémagazine of September 23, 1921. Saidreau also cast Mirabel, who famously played the antique dealer in Peace at Home.
Almost 20 years later, however, it was a whole other actor, not even mentioned at the time, who drew attention to this then forgotten production.
Jean Kolb in Le petit Parisien of August 18, 1939 reveals to us that after having tested without success because Hervil found him too distinguished for the role of Auguste Morillon in Blanchette (finally played by Léon Mathot), Charles Boyer was offered a role of Basque villager in La nuit de la Saint Jean which therefore was his first film!

The Release

Hélène Darly, Mirabel, Baptiste, Maria Rousslana and Jean Dax

Comœdia first announced the upcoming presentation on December 2, 1921, then the film's release on March 10, 1922 for March 14 at the Maillot Palace.
But Ciné-Journal gives other information: on January 14, we can read that Union-Eclair will present La Nuit de la St Jean at the Palais de la Mutualité on Monday January 16, 1922. It is on February 11 that a release is announced for March 3.
Cinéa, in its programs, does list the film from March 3 in theaters, which Cinémagazine superbly ignores.
René Jeanne in Le petit Parisien of March 3, 1922 criticizes: "from this very simple story, he was able not without art to extract all the emotion it contained." Cinéa is more moderate: "Ideas, attempts, a little too many memories, undoubtedly involuntary, from famous films."
On May 28, 1926, Comœdia announced the reissue of the film for Saturday June 5, a favor awarded only to films that were successful enough at the time of the first release to be likely to be profitable again.

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It's an Idyll and that's all! [Robert Saidreau - Chapter 9]

 

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A stillborn film?

The shooting was announced on September 21, 1920 by Comœdia under the title "C'est une Idylle et voilà tout!" written by René Jeanne with the same actors as the film La paix chez soi (Andrée Féranne and Jacques de Féraudy), the shooting of which has just ended. After this initial announcement, neither the film nor the collaborators are mentioned again. We get lost in conjecture about the future of this project.

Too bad, because René Jeanne has only too rarely embarked on screenwriting and we would have liked to see the result. Despite the related title, it cannot be Boucot's First Idyll because this film had already been released on screens at the time of the announcement.

Andrée Feranne

Boubouroche

It should also be noted that L'intransigeant of January 10, L'Avenir of January 17 and Le Siècle of February 4, 1921 retain that Andrée Féranne is attached to a project of adaptation of Courteline's Boubouroche, just like Peace at home in which we can then see her. We don't hear any more about it afterwards, and the actress will no longer venture onto film sets.

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The Strange Adventure of Doctor Works [Robert Saidreau - Chapter 8]

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A Partnership in Horror

The film is sometimes featured in newspapers as The Strange Adventure of Doctor Worke, or "Work"
This is an adaptation of a horror drama of the grand guignol genre, "La porte close" (The Closed Door) by Robert Francheville for Les Grandes Productions Cinématographiques, the French distribution company.
On April 8, 1921, Ciné Pour Tous announced: "A new French firm has just been formed: the Société d'Entreprises Cinématographiques, which is subdivided into two branches: the JH Productions, which will have Jean Hervé, from the Comédie Française as its director , and Ignis-Film, directed by Robert Saidreau, who has just completed his first film: The Strange Adventure of Doctor Work, played by Jean Hervé, Marthe Ferrari [in fact Marthe Ferrare], and Maria Russlana. The general manager is Henri Poulner; the artistic director, Jean Hervé."
It seems that this Henri Poulner would be the director of the magazine Le Théâtre Français, but above all, a man about to make the headlines in 1935 in connection with the Stavisky case. A considerable scandal in France.
The presentation of the film was announced on October 18, 1921 by Comœdia with the main cast.

Jean Hervé

The plot

A doctor abandons his wife on the operating table for a creature with which he flees to St Moritz and goes mad with remorse after seeing her ghost, who prevents the bedroom door (the one from the title of the novel) from opening.

Marthe Ferrare & Jean Hervé

Bad critics

Lucien Whal in Cinéa does not appreciate the film, which he considers disjointed: "black drama in several ways" on November 4, 1921, but from December 2, date of the release, although still negative, the criticism, this time of Lionel Landry wants to be more constructive, and he finds excuses for the film's flaws ("The Phantom Carriage made us demanding in terms of appearances!"). In fact, the name of Saidreau is mentioned this time so he is perhaps cautious not to offend someone who now is identified. In particular, he suggests what should have been done ("this is where it should have started").
In any case, Miss Rousslana is clearly identified as playing the role of the ghost wife, which suggests that it is Marthe Ferrare who plays the role of the lover.
On December 5, 1921, new negative criticism in the Excelsior about the story: "I would be very surprised if it was to the public's taste. (...) A somewhat heavy drama which produces an impression of embarrassment rather than 'horror. "
Only La revue moderne des arts et de la vie recognized on November 15 that "the photo was good and the interpretation quite lively" and Le petit Journal of December 2 reported "successful snow scenes".

Which director?

It is interesting to note that, when Marthe Ferrare (first prize of the Opéra comique, and at the time of the filming, at the gaité lyrique) made the cover of Cinémagazine on January 4, 1924, she states during her interview that her first film is a filmed song by Lordier. "Then came The strange adventure of Doctor Work directed by Jean Hervé, of the Comédie-Française." A strange affirmation from one of the film's main actresses. We can doubt that his memory has already deteriorated to this point barely 4 years after the shooting. Was the film therefore directed by Jean Hervé and signed by Saidreau? Insofar as he was in charge at the time, one can indeed imagine at least one collaboration. Is it more simply a way for the actress to give a little prestige to a failure? Perhaps one must find the key to the mystery later in the interview: "I am classified, on the screen, as a young dramatic actress. A director, to whom I hold a grudge, even told me I was lugubrious." If we consider that at the time of the interview and except for the current project, she only shot 2 short films with 3 directors including a single failure, it is easy to guess who she is talking about.
In any case, she tells us that "This last film was not very lucky." which is hardly surprising given the bad reviews.
However, The Film notes that "her debut will not fail to be noticed" in March 1921, although it speaks then of Marthe Ferrari and The Strange Adventure of Doctor Worke. The article also tells us that Mlles Colon (who will be found later in Sans Famille) and Fabiole (who collaborated several times with Saidreau at the start of a long career) are also part of the cast.

There are releases of the film until May 1, 1922 in Bordeaux (at the Pathé theater).

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Peace at home [Robert Saidreau - Chapter 7]

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Courteline

This is an adaptation of Courteline's one-act play about a writer who decides to make cuts in the household money he gives his wife whenever he considers that she annoyed him.

Jacques de Féraudy & Andrée Féranne

The shooting was announced from July 10, 1920 in Comœdia, and from July 24, shooting anecdotes are reporte (thus attesting to the actual start). Saidreau is then presented as "the excellent director of Eclipse".
"Ciné-Journal", a little late, wonders on the same date if Signoret will resume his role from the Theater.
It was the funeral of Suzanne Grandais, a great French star, attended by Robert Saidreau shortly after the shooting, that enabled Comœdia to date her shortly before September 2,1920.

The cast

 

Saidreau finds Jacques de Féraudy here for the second time after Beware of your maid.
His partner Andrée Féranne, active on the stage ("The doctor on duty" in 1913, "English School" in 1914), had just left the Variété Theater in "Un homme en habit". She will hardly be assiduous in front of the camera and will confine herself to the theater, where she meets a great success.

Andrée Féranne

With this film, it seems that Saidreau gets to know his mascot. Indeed, an elderly lady calling herself Mirabel (or Mirabelle) came to him during the shooting to request an engagement in his film in order to sing there, boasting a pretty voice, which she demonstrated at once.
Amused by the naivety of his visitor (or perhaps by her visionary side) who seemed to ignore the very essence of the cinema of the time, he hired her to shoot the role of an antique dealer, told the anecdote in several interviews, and made it a point of honor to ensure her an appearance in all his films in the future.

Jacques de Féraudy & Andrée Féranne

A success

"It's a successful little fireworks display" Cinéa tells us from September 9, 1921. Ciné Pour Tous presents Peace at home among its "fortnightly films" on December 31, 1920. Jacques de Féraudy is listed there as the screenwriter, in addition to being the star. It is then screened at the Splendid Cinéma Palace with Broken Blossom on December 24, then at the Colosseum with Daddy Long Legs.

Recently decorated with the Legion of Honor (announced on November 7) and crowned with the presentation of the film at the Max Linder Theater (November 25), Saidreau participated on December 6 in the banquet given in honor of the star Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, then visiting in France a few months before the scandal which destroyed his career forever.
It seems that this film is a success and points out the director in the profession.
In fact, Jean Morizot in Bonsoir of December 26, 1920, makes us clearly understand that this is the first achievement that allows Saidreau to break through: "One of the first real comic films to appear in France. New actors. One new direction A new way of playing A director Robert Saidreau full of new ideas and happy initiatives Everything you need to succeed.

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Boucot's first idyll [Robert Saidreau - Chapter 6]

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Boucot

Unlike the previous film, the paternity of this one does not seem to be in doubt: this is another comedy intended to highlight its star, the famous comic actor of the Casino de Paris who has already shot numerous film series before the war, the most prolific of which are Babylas and Pénard.
It is undoubtedly this film that Ciné Pour Tous announces, without its title, on February 28, 1920 as being started at Eclipse studios by Saidreau.
On July 17, 1920, there is a corporate advertisement in Ciné-Journal which judges on the 31st of the same month that the photo is good and that it is a "funny comedy". We also learn that it is Saidreau who signs the script.

Louis-Jacques Boucot

An uncertain duration

La Cinématographie Française announces the presentation at the Palais de la Mutualité for Monday July 26 at 4 p.m. This allows to know its footage: 435 meters on two reels, a short film, although Ciné-Journal announces it at 700 m and that when it reached Nîmes in March 1921, it became "a comedy in 3 parts" .

The program

The complete content of the program in which the Agence Générale Cinématographique intends to release it from August 27 is as follows: a French comedy of 820 meters and a feature film with Geraldine Farrar, Shadows. The journalist from Ciné-Journal was present and presented a brief review on July 31.
But if we are to believe the Figaro of August 27, 1920 and the French action of August 28, 1920, at the premiere of the film at Marivaux (on the 27th), it is presented with Roscoe Arbuckle's The Bell Boy and Shadows.

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The Mad Night of Théodore [Robert Saidreau - Chapter 5]

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Which director?

In the film of June 20, 1919, a corporate advertisement from Delac & Vandal who produced the film (hence Le Film d'Art) identifies the film as "the first film in a series interpreted by Boucot". But nothing identifies one director over another.
It was not until May 1920 that "Mr. Candé" [Adolphe Candé] was identified as the director. As of this date, the film has not yet been presented, let alone released. One might wonder why it took a year to make a small short film.
The Modern Sites magazine, which mentions Jane Marken's participation in the film, declares it also directed by Adolphe Candé.

 

Ciné Pour Tous announces on August 15, 1919 that this is "the first film in the series that Boucot is shooting" and on January 24, 1920, that "Mr. Saidreau shot for the Film d'Art with Boucot and Louise Lagrange La folle nuit de Théodore. We will see that this publication is to be taken with caution because it raises many questions, being in potential contradiction with what one finds elsewhere. Either the author confuses the film with Boucot's next one (which does not not explain everything), or the statement is true and the genesis of the film must have been complicated.

However, La Cinématographie Française identifies La Première Idylle de Boucot (Boucot's First Love) on July 31 as the start of a potential series, and not as a second episode. Incidentally, the periodical confirms that Louise Lagrange stars in this film (also?).
It is not, however, the same film. The separate release of the two films is attested.

 

Thus, two facts are disturbing:

• La folle nuit de Théodore is announced once the shooting is finished as being directed by Saidreau, then by Candé.
• The two successive films with Boucot in which he plays a different character are presented at the same time as the first of a series, but neither of the two seems to have relaunched the career of the pre-war comic (he was Babylas and Pénard in series of pranks) which will then not run for 10 years.

Bad reviews

On May 22, 1920, La Cinématographie Française informs us that it is 415 meters long, that it is distributed by the Agence Générale Cinématographique, that Ms. Marken played the role of the usherette, unworthy of her talent, that it is well staged and well interpreted, but that the scenario of MG Arnould and Bousquet is distressing. "To think that they got together to sign this scenario!"
Ciné-Club tells us that vaudeville was screened at Lecourbe in the 15th arrondissement on June 18, 1920 and at the Alhambra de Billancourt on September 24, 1920. It also criticizes the film by calling it "a very sad comic ", and says "never has we seen any audience laughing in front of a drunken scene. "
There are still screenings of the film until Wednesday February 21, 1923 in Finistère!

The story

On May 29, 1920, the story of La folle nuit de Théodore by L'Agence Générale Cinématographique is given : Théodore, "sweet and stubborn drunkard", was thrown into the street by his father, ulcerated by his idleness. The confused hero, thinking of making his home at the Hotel Edouard VII, actually enters the theater of the same name, where he is granted a bathtub to please him. A story which, in fact, hardly lends itself to a title of "first Idyll". So there is no mistaking the two films.

In the end, it is not clear if Saidreau actually took part in the making of this film or not or if the doubt is due only to the lack of rigor of a journalist. In any case, it was not he who signed it. I notice that it was at this time that Saidreau went from Art Film to Eclipse (where he also directed the Chalumeau series). Candé, who is more often an actor than a director and has apparently never gone back behind the camera again after that, could be a figurehead following the departure of Saidreau from his production house.

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Beware of Your Maid [Robert Saidreau - Chapter 4]

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A first feature film?

Beware of Your Maid is an original vaudeville script by director Robert Saidreau which, if Jacques Richard is to be believed, also appears on screen. But he also speaks of it as his directorial debut, which, as we have seen, is wrong. Nevertheless this production is a little different from Saidreau's previous ones: it is indeed not a series like "Chalumeau", but is it his first feature film?

Without being able to know the exact footage length, we can determine that it was a fairly long film. In La dépêche of March 18, 1920, he was presented as the main attraction of the show at the Royal Theater of Toulouse.

Le progrès de la Côte d'Or of September 5, 1920 allows to get a more precise idea by describing a film in two parts (which often describes the number of reels) and by promising "half an hour of fun". In any case, it was considered at the time worthy of being reviewed among other feature films in the press, and unlike short films where the newspapers only listed the main star at best, we have a cast here, as rich as it is prestigious for this film.

Cast

Bonsoir of February 14, 1920 presents it in his "films of the week" and judges that it is "a comedy which has only gay pretension and which succeeds admirably. M. de Féraudy is naturally excellent and, to his side, Messrs. de Garcin, Saulieu; Mlles Sergyl and Génin are partners full of spirit and gaiety. "
L'Avenir of February 21, 1920 praises these same actors and the director: "Ciné-Location Eclipse gives us the good surprise of a French film, Beware of your Maid, which obtained the most frank and the most legitimate success. This charming comedy, staged with perfect taste, is performed in a masterly way (...). "
It is notable that Saidreau is not mentioned among the cast. Does he really play in the film as Jacques Richard claims? In any case, the female star here is undoubtedly Yvonne Sergyl, already a regular on the screen and who will experience the peak of her career in the following 4 years with first Les mystères de Paris, then the role of Jeanne Hachette in the epic of Raymond Bernard, The miracle of the wolves, which she will play again for a few speaking scenes when the film is re-released in 1930, after which she will shoot only one film and will disappear from the screen forever.
The most famous star of the film is de Féraudy. At the time, it was common to only credit the surname of the actors and to omit the first names. But then, at the time Maurice and his son Jacques were both well-known actors on stage and on screen.

 

Maurice or Jacques de Féraudy?

We find mention until the summer of this film, in Paris, in the provinces or in the colonies. Until December 31, 1920, we can find the film in the program of the Epatant Theater in Paris, March 18 at the Royal in Toulouse, May 23 at the Cinema Palace in Biarritz, August 2 in Algiers, etc. And the film was released in April 1922 and was found until June of that year in the colonies.
In Biarritz, moreover, it is also reported that the main actor is de Féraudy "of the Comédie Française", which would make it possible to lean in favor of Maurice de Féraudy, rather than his son Jacques who later collaborates with Saidreau in Peace at Home. In fact, there is no mention on this occasion of a previous collaboration.
In Jacques Richard's dictionary, however, it is Jacques who is listed for Beware of Your Maid, but not for Peace at Home.
However, his father Maurice is listed for L'extra, apparently by Saidreau in 1923. But this film, as far as I can judge, does not exist and I cannot find a trace of it.
L'extra is, however, the name of a play, performed by Saidreau, written in 1906 by Pierre Veber, who wrote the screenplay for Coeur Léger directed by Saidreau. It could have been a working title of Coeur Léger but neither of the two Féraudy stars in this film.
It is finally Le petit courrier of April 14, 1920 which makes it possible to decide by listing "M. J. de Féraudy". Le progrès de la Côte-d'Or of September 5, 1920 confirms this by writing "Jacques" in full and specifying that he is playing the part of Le Trapu des Batignolles.

Jacques de Féraudy

 

The story

This also confirms that the story of the film revolves around a bourgeois (probably Sergyl) whose husband (Saulieu?) wants to subdue by simulating a burglary with an accomplice (Garcin?) who would pass for an Apache (no, not Geronimo). The maid of the title (Génin?) overhears the plans and helps her mistress thwart them. Only then, a real thug (de Féraudy) appears.
We find this theme of the false Apache replaced by a real one in French cinema long after the term has fallen into disuse: it is the subject of one of the first talking French films: Paris by Night.

Saidreau director, actor ?

We have seen that Saidreau is not mentioned as an actor in the press. To add to the potential mystery, the director's name is rarely mentioned during the release of Beware of Your Maid. It is again Le petit courier which identifies him as a director, although his name is followed by the mention "du Palais Royal", thus reminding us that he is even better known as a stage actor than as a film director.

We also find his name years later, when he tries to pass off the screenplay as original by re-filming it to satisfy the order of a wealthy widow. A trial will take place where the name of this film will come back to the fore. This will be the subject of a future chapter.

To read the next chapter on the work of director Robert Saidreau, click here.

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Chalumeau [Robert Saidreau - Chapter 3]

  To read the previous chapter of this essay on the work of director Robert Saidreau, click here.

 

Chalumeau's debut

Despite the films already discussed in the two previous chapters, Jean Tulard retains the "Chalumeau series" as his first achievements. Chalumeau is the main character in a series of comedy short films.

The first mention of the series is in Ciné pour Tous, July 15, 1919, where it is announced as a short story. The director planned is Jean de Rovera "our excellent colleague of the Film and the Future". The collaborators announced are Edgar George, "Miss Suzie Renaud, a charming blonde, and the good fat Bouf-Bouf, who appeared in many old Eclair movies." The Bouf-Bouf (or Bou-Bouf as one finds it on the site of the cinematheque) in question is in fact Louis Moret, who indeed turned with Charles Burguet a series of films under this name.
But it seems prudent to be wary of the term "series": if one does not doubt the desire to shoot several films, the people announced as being attached to the series perhaps only collaborate, for some at least, on only just one movie.
It seems that the first Chalumeau in the series is Chalumeau se lance, 560 meters, that the director is also the author, and that the story is not of excellent quality if we are to believe the criticism of La Cinématographie Française of January 3, 1920. (Ciné Club anounces it as showing in Parisian theaters on January 30, 1920).

Chalumeau's Passions

The Cinematographie Française of April 3, 1920 therefore informs us that "La Société des Films" Eclipse ", 94, rue Saint-Lazare, Paris, announces the forthcoming release of a series of Chalumeau films. The scenarios of M. Henri Pellier were directed by Saidreau. The first will be: Les Ficelles de Chalumeau, Chalumeau enragé and Les grandes passions de Chalumeau. We are also offered a photo of the first on the list, while reminding us that Chalumeau se lance is still available. "The 'Chalumeau Film crew''s stay in Nice is coming to an end and soon we will see them again in Paris."

On April 10, 1920, Ciné Pour Tous confirms that "Mr. Saidreau is filming, with Edgar-George as the star, the comic series Chalumeau." The shooting of the three films may have been carried out in the order announced, but in any case, the releases do not follow that order.

Les passions de Chalumeau (650 m) is presented on Monday June 14 at the Palais de la Mutualité and is available on July 16, 1920. A 120x160 poster can be ordered to ensure its promotion. It is the third part of a program which includes a documentary on the Armorican coasts, the drama A Romance of the Underworld with Catherine Calvert, and finally the eighth episode of the serial Impéria, entitled La Revenche des Bohémiens, notably with Charles de Rochefort.

Chalumeau's strings

The second film announced among the three directed by Robert Saidreau, Les Ficelles de Chalumeau, was in fact the first released (June 18, 1920).
The 680-meter film is presented on Monday, May 17 at the Palais de la Mutualité and is available on June 18 as the third part of a program which includes the documentary Picturesque Guernsey, the drama A House Divided with Hubert Ramlinson and Sylvian Braemer, the fifth and sixth episodes of Imperia, titled Condemned, and The Light in the Prison.
Ciné-Club reports the release of the film ("20 minutes of crazy laughter") on December 24, 1920 at l'Epatant in the XXth arrondissement, which proves that copies circulate for a long time throughout France.
For example, the film was released at the Quimper Cinéma on October 20, 1920, presented with The Turn with Suzanne Grandais, recently deceased, as well as at the Bretagne Cinéma de Pont L'abbé on October 24.

 

The criticism of La Cinématographie Française fell on May 22, 1920: "In the script of this comic film, very well directed by R. Saidreau, we see a real effort to create something new and look for new situations. Oh, not quite, but there is progress. What is progressing is the young artist who has just created this type of Chalumeau which is not without originality. Good film. "

Chalumeau enraged

This fourth opus (third produced by Saidreau), is announced as coming out "soon" on September 5, 1920. After which ... I can no longer find any trace of it.

 

Chalumeau at Pathé

It seems that the series then went to Pathé because there is a Chalumeau series with the same screenwriter, but with in the main role, an actor identified as Georges Bernier. If we believe the photographic resemblance, it would be the same person as the Edgar-Georges from the Éclair series.
The Pathé site retains seven films shown, at least to the press, between October 11, 1921 and May 4, 1923.
None of these are identified as being made by Robert Saidreau. In fact, Bernier directed several and in 1936 became general manager of Pathé Consortium Cinéma after a career as production manager. And Saidreau's first attested achievements came out long before that.

Georges Bernier in 1928

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The wonderful exploits of Nick Carter [Robert Saidreau - Chapter 2]

To read the first chapter of this essay on the work of director Robert Saidreau, click here.

A director of crime movies?

In volume 1 of their Histoire du Cinéma which deals with French Cinema from 1895 -1929, René Jeanne and Charles Ford retain the name of Robert Saidreau among the directors of the Eclair studios, but unlike Le Film magazine, they do not place him in comedy, but "specialized in crime films".
They claim in particular that it is he who directs the popular series of Nick Carter films with Pierre Bressol in the title role, to compete with Nick Winter made by Pathé. On this point, they are quite confused: it is of course Nick Winter, created two years later, who parodies Carter, and not the other way around.

Nick Carter, first series

On Ciné-ressources, we can read that a series of six films Nick Carter, the king of the detectives was indeed shot with Pierre Bressol in 1908. The six films would have been directed by Victorin Jasset. These are, with their release date:

• Le Guet-apens (September 18, 1908)
  
• L'Affaire des bijoux (September 22, 1908)
  
• Les Faux-monnayeurs (October 6, 1908)
  
• Les Dévaliseurs de banque (October 20, 1908)
  
• Les Empreintes (October 27, 1908)
  
• Les Bandits en habit noir (November 15, 1908)
  

On a poster which promotes this first series, there are indeed two of these titles (The bank robbers and The bandits in black clothes) but is also mentioned "The walled man", perhaps an alternative title for one of the films.

Nick Carter returns

The site also retains six other later titles, it would actually appear to be two series of three films, first Nick Carter's New Feats also attributed to Jasset:

• En danger (March 4, 1909)
• Le sosie ou Une mission périlleuse (March 11, 1909)
• Le club des suicidés (Septembre 20, 1909)

and The marvelous exploits of Nick Carter (still from Jasset):

• Les dragées soporifiques (27 septembre 1909) 
• Nick Carter acrobate (30 janvier 1910)
• Le mystère du lit blanc (29 décembre 1911) 

The last title is an unexpected one called Max against Nick Winter, which was released by Pathé on May 31, 1912, with Max Linder. We are surprised that it is Bressol who replaces Georges Vinter in the role at the competing producing company. Maybe a mistake?
After this title, it seems that Bressol devoted himself to his recurring character of Nat Pinkerton until the start of the war.

Zigomar

In any case, Éclair replaces him in the role with Charles Krauss, who had already participated in The Exploits, and now plays the detective in:

• Zigomar, roi des voleurs (September 14, 1911)
• Zigomar contre Nick Carter (March 22, 1912)

In fact, on the YouTube channel of the EYE Filmmuseum, there is a Dutch version of De bende van Z (The Z gang), titled Zigomar vs Nick Carter. 

 

You guessed it, the series is now that of Zigomar, played by Alexandre Arquillière, and Nick Carter plays second fiddle. Impossible to determine the director by viewing the copy, even though it retains its period titles. By the way, the film shows a frame-by-frame animation sequence of the furniture of Zigomar's gaming house which commands admiration in a crime serial!
Another detail amused me. When Zigomar applis his makeup in front of the mirror, like Fantômas, unlike a convention admitted later, the spectator does not see his face in the mirror (the actor actually uses it), but the studio lights which then dazzle the camera.

 

Yet the authors persist further in the same book by mentioning the achievements of Saidreau's comedies as being a renunciation of "the detective films of its beginnings". In this at least, they seem partially informed because Le Film magazine, although it never clearly mentions that Saidreau directs comedies, twice insists that his films mix "gaiety" and "comedy" with other qualities. It is therefore more than likely that, even if he is indeed responsible for the direction of crime films, he has already made a specialty of comedy.
But if Victorin Jasset is so attached to the series, what do the authors have to say about this director?
They talk about his collaboration on "10 reels" in collaboration with Marcel Vibert, the most remarkable of which would be Au pays des ténèbres (1912). Imdb only retains two titles including this one. Besides that, they lend him the direction of the Zigomar series.

Zigomar at the Grand Cinéma Plaisir

Jean Tulard, for his part, attributes everything to Jasset and Jean Mitry also retains him as director of Nick Carter.
Françoise Ménager, President of the Manège de Givet, in an interview on France 3 on March 8, 2016 affirms that the author of Zigomar, Léon Sazie, sued Éclair, dissatisfied with Jasset's overly free adaptations.
We have 3 hypotheses left:

• There is at least one more Nick Carter series, directed by Saidreau
• The attribution to Jasset of at least one of these 3 series is wrong
• René Jeanne & Charles Ford are wrong in their attribution

Another series?

Let’s examine the first theory. We find in La Cinématographie Française of August 9, 1919 the summary of a drama in four parts, a Union-Eclair exclusive, entitled The drama of the villa Mortain in which we find the name of our famous detective Nick Carter. However, if we are to believe the imdb, Pierre Bressol plays in it and directs the film!

 Ciné Pour Tous announces for March 26, 1920 the release of the film A Drop of Blood, with Pierre Bressol in the role of Nick Carter. It is specified that it is about a "dramatic vision of Messrs. Étienne Michel and Pierre Brissol. Should we deduce from this that they are screenwriters, directors or both? On January 17, 1920, La Cinématographie Française seemed to have answered this question: "scenario of MM. Michel et Bressol. ”, But also“ Bressol has finished his very beautiful dramatic film. ” So, in the case of Bressol, it seems that he takes on both tasks.

On May 8, 1920, a corporate advertisement in La Cinématographie Française presented these two films as a "Nick Carter series".

It is entirely possible that this is an achievement by Robert Saidreau, uncredited. But no evidence comes to support this hypothesis, and the supposed paternity of Saidreau of Nick Carter is evoked by Ford and Jeanne in a paragraph which deals with pre-war cinema.

Let us quote all the same, to be as exhaustive as possible, the American productions, clearly not carried out by him, but which do take again the character. On May 24, 1919, a film entitled Jack, the king of detectives, exclusive to Cinématographes Harry appeared in La Cinématographie Française which gave a detailed summary including Nick Carter. However, it appears to be an adaptation of an American film. It is therefore very possible that a detective character was renamed Nick Carter in French titles.

On July 24, 1920, La Cinématographie Française also announced a series of Nick Carter films by Broodwell Production Cie, the first episode of which was supposed to be The Hundred Thousand Dollar Kiss. It's actually Broadwell Productions and the movie in question is called $ 100,000 Kiss with Thomas Karrigan in the lead role who will indeed play the detective 14 times.

Jasset or Saidreau?

Concerning the second hypothesis, it is difficult to attribute a film formally to a director before 1918. In fact, the credits and posters, when they exist, do not mention them. And the film reviews so useful for understanding the History of Lost Films have not yet been created. The cinema is then still largely an attraction of fairs, badly regarded and very little present in the press which is limited at best to announce the title of a screening.

Finally, concerning the third hypothesis, and the possible error on the part of the authors of the encyclopedia, one is astonished that a personal friend of Saidreau made such an error. But anything is possible. In any case, it seems certain that Saidreau's talent was not limited to the crme genre or even to comedy as we will see in the following chapters.

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Robert Saidreau, the king of "French-style" Comedy [Chapter 1]

 

An unknown respected by his peers

During Robert Saidreau's funeral at Notre Dame de Lorette on December 8, 1925, the cream of French cinematography was present to pay homage to him. Actors, directors, producers, distributors, many of them had never worked with him: Mesdames Suzanne Bianchetti, Denise Legeay, Lucienne Legrand, Hélène Darly, Suzy Pierson, Germaine Dulac, Messrs Dulac & Vandal, Jacques de Baroncelli, René Hervil, Léon Poirier, Léonce Perret, Henry Krauss, Henri Fescourt, René Jeanne, Camille de Morlhon, Harry Baur, Albert Dieudonné, and the list goes on. You can also consult it in full in Comœdia of December 9, 1925.

If these names may not mean much to you, they were the most brilliant representatives of their art. Fans will no doubt know that Albert Dieudonné was an immortal Napoleon for Abel Gance, that René Jeanne was a film historian still studied, that Germaine Dulac was one of the first directors. But who remembers Robert Saidreau or his films? And yet, at the time of his death, he was considered one of the best directors of "very French" (i.e.: popular) comedies. Of course, and still in Comœdia, Henry Lepage wrote on December 12, 1925 in a tribute to his comedy spirit, that the recent deceased had little competition after all. "They are only three or four." he tells us.

Not so unknown

If we are to believe his contemporary and modern filmographies, Robert Saidreau has nevertheless made at least fifteen films in barely 5 years. Among them, original scenarios, adaptations of works by Alphonse Daudet, Georges Courteline, Georges Feydeau. With actors like Boucot, Jacques de Féraudy, Jean Dax, Hélène Darly, Suzanne Bianchetti, Dolly Davis, André Dubosc, Pierre Etchepare, Louis Pré Fils, Armand Bernard, Marie Glory, Pierre Larquey, Lucien Baroux, Roger Tréville, etc.

Unfortunately, he had the bad taste to die relatively young, years before the advent of talkies. Therefore, his films are not broadcast, are considered minor because of their genre, and for some, are probably lost. His career itself is quite poorly documented, especially regarding his early days.
It must be said that everything is not always clear, but by consulting the archives, it is easy to lend him imaginary films because of working titles released in the press and ultimately changed at the last moment, films shot but never released, projects never shot. On the other hand, several of his films are not attributed to him as we will see.

Actor behind the camera

In addition, Robert Saidreau had several lives: at the turn of the century he was stage manager at Les Capucines and an actor, as we learn from the directory of the society of dramatic authors and composers 1901-1902 ("Jean-Marie-Robert Sordes, dit Saidreau, stage manager ") and the Official Journal of the Republic of February 13, 1907.
He also played in a few films before directing them, and even shot for his colleague and collaborator René Hervil (Dr. Knock) even though he had long started his career behind the camera.
From the press, we can determine certain milestones in his private life: he was a nurse during the war as shown by L'Excelsior of March 1, 1915; he "did his medical studies" according to L'intransigeant of March 23, 1924; he has just lost his mother, reports Hebdo Film on September 2, 1916, etc.
"Difficult to say more" says Jean Tulard. Let's try all the same.

Robert Saidreau during WWI

I have tried to list his directorial filmography below with the references of the information given. For this, I grouped the rare information available in the cinema dictionaries that I compared to the contemporary press. So, all of the films discussed below may not necessarily be by Saidreau but were attributed to him at least in one instance, and some films he did direct will obviously not be on my list, as it seems established that he made films without signing them and which were not reviewed at the time. This week, I'll be discussing his directorial debut, and his subsequent films will each have a chapter released week after week.

Films not identified at the Film D'Art

If one believes Edmond Jacques in Le Film of June 26, 1914, during his visit tat the Film D'Art studios, Louis Nalpas, who guides him, tells him among other things: "I have excellent directors and, at the moment, they are all very busy. " And second, after Pouctal, he quotes: "Saidreau continues to make small scenarios where gaiety mingles with emotion."
It is therefore noted that Robert Saidreau, from 1914, worked, and for some time already ("continues"), as a comedy director, probably with films all the shorter as the feature film is still a standard to be invented. If he is one of the 4 directors that the studio director saw fit to quote, we can deduce that he is an important member.
On July 17 of the same year in the same publication, Fernand Suares confirms this state of affairs, and even has the honor of an interview with Saidreau: "I love cinema, he said to me, and I consider it as a nascent art which must follow an artistic path like the other arts. (...) One of the decisive points for the execution of a good film consists above all in the search for the framework favorable to the action, of the lighting that can give tones of circumstance. I would add that the photographic impression can often move and by that even support the weakness of a scenario. "
It is fascinating to see that the ideas expressed here announce the criticisms that will be made of his films after the war: he will be criticized several times for privileging the beauty of the images and the exteriors chosen over the quality of the script.
On July 24, with a photo, we can read an article which confirms the experience of Saidreau who "has made a specialty of films from four to five hundred meters" and "is currently starting a series of films of this length, where the comic will mingle with the emotion more intimately than has been done so far. "
One can easily imagine that the declaration of war a few days later put an end to this project, the director's medical studies having proved to be an asset under the flags.

Robert Saidreau in 1914

After the War

Still in The Film, but as the War drew to a close, on October 14, 1918, the state of the Film D'Art was discussed, and Saidreau was cited among the directors, but the only title he was associated with was a film with Lucy Jousset in which he is an actor: La puce à l'oeille.
Louis Nalpas persists in an interview by Jean Pascal for Cinémagazine on September 28, 1928 in which he lists Saidreau among the directors of his company before the War.
On December 6, 1928 in Cinémonde, Marcel Levesque remembers his debut at Film D'Art, and in the article is published a photo of him and Jeanne Cheirel supposed to be from a "filmed comedy by R. Saidreau" of 1917 which is not named. It should be noted that a photo of this same scene is published to illustrate an interview with the actor in Mon Ciné of September 7, 1922, which dates the film before that, without further details.

Marcel Levesque & Jeanne Cheirel in a 1917 film

Saidreau was therefore a director before the First World War. This discovery makes it possible to relativize the affirmation of Xavier Mauméjean in "Drôles de Drames" broadcast on December 26, 2009 on France Culture radio: "The System of Dr Goudron and Pr Plume is thus played from 1903 at the Théâtre du Grand Guignol, customary for free covers by Edgar Poe. And, under its exact title, the tale appeared on the big screen in 1912, directed by Robert Saidreau, pseudonym of Maurice Tourneur. "

Why would Maurice Tourneur have used an alias? We note that the author seems to ignore that Robert Saidreau is a real person. Could it then be that a film attributed to the famous Tourneur is in fact a production by Robert Saidreau who, by the way, plays in the film? If so, The Strange Adventure of Doctor Works would not be his first foray into the Grand Guignol.

So ? Director of comedy, drama, horror, or ... crime films? Let's try to unravel the mystery with the second part of Robert Saidreau's attested or supposed filmography.

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I have Killed!

"I Have Killed!" (J'ai tué!) is what one could call a worldly melodrama in the sense that the main dramatic spring is based on values ​​so dated that a good part of our contemporaries could doubtless not accept as credible.

Sessue Hayakawa in the murder scene

 

The Story of "I have Killed!"

Huguette Dumontal, married to a respectable orientalist scholar, leads a peaceful life with him and their young child Gérard until a blackmailer, probably a former lover, and her accomplice come to threaten her to denounce her past life, with compromising letters, if she does not give them the money.

Sessue Hayakawa & Denise Legeay (in the role of the accomplice)

 

And that's where many modern viewers risk losing out: she'll let the situation escalate to the point of seeing her husband killed by the blackmailer before her eyes and letting the couple's best friend risk the death penalty rather than revealing an old affair that potentially may have happened before her marriage. It's probably just as unlikely these days, if not more, that the script for Alfred Hitchcock's Easy Virtue.

Huguette Duflos and Max Maxudian

 

An Unexpected Cast

The calvary (in the comfort of a mansion in the rich suburbs of Paris) is interpreted by Huguette, the famous "Ex-Duflos". She then enjoys a well-established popularity in France and abroad. She is indeed coming off the set of Koenigsmark and will soon be shooting a big German production, Der Rosenkavalier. Her husband in the film is veteran Max Maxudian and the poisonous Baroness de Calix, lover of the blackmailer, is played by Denise Legeay, remarkable despite a very short career. In the role of the blackmailer is Pierre Daltour whose career will come to an end two years later following the scandal of the aggression of his neighbor. The film is however largely carried by the interpretation of its main star: the Japanese Sessue Hayakawa. It is he who pronounces the fatal sentence of the title by accusing himself of a crime he did not commit to protect the honor of a friend.

Huguette Duflos in I have Killed!

Surprisingly, the cast was originally to be quite different: Le petit Marseillais from May 27, 1924 announces that Roger Lion has just finished his screenplay "It's I who killed" which is to be played by his wife Gil Clary, and Messrs André Nox, Donatien and by his assistant André Darel.

However, if we are to believe an interview with the director in Mon Ciné of January 8, 1925, the project was born out of a desire to shoot a film with a Japanese character in the leading role, which was in favor of the Japanese Embassy, ​​determined to help find funds for this purpose, to feature the star Masao Inoue, passing through Europe at the time. Unfortunately, Roger Lion not only found the actor "not very photogenic, (...) of an indefinable age, with white hair and features too ... characteristic", but in addition, the actor abandoned him to the first more advantageous offer made to him by a theater company.

Sessue Hayakawa

 

Sessue Hayakawa was a Japanese star who had enjoyed solid success in the United States since his role in The Cheat. This film by Cecil B. DeMille, praised by critics like Louis Delluc, had made an even greater and lasting impression in France (where a remake will even be shot), due to its innovative technique. The prestige of the actor remains then better than in America, and he decides to shoot The Danger Line in France which leaves a bitter taste to the critics. By pure chance, Roger Lion, manages to convince the actor to play the main role of his film, and he finds an unexpected producer to finance the entire business. The bill increases when Hayakawa decides that the female star cannot be, as expected, Gil Clary, wife of the director, because the actress is much too tall (1.74m-5.7f) compared to him.

Moderately a bargain on her salary, Huguette therefore agreed to shoot in the film, which transformed a small, almost confidential film into a large production with international potential. The film is therefore bought abroad on poster value, even before it is shot. All these negotiations must have been quick because Paris Soir already announces Sessue Hayakawa, but also Gil Clary and always André Nox on June 23, 1924. Two days later, in the same newspaper, it is revealed that André Nox will finally shoot After Love with Maurice Champreux. The very young Maurice Sigrist participates in the shooting of both the films! On the 26th, Andrée Brabant was announced in the leading female role and on the 27th, in Comedia, Huguette, Maxudian, Pierre Daltour and Denise Legeay were finally announced. However, Roger Lion himself declares having given the first turn of the crank on June 28, and having finished filming on August 1. It was on August 16 that I found for the first time mention in L'intransigeant of the final title. If we are to believe the Bonsoir newspaper on October 31, Andrew Pellenc also played in the film.

Maurice Sigrist & Sessue Hayakawa

 

The production

In addition to the casting problems, Roger Lion must find the screenwriter Frances Guihan that Hayakawa imposes to do the cutting of the script, as he is used to working with her and she happens to be in Paris at the time. The planned cinematographer failed the director, and the second, "a young man", made him lose a few hundred meters of film that he had to reshoot. In the end, it is difficult to determine the names of these first two candidates, but imdb does retain three names, none of whom is a youngster starting his career at the time: Paul Castanet, of which it is on the contrary the last film, Segundo de Chomón, who is also closer to the end of his career as an operator and director than to the beginning, and finally Maurice Desfassiaux, best candidate despite the presence of several previous titles in his filmography.

It is in the previously mentioned interview that we learn that Huguette's friend at the reception is played by Thyra Seillière, the wife of producer Richard-Pierre Bodin. This explains why the production company created is called Thyra Film. It is the only film of this company, if only because the couple divorced in 1929.

There is, when the professor gives his lecture at the Palais Galliera in Paris, a shot taken on avenue Pierre I of Serbia, with in the background, the old Trocadero Palace before it was destroyed a few years later. According to Mon Ciné of February 5, 1925, the exteriors were shot in Antwerp. This is probably referring to the scenes, without the main actors, in the harbor during the arrival and departure of the Japanese character.

Down the road, the old Palace of Trocadéro

Release and Critics

On October 18, the editing was announced as finished by L'Intransigeant. The world premiere is organized on October 25 in Brussels, Belgium. The film is presented by the distributor Jean de Merly to the French press on November 8 at the Coliseum at 2:30 p.m. following which the first reviews are published, which already regrets the Victorian intrigue, like the Quotidien which speaks of "fake genre", from L'écho de Paris which compares the film unfavorably to The Cheat and finds it "not very good". Le Petit Marseillais is more enthusiastic and considers that it "meets the tastes of the public" and that it "deserves a special mention." In general, everyone agrees that the main attraction is its interpretation, especially its two stars.

Sessue Hayakawa in the final scene of I Have Killed!

The film was released on January 2, 1925 on French screens.

It exists in a version reconstituted in 1990 by Renée Lichtig viewable on YouTube in what looks like an overly contrasted 16mm print. It is always sad to see these copies where the faces, the main vectors of emotion in films without sound, are transformed into white halos where we sometimes cannot even make out the eyes! Yet this is a rare opportunity to find two international stars in a "classic" film: not a masterpiece that we talk about in all the books to this day, but not a turnip either. Hopefully someday, maybe, a good copy will turn up.

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