Light Heart [Robert Saidreau - Chapter 14]

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

A dynasty of screenwriters

Here is a comedy, originally titled L'Extra, written by Pierre Veber, a successful writer who has already been adapted many times to cinema despite the medium's youth. Among his works, we find in particular Les Grands filmed in 1918 by Georges Denola and which will be released in 1924 in a new successful adaptation by Henri Fescourt. But above all, the author's sons have taken up the torch by writing for the cinema, among other things, as well as his very famous grandson, Francis Veber, who wrote The Goat, The Dinner Game, and other hilarious comedies.

The Plot

In an article by Jean Le Hallier published in Mon ciné of April 24, 1923, we can read the script of the film: "This is the story of a young party baron [Pierre Etchepare] whose aunt threatens him with legal action. Not satisfied with this mark of family mistrust, the baron becomes a taxi driver in order to be able to drive his own aunt himself and give her many emotions, and then later, to become a butler for bourgeois evenings. As he is handing the glasses of champagne and the petits fours, he meets the young girl whom he will marry."

Bonsoir also tries a summary on March 8, 1923: "The sympathetic Baron Pierre d'Hennequeville, after a bumpy life, would gladly sit comfortably in the conjugal armchair offered to him by Suzy Macreuse. He dislikes working and his attempts to do so only lead him more surely into the labyrinth of the scenario, where he walks like a young man of the world. It is while seeking his way that he nevertheless discovers the heart which must join his and that is the moral of the film."

Robert Saidreau, Mary Belson and Pierre Etchepare

In the first photo, in the foreground, we can see Robert Saidreau, Mary Belson, and Etchepare. The director mimics the role of Etchepare by depicting the waiter's tray with his hat. Hat that Etchepare kept, as well as his waistcoat over his costume, thus confirming that the shooting took place in winter.

On the second, we see Etchepare surrounded by pretty girls, probably in one of the first scenes of the film: a behavior which would justify the "legal action" mentioned above.

Pierre Etchepare, nicely surrounded

This article contains important information: as if to apologize for the lack of originality of the scenario, Saidreau says that it is difficult to come up with a new and funny idea "when filming one's twelfth comedy film".
If we except "Dr. Works" in his attested filmography, which is more horror than comedy, we are only missing 2 films!

The cast

In addition to the now regular Pierre Etchepare, there is the newcomer Mary Belson, whose beauty is praised in the newspapers. Saidreau is using her here for the first time and she will be returning for his next production. In a smaller role, Suzanne Balco also made her Saidreau debut and became a regular on Saidreau's sets, the same for Émile Garandet.
In the recurring films, Gilbert Dacheux, Georges de la Noë and Robert Darthez make their second and last appearance in front of the director's cameras.

Shooting

Jacques Richard's excellent Dictionary of silent film actors lists this film as having "emerged" in 1923 from a 1918 film. I admit that I do not understand the reason for this statement because the period press reports the classic stages of production in 1923, starting with the announcement on December 30, 1922 of the imminent start of filming.
L'intransigent confirms on January 6, 1923 that he has started and specifies the csting, then informs us on February 24 that Saidreau has finished his film at the Boulogne studio, and that the previous one, The idea of ​​Françoise, will soon be presented. On March 3, it is apparently the editing that was finished and on March 10, the press presentation is a done deal (from March 6 it seems) and the director is preparing a new film. ("Not everyone sleeps in the cinema industry.")

The shooting of the reception with Saidreau in the distance from behind.

Critics

The film was released on May 18, 1923 at the Cinéma des boulevards, it was screened from June 9 at the Olympia in Clichy.
L'intransigent has already published his review on March 13: "Mr. Robert Saidreau has undertaken to give us screen comedies and his intention is laudable." However, he is criticized for not having shown enough exteriors, and that the characters do not seem to live once they leave the screen. ("Too theatrical.")
We are also reminded of the anecdote of his mascot, the actress Mirabel, probably present in this film as well.
Auguste Nardy's review in Bonsoir of March 8 throws an interesting light on Saidreau's style and perhaps explains why he is largely ignored by film historians: "Mr. Robert Saidreau has acquired a real mastery in the manner to deal with these essentially Parisian subjects. If he does not endeavor to compose his work cinematically, he always manages to interest us by a skilful cutting and a sequence of scenes which contributes to the perfect development of the film. We are in the middle of a comedy; the author who knows how to avoid boredom works with delicacy and expresses with taste the feelings which he wants to highlight. Mr. Robert Saidreau does not seek to surprise us with photographic subtleties or clever tricks. He wants to please and he goes simply and logically to his purpose. "
Here we are. At a time when Abel Gance is revolutionizing the language of cinematography with The Wheel, where we can see Vidocq on screens, or Robin Hood with Douglas Fairbanks, Saidreau offers us small, unpretentious comedies of the kind that entertain as expected when they come out and that we forget soon after and never see again.

We learn in Bonsoir of September 25, 1923 that Light Heart and Bonheur conjugal were "sold in America."

Double take with a scene from La légende de sœur Béatrix

 

The image above deserves an explanation. Published in Mon Ciné, it was taken on the set of Light Heart, but the photographer, due to poor handling of his camera, took two photos on the same film, which means that in addition to the crew of Light Heart gathered in the kitchen, there is a superimposed prayer scene from Jacques de Baroncelli's film The Legend of Sister Beatrix. This proves that the two films were shot at the same time, in the same studio and that they shared the same still photographer.

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

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That's all for today folks! See you soon !