1 – Manoela
Quote:
In Portugal, Joaquim de Costabella, a deposed marquis, lives with his pious granddaughter Manoëla. When banker Alvarez comes to ask for Manoëla’s hand in exchange for renewing his drafts, the marquis throws him out. That same night, Alvarez’s house is burglarized and murdered…Read More »
François Massarelli (google translate) wrote:
Philippe Guérande (Edouard Mathé), reporter for the “Mondial”, fights a merciless fight against the band of criminals Les Vampires. He is helped in this by his friend Oscar-Cloud Mazamette (Marcel Levesque), a former member of the gang whom he persuaded to follow the right path and who is very devoted to him. He spares no effort to counter the actions of the Great Vampire, the leader of the gang (Jean Aymé), Irma Vep (Musidora), the muse of criminals, or even Satanas (Louis Leubas), a dangerous manipulator of explosives, and Vénénos (Frédérick Moriss), the “master of poisons”…Read More »
IMDB wrote:
Le Gendarme est sans Culotte (or, “The Policeman is Without Trousers”) concerns a dim-witted cop named Foezel, who is played by Marcel Lévesque, best remembered as Mazamette in the great crime serial Les Vampires. Lévesque, whose comic relief character practically stole the show in that series, also starred in his own short comedies. To my way of thinking he suggests a Gallic version of Jimmy Finlayson, Laurel & Hardy’s familiar nemesis, not only in appearance but in his vigorous, over the top performance style. […]Read More »
A dour ten minutes during which a young woman takes the job a family man. Mostly of interest as a “glimpse of views on women’s emancipation and employment at a time when they were invading the office world as stenographers and typists” (Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi).Read More »
After he is fired, a real stinker of a servant lets loose his ex-employer’s lions.
Drama ensues and, needless to say, her soirée is ruined.Read More »
Jacques d’Athys returns from an expedition to Indochina where he picks up a book that contains the whereabouts of secret treasures and sensitive government intelligence. This makes him the target of foreign spies, including a Marquise of Latin origin, a Hindu hypnotist and an evil German doctor.Read More »
A twelve part serial following the adventures of the masked vigilante Judex as he fights against criminals led by the corrupt banker Favrauxom.Read More »
Quote:
It is an outstanding film that sees Feuillade experimenting with this new cinematic genre that will lead to his classics, Fantomas, Les Vampires and Judex. The film is also notable for its introduction of the actor René Navarre, who plays detective Julien Kieffer and will go on to play Fantomas.
Le trust, ou les batailles de l’argent has a most unusual plot. The film involves the detective Julien Kieffer helping the industrialist Jacob Berwick spy on his rival Darbois in order to steal Darbois’ discovery of a formula to manufacture artificial rubber. This is the earliest example of a film that is based around corporate espionage; surprisingly, the film transcends its plot and proves to be compelling viewing.Read More »
