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