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