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William Tell (1903 film)

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Wikipedia article




'William Tell' is a 1903 French silent short film directed by Lucien Nonguet and distributed in France by Path Frres. The original French title is 'Guillaume Tell'. It is the first film adaptation of the eponymous play by Friedrich Schiller.Review and link to watch the film:

Cast



Edmond Boutillon as Albrecht Gessler

Plot



The film shows five scenes inspired by key moments of the eponymous play by Friedrich Schiller. Three of these scenes are introduced by an intertitle.

'1. William Tell's heroism.'

A mountainous landscape with a staircase. William Tell helps a peasant escape on a rowing boat just before a group of soldiers enters.

'2. The Plot.'

Intertitle: "People and bourgeois take oath"

A clearing near a mountain lake. A group of people enter and surround William Tell. They take a solemn oath.

'3. The Apple.'

Intertitle: "William Tell is arrested".

A village square in the mountains. Several villagers enter the square followed by two heralds who sound their trumpets before a proclamation is read: Everybody must salute the hat of Governor Gessler hanging on a pole. Everybody does it except William Tell who has just entered with his son. As punishment, he must shoot with his bow an arrow on an apple placed on his son's head. He achieves the feit but is nevertheless arrested.

'4. Death of Gessler.'

Intertitle: "The people cheer William Tell".

An embankment in a mountainous landscape. Gessler arrives on a rowboat and William Tell shoots an arrow which kills him

'5. The Swiss cheer their Liberator.'

Villagers are dancing on a square. William Tell appears and all cheer him.[http://filmographie.fondation-jeromeseydoux-pathe.com/5506-guillaume-tell Fondation Jrme Sdoux. Filmographie Path: Guillaume Tell Lucien Nonguet 1903]

Analysis



Although Georges Mlis directed in 1898 a film titled 'Adventures of William Tell' , this was just a knockabout farce featuring a clown trying to shoot an apple off the head of a dummy which comes to life. Lucien Nonguet can therefore rightly be credited as director of the first cinematographic adaptation of Schiller's play, albeit in a very abbreviated form. This was not the first historical film directed by Nonguet. He had already directed, also in 1903, one of Path's first historical film, 'pope napolonienne', also known as

'The Life of Napoleon', 'Napoleon Bonaparte' or 'The Rise and Fall of Napoleon the Great' in the United States.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458213/reference Internet Movie Database, pope napolonienne (1903)]

The film is shot in a 'tableau' style, and follows the "single, unified viewpoint of the autonomous shot-scene", which had been established as a characteristic feature of the historical film genre by 'pope napolonienne'.Richard Abel, 'The Cine Goes to Town: French Cinema, 1896-1914', University of California Press, 1998, p. 93. Path actually stressed the 'theatrical' esthetics of the film in the way it was presented in its catalogue: "This popular and interesting legend takes place amidst the country life of the mountain population. The beautiful and picturesque sights which exist in Switzerland have given us an opportunity of utilizing the resources our theatre affords and our scene-painters have been able to have a free run on their imaginations and have completed the work by a series of magnificent scenes of the most artistic character."The Path Cinematograph Co. Ltd. London: Path, 1905., p 101-102, quoted by Henri Bousquet, 'Catalogue Path des annes 1896 1914', Bures-sur-Yvette, Editions Henri Bousquet, 1994-2004.

Some copies of the film were colorized with the mechanical stencil-based film tinting process Pathcolor in the workshop of Segundo de Chomn in Barcelona.Juan-Gabriel Tharrats, Segundo de Chomn: un pionnier mconnu du cinma europen ; Espagne, France, Italie ; 1902 - 1928, L'Harmattan, 2009, p. 42

Distribution



'William Tell' was distributed by Path Frres in 1903 in France, and in 1904 in the United States. In the latter country, it was also distributed by the Kleine Optical Company, the Edison Manufacturing Company, and the Lubin Manufacturing Company.

References




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