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La Galerie des monstres
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Wikipedia article
'La Galerie des monstres' ("the gallery of monsters") is a 1924 French drama film directed by Jaque Catelain, set against the background of a circus in Spain. It was produced by Cingraphic, the production company of Marcel L'Herbier.
Plot
In a town in Spanish Castile, a young man, reluctantly living with a roaming band of gypsies, and a local orphan girl want to marry, but when the girl's grandfather forbids their plan, they decide to run away together. A few years later, they have become Riquett's, a clown, and Ralda, a dancer, in a travelling circus which arrives in Toledo. Despite being still in love and having a young child together, the couple's situation is made unhappy by continual attempts to break them apart: by Sveti, a false friend in love with Ralda, by Flossie, an American dancer who constantly flirts with Riquett's, and especially by Buffalo, the tyrannical director of the circus, who lusts after Ralda. Others in the troupe include a giantess, a dwarf, a mermaid, and a bearded lady.
When Buffalo's attempts to seduce Ralda are rejected, he provokes a lion and releases it from its cage on to the stage where Ralda is dancing. She is badly mauled, but Buffalo claims it was just a small accident and forces Riquett's to continue with his act. Madame Violette, the downtrodden wife of Buffalo, has witnessed the true story and secretly helps the couple to escape with their child. Once they are safe, she denounces her husband.
Cast
* Jaque Catelain as Riquett's
* Lois Moran as Ralda / Oflia
* Claire Prlia as Mme Violette
* Jean Murat as Sveti
* Yvonneck as Buffalo
* Florence Martin as Flossie
* Lili Samuel as Pirouette
* Jean-Paul Le Tarare as Stryx
* Philippe Hriat as the giantess
* Kiki de Montparnasse as the bayadre
* Marcel Rosar as the lion tamer
Production
The film was financed by Marcel L'Herbier's production company Cingraphic and it was the second to be directed by the actor Jaque Catelain, following the relative success of his previous film 'Le Marchand de plaisirs'. In December 1923 L'Herbier offered the project to Catelain, provided that within a fortnight he could produce a scenario which should be set in a circus or menagerie.
In addition to Catelain in the leading role, the cast included the film dbut of the American dancer and actress Lois Moran who was only 15 at the time. Jean Murat also appeared in one of his earliest film roles, and Kiki de Montparnasse made a short appearance as a circus dancer. Alberto Cavalcanti was the assistant director as well as contributing to the set designs along with Djo Bourgeois. In his supervisory role for the production, Marcel L'Herbier was credited for "'direction artistique'".[http://cinema.encyclopedie.films.bifi.fr/index.php?pk=52134&_ga=2.97512348.2024621922.1590243002-1344600159.1581671816 'La Galerie des monstres'] at 'Cin-ressources' [retrieved 23 May 2020].
Filming then began in February 1924 with location shooting in Spain, in Toledo, Pedraza and Segovia, where much of the landscape was covered in snow. The remainder of filming took place at Studios clair in pinay. The large number of characters and extras (plus circus animals) made the process a difficult one for Catelain as actor/director, and despite the film's warm reception it contributed to his decision to limit his role to acting in the future.
Reception
The film received a preview screening for the "Amis du Cinma" at the Artistic-Cinma in Paris on 18 May 1924. It was then released simultaneously in France and Spain in September that year, with a positive reception.
For the central sequences of Riquett's frenetic dance on stage and the lion's attack, the film used montages of rapid editing, sometimes almost subliminal, to create a complex impression of parallel action or thought (a technique which was also employed in other 'avant-garde' French films of the period such as 'La Roue', 'Cur fidle', and 'L'Inhumaine').Review by Ren Jeanne, in 'Paris-Soir', 13 sept. 1924, p.5 : "Indiscutablement ce film est, du moins en ses moyens d'expression, un film d'avant-garde" ("assuredly this film is, at least in its means of expression, an avant-garde film"). These devices were variously received in reviews, either as over-elaborate and distractingReview by Andr Tinchant, in 'Cinmagazine', no.20, 16 mai 1924: "... nous ne ferons plus alors qu'une restriction, quant la qualit de cette uvre, qui atteindrait presque la perfection si elle n'tait pourvue d'une technique quelquefois trop riche, trop tourdissante, et ce fatalement la dpense de la simplicit et de l'motion" ("...we will make only one reservation, as to the quality of this work, which would almost attain perfection if it had not been provided with a technique that is sometimes too rich, too overwhelming, and inevitably at the cost of simplicity and emotion". or as dynamic and essential.Review by Jacques Parsons, in 'Paris-Midi', 17 juin 1924, pp.1-2: "...un trs bon film ... le mouvement et le rhythme imprieusement ncessaires" ("...a very good film ... movement and rhythm masterfully necessary".Marcel L'Herbier. 'La Tte qui tourne'. (Paris: Belfond, 1979) p. 111: "...la salle gota fort la dynamique de ce spectacle" (".... the audience greatly relished the dynamics of this display"). The film was also released in Japan in 1925 and made an impact there: when the film magazine 'Kinema junp' asked its readers to vote on the best films of the year, 'La Galerie des monstres' achieved first place.Aaron Gerow. 'A Page of Madness: Cinema and Modernity in 1920s Japan'. (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, Center for Japanese Studies, 2008) Chapter 2: Taish and Its Cinema (pp. 7-11): "The list of the best ten films released in 1925 voted by the readers of the leading film magazine, 'Kinema junp', was topped by Jacques Catelain and Marcel LHerbiers 'La Galerie des monstres' and Alexandre Volkoffs 'Kean' (both 1924), two French films imbued with the film culture of cin clubs and film purism that in film history is loosely called French Impressionism."
A 4K restoration of 'La Galerie des monstres' from the original negative was carried out by the Centre national du cinma et de l'image anime (CNC) in 2019.
References
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