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Little Devil May Care
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Wikipedia article
'Little Devil-May-Care' (or ' The Devil in the Heart') (French: 'Le Diable au cur') is a 1928 French-British silent drama film directed by Marcel L'Herbier and starring Betty Balfour, Jaque Catelain and Roger Karl.Richard Roud. 'Cinema: A Critical Dictionary: the Major Film-makers'; volume 2. New York: Viking Press, 1980. p. 624.[http://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150017404 'Le Diable au cur'] at British Film Institute collections database. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
Plot
In a small coastal town Ludivine, a fisherman's daughter, falls in love with Delphin, an orphaned boy who comes to live with them. But her father wants her to marry Lauderin, the lecherous manager of a local cabaret-bar.
Cast
* Betty Balfour as Ludivine Bucaille
* Jaque Catelain as Delphin Leherg
* Roger Karl as Bucaille, Ludivine's father
* Andr Nox as Pierre Lauderin
* Kissa Kouprine as Thania
* Catherine Fonteney as Madame Bucaille, Ludivine's mother
* Magda Aranyi as Lauderin's stepmother
* Leo Da Costa as Gaston Lauderin
* Andr Heuz as Andr Bucaille
* Auguste Picaude as Maurice Bucaille
* Falcau as Lauderin's brother
* Jane Pierson as a woman
* Marie Glory as a young thief
Production
L'Herbier had originally made an agreement with the Gaumont-British company to film Labiche's stage farce 'Un chapeau de paille d'Italie' with the popular English actress Betty Balfour. When that project was delayed, the filming rights were ceded to Ren Clair who was also eager to adapt the work, and L'Herbier proceeded with an alternative adaptation of a novel by Lucie Delarue-Mardrus set in a Breton fishing community.Jaque Catelain. 'Marcel L'Herbier'. Paris: Vautrain, 1950. pp. 99-100.
Filming began, in November 1926, on location at Honfleur, and then at the Studios de la Villette in Paris and the Victorine Studios in Nice, but the production was beset with problems. Soon after filming began several leading members of the cast became ill, including Balfour, and the production had to be halted for a time, incurring greater costs. When they had resumed, the actor Auguste Mvisto, playing Ludivine's father, suddenly died, and several scenes had to be refilmed with his replacement Roger Karl. Further difficulties were caused by the panchromatic film which was being used for the first time in a French production, and technical inexperience with this filmstock produced a number of unforeseen problems. L'Herbier subsequently felt that, despite the film's appealing elements and the vivacious humour of Betty Balfour, the finished product lacked rigorous consistency.Marcel L'Herbier. 'La Tte qui tourne'. Paris: Belfont, 1979. pp.146-147: "... malgr des aspects sduisants il n'tait pas d'une homognit implacable.".Nol Burch. 'Marcel L'Herbier'. Paris: Seghers, 1973. p. 167.
The film's sets were designed by Claude Autant-Lara, Lucien Aguettand, and Robert-Jules Garnier.[http://cinema.encyclopedie.films.bifi.fr/index.php?pk=49364&_ga=2.213265556.1684555786.1622476398-1001380861.1621864000 'Le Diable au cur'] at Cin-Ressources. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
Preservation
The film has been restored by the CNC Archives franaises du film, and a DVD was released with the book 'Marcel L'Herbier: l'art du cinma' in 2007.Laurent Vray, ed. 'Marcel L'Herbier: l'art du cinma'. Paris: Association franaise de recherche sur l'histoire du cinma, 2007. The book also contains an essay on the film, by ric Thouvenel, "Le Film ftiche: remarques sur une climatologie du cinma d'aprs 'Le Diable au cur' (1926)", pp. 109-117.
References
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