Gaumont Treasures (1897-1913) (DVD)

Available for USA and English Language Canada only

A 3-DVD Collection of More Than 75 Early Films
by Alice Guy • Louis Feuillade • Léonce Perret

The invention of cinema—and its growth into a sophisticated art form—are vividly brought to life in this massive collection of films from the early years of the influential Gaumont Film Company. Each disc is devoted to one of Gaumont’s artistic directors, who oversaw all film production at the studio, and profoundly influenced not only the identity of the studio but also the evolution of the cinema itself.

MORE THAN TEN HOURS OF FILMS,
1897 - 1913

DVD 1 – ALICE GUY:
Bathing in a Stream (1897), At the Hypnotist’s (1898), Wonderful Absinthe (1899), The Cabbage-Patch Fairy (1900), Faust and Mephistopheles (1903), Félix Mayol Performs “White Lilacs” (1905, with synchronized sound), The Consequences of Feminism (1906), On the Barricade (1907), and more!

DVD 2 – LOUIS FEUILLADE:
The Colonel’s Account (1907), Spring (1909), Custody of the Child (1909), The Defect (1911), The Roman Orgy (1911), The Trust (1911), The Obsession (1912), Tragic Error (1913), Bout de Zan Steals an Elephant (1913), The Agony of Byzance (1913), and more!

DVD 3 – LÉONCE PERRET:
The Mystery of the Rocks of Kador (1912), The Child of Paris (1913).

Includes Two New Documentary Shorts:
Louis Feuillade: Master of Many Forms and Léonce Perret: The Filmmaker’s Filmmaker

DVD 1 Alice Guy

Few individual artists have exerted as profound an influence upon the evolution of cinema as Alice Guy (later known as Guy-Blaché). With this collection of more than 60 films, culled from the world’s leading archives and carefully mastered, Guy may no longer be seen as a “woman filmmaker.” These films, produced by Guy for Gaumont before she moved to the US, reveal her to be an unqualified pioneer whose work stands alongside that of the Lumière Brothers, Georges Méliès, and Edwin S. Porter, in cinema’s rapid growth from an optical illusion to a storytelling medium to an art form. Among the highlights are a 19th-century serpentine dance, early “trick” films, experiments with hand-coloring and synchronized sound, comedies, social commentaries, and (as the collection’s centerpiece) a 33-minute religious epic: The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ (1906).

1897

• The Fisherman at the Stream
• Bathing in a Stream
• Serpentine Dance by Mme. Bob Walter

1898

• The Turn-of-the-Century Blind Man
• At the Hypnotist's
• The Burglars
• Disappearing Act
• Surprise Attack on a House at Daybreak

1899

• At the Club
• Wonderful Absinthe

1900

• Avenue de l’Opéra
• Automated Hat-Maker and Sausage-Grinder
• At the Photographer's
• Dance of the Seasons: Winter, Snow Dance
• The Landlady
• Turn-of-the-Century Surgery
• Pierrette’s Escapades*
• At the Floral Ball*
• The Cabbage-Patch Fairy

1902

• Serpentine Dance by Lina Esbrard
• Midwife to the Upper Class
• An Untimely Intrusion
• Miss Dundee and Her Performing Dogs

1903

• How Monsieur Takes His Bath
• Faust and Mephistopheles

1905

• The O’Mers in “The Bricklayers”
• The Statue
• The Magician’s Alms
• Clown, Dog and Balloon
• Spain
• The Tango
• The Malagueña and the Bullfighter
• Cook & Rilly’s Trained Rooster
• Cake Walk, Performed by Nouveau Cirque
• Alice Guy Films a “Phonoscène”
• Saharet Performs the Bolero*
• Polin Performs “The Anatomy of a Draftee”†
• Dranem Performs “The True Jiu-Jitsu”†
• Dranem Performs “Five O’Clock Tea”†
• Félix Mayol Performs “Indiscreet Questions”* †
• Félix Mayol Performs “The Trottins’ Polka”†
• Félix Mayol Performs “White Lilacs”†

1906

• The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ
• An Obstacle Course
• Madame’s Cravings
• A Sticky Woman
• The Hierarchies of Love
• The Cruel Mother
• A Story Well Spun
• The Drunken Mattress
• The Parish Priest’s Christmas
• The Truth Behind the Ape-Man
• The Consequences of Feminism
• Ocean Studies
• The Game-Keeper’s Son

1907

• The Race for the Sausage
• The Glue
• The Fur Hat
• The Cleaning Man
• A Four-Year-Old Hero
• The Rolling Bed
• The Irresistible Piano
• On the Barricade
• The Dirigible “Homeland”

* In the original hand-tinted color
† A synchronized-sound “Phonoscène”

Curated by Pierre Philippe Total running time: 225 Min. Full-frame (1.33:1)
Music by Sorties d’Artistes, except
The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ: Music by Patrick Laviosa
American Edition produced by Bret Wood

DVD 2 Louis Feuillade

Best remembered today for his espionage serials Les Vampires and Fantômas, Louis Feuillade had a more varied and profound influence upon French cinema than many of his followers realize. For more than a decade, he was the artistic director at Gaumont, encouraging the rise of such filmmakers as Abel Gance and Léonce Perret. This collection of films offers a wider view of Feuillade’s directorial efforts -- but, admittedly, it is only a small portion of the nearly 800 films he is believed to have directed. These films run the gamut of ribald comedy (The Colonel’s Account), charming fantasy (Spring), tragedy (The Heart and Money), social commentary (The Defect) and historical epic (the remarkably poignant The Agony of Byzance). No Feuillade collection would be complete without a sampling of thrillers. To that end, we offer The Trust: Or the Battles for Money and The Obses-sion, which are characterized by the brisk pacing and diabolical tone for which he would become famous.

SPECIAL FEATURE

Louis Feuillade: Master of Many Forms
This collection of scenes from more than twenty films demonstrates Feuillade’s mastery of (and influence upon) a wide range of cinematic genres.

• The Colonel’s Account (1907, 4 min.)
• A Very Fine Lady (1908, 3 min.)
• Spring (1909, 7 min.)
• The Fairy of the Surf (1909, 7 min.)
• Custody of the Child (1909, 11 min.)
• The Defect (1911, 41 min.)
• The Roman Orgy (1911, 8 min.)
• The Trust (1911, 24 min.)
• The Heart and the Money (1912, 17 min.)
• The Obsession (1912, 23 min.)
• Tragic Error (1913, 24 min.)
• Bout de Zan Steals an Elephant (1913, 9 min.)
• The Agony of Byzance (1913, 29 min.)

Curated by Pierre Philippe
Total running time: 217 Min.
Full-frame (1.33:1)
Music by Patrick Laviosa
American Edition produced by Bret Wood

DVD 3 Léonce Perret

Until now, the films of Léonce Perret have been virtually unseen in the United States, yet he was a hugely influential figure in the growth of the French film industry. As an actor, he appeared in more than 100 films from 1909 to 1916, including the long-running series of “Léonce” comedies. But his greater contribution was as a director. Working at Gaumont under the supervision of Louis Feuillade, Perret set the standard to which other French filmmakers aspired. His films had a technical mastery and aesthetic grace that allowed them to reveal subtleties of character and meaning.

Perret’s artistic maturity is beautifully represented in the influential feature The Child of Paris, a naturalistic drama reminiscent of Émile Zola. Of this film, critic Georges Sadoul proclaimed, “Léonce Perret was able to render a graceful and lively story by using an extraordinarily refined cinematic repertoire: backlighting, low-angle shots, close-ups, moving shots and numerous other innovations, all of which Perret implemented with flair, in stark contrast to...the still somewhat primitive technique of David W. Griffith at that time.”

Perret made a number of self-referential films, in which the medium of cinema is a component of the plotline. In The Mystery of the Rocks of Kador, an amnesiac woman undergoes a sort of cinematic hypnosis as a means of recalling the details of a tragic crime.

SPECIAL FEATURE:

Léonce Perret: The Filmmaker’s Filmmaker
Illustrated with rare film clips, this mini-documentary reveals the artistry and wit of French cinema’s unsung hero.

• The Mystery of the Rocks of Kador
  (Le Mystère des roches de Kador)
  1912 Color Tinted 43 Min. Directed by Léonce Perret
• The Child of Paris (L’Enfant de Paris)
  1913 Color Tinted 124 Min.
  Written and directed by Léonce Perret

Curated by Pierre Philippe Full-frame (1.33:1)
Music by Philippe Dubosson
American Edition produced by Bret Wood

AVAILABLE IN THE USA AND CANADA ONLY