Crainquebille

Last updated

Crainquebille
Crainquebille1922.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jacques Feyder
Written by Anatole France (novel)
Jacques Feyder
Produced byJacques Feyder
Cinematography Léonce-Henri Burel
Maurice Forster
Distributed by Red Seal Pictures
(1923 US release)
Release dates
  • 15 November 1922 (1922-11-15)(France)
  • 2 September 1923 (1923-09-02)(U.S.)
Running time
90 minutes (original release)
76 minutes (restored version)
CountryFrance
Language Silent film

Crainquebille is a 1922 French silent film directed by Jacques Feyder. The film was known as Bill in the US and as Old Bill of Paris and Coster Bill of Paris in the UK. The restored film is now known for its cinematic realism compared to many other films of the silent era [ citation needed ]. It is based on the 1901 novel L'Affaire Crainquebille by Anatole France, which was later adapted into a 1934 sound film Crainquebille .

Contents

Plot

Crainquebille the street vendor Crainquebille2.jpg
Crainquebille the street vendor

Jérôme Crainquebille, is an ageing modest vegetable seller who has sold groceries from his cart in Les Halles market in Paris for over 40 years. One day, whilst waiting for a customer to give him his change, he is hassled by a policeman who insists that he moves on. When he protests, Crainquebille is arrested, supposedly for swearing at the policeman. Following a farcical trial, the old man is sent to jail, where due to the poor quality of his past life he enjoys the benefits of the free shelter and food.

On his release, however, his life continues to nose-dive: all of his past regular customers shun him, and, with no income, he turns to the bottle becoming an alcoholic. He is reduced to a tramp that everybody loathes, and the sad old man is about to commit suicide when a young street boy called "Mouse" takes him by the hand to forget about the past and persuades him to make a fresh start.

Cast

Preservation status

In 2005, a restored 35mm print was produced by Lobster Films in Paris in association with Lenny Borger, [1] and was released on DVD by Home Vision Entertainment in 2006. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Safety Last!</i> 1923 American silent romantic comedy film

Safety Last! is a 1923 American silent romantic-comedy film starring Harold Lloyd. It includes one of the most famous images from the silent-film era: Lloyd clutching the hands of a large clock as he dangles from the outside of a skyscraper above moving traffic. The film was highly successful and critically hailed, and it cemented Lloyd's status as a major figure in early motion pictures. It is still popular at revivals, and it is viewed today as one of the great film comedies.

<i>The Phantom of the Opera</i> (1925 film) 1925 American silent horror film

The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 American silent horror film adaptation of Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, directed by Rupert Julian and starring Lon Chaney in the title role of the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star. The film remains most famous for Chaney's ghastly, self-devised make-up, which was kept a studio secret until the film's premiere. The picture also features Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Gibson Gowland, John St. Polis and Snitz Edwards. The last surviving cast member was Carla Laemmle, niece of producer Carl Laemmle, who played a small role as a "prima ballerina" in the film when she was about 15 years old. The film was released on September 6, 1925, premiering at the Astor Theatre in New York. The film's final budget was $632,357.

<i>Children of Paradise</i> 1945 French film directed by Marcel Carné

Children of Paradise is a two-part French romantic drama film by Marcel Carné, produced under war conditions in 1943, 1944, and early 1945 in both Vichy France and Occupied France. Set in the theatrical world of 1830s Paris, it tells the story of a courtesan and four men — a mime, an actor, a criminal and an aristocrat — who love her in entirely different ways.

<i>Blackmail</i> (1929 film) 1929 film by Alfred Hitchcock

Blackmail is a 1929 British thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Anny Ondra, John Longden, and Cyril Ritchard. Based on the 1928 play of the same name by Charles Bennett, the film is about a London woman who is blackmailed after killing a man who tries to rape her.

<i>Downhill</i> (1927 film) 1927 film

Downhill is a 1927 British silent drama film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Ivor Novello, Robin Irvine and Isabel Jeans, and based on the play Down Hill by Novello and Constance Collier. The film was produced by Gainsborough Pictures at their Islington studios. Downhill was Hitchcock's fourth film as director, but the fifth to be released. Its American alternative title was When Boys Leave Home.

Once Upon a Time (<i>The Twilight Zone</i>) 13th episode of the 3rd season of The Twilight Zone

"Once Upon a Time" is episode 78 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on December 15, 1961. It features early film star Buster Keaton in one of his later roles, as an unlikely time traveler, and the opening and closing scenes pay tribute to the silent films for which he was famous.

<i>The Young Girls of Rochefort</i> 1967 French film

The Young Girls of Rochefort is a 1967 French musical comedy film written and directed by Jacques Demy. The ensemble cast is headlined by real-life sisters Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac, and features George Chakiris, Michel Piccoli, Jacques Perrin, Grover Dale and Geneviève Thénier, along with Gene Kelly and Danielle Darrieux.

Phonofilm is an optical sound-on-film system developed by inventors Lee de Forest and Theodore Case in the early 1920s.

<i>Thief of Hearts</i> 1984 American film

Thief of Hearts is a 1984 American erotic drama film produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. It was written and directed by Douglas Day Stewart.

<i>Oliver Twist</i> (1922 film) 1922 film

Oliver Twist is a 1922 American silent drama film adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1838 novel Oliver Twist, featuring Lon Chaney as Fagin and Jackie Coogan as Oliver Twist. The film was directed by Frank Lloyd. It was selected as one of the best pictures of 1922 by New York Times, Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. Walter J. Israel handled the costuming. Studio interiors were filmed at the Robert Brunton Studios in Hollywood. The film's tagline was "8 Great Reels that make you ask for more. Will Hays says Jackie Coogan Films are the sort the World needs." A still exists showing Fagin training his wards to be pickpockets.

<i>Paris</i> (2008 film) 2008 French film

Paris is a 2008 French comedy-drama film written and directed by Cédric Klapisch. Starring an ensemble cast, the film depicts the stories of a diverse group of people living in Paris. It began shooting in November 2006 and was released in February 2008. Its UK release was in July 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacques de Baroncelli</span> French film director

Jacques de Baroncelli was a French film director best known for his silent films from 1915 to the late 1930s. He came from a Florentine family who had settled in Provence in the 15th century, occupying a building in the centre of Avignon then called the Baroncelli Palace. His father's side of the family were of Tuscan origin and part of the Ghibelline tradition, and they were hereditary Marquises of Javon. Though somewhat aristocratic, the family spoke Provençal, which was rather controversial at a time when it was considered to be a language of the common people. His older brother was Folco de Baroncelli-Javon,

<i>Faces of Children</i> 1925 film

Faces of Children is a 1925 French-Swiss silent film directed by Jacques Feyder. It tells the story of a young boy whose mother has died and the resentments which develop when his father remarries. It was a notable example of film realism in the silent era, and its psychological drama was integrated with the natural landscapes of Switzerland where much of the film was made on location.

<i>Moulin Rouge</i> (1928 film) 1928 film

Moulin Rouge is a 1928 British sound drama film directed by Ewald André Dupont and starring Olga Chekhova, Eve Gray and Jean Bradin. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film is set in and around the Moulin Rouge cabaret in Paris.

<i>Liliom</i> (1934 film) 1934 French film

Liliom is a 1934 French fantasy film directed by Fritz Lang based on the 1909 Hungarian stage play of the same title by Ferenc Molnár. The film stars Charles Boyer as Liliom, a carousel barker who is fired from his job after defending the chambermaid Julie from the jealousy of Mme. Muscat, the carousel owner who is infatuated with Liliom. He moves in with Julie and they begin an affair. When Liliom discovers he's about to become a father, he finds he needs money and participates in a robbery which goes awry. Rather than allow himself to be arrested, Liliom kills himself and his soul is transported to a waiting room of Heaven. A heavenly commissioner determines that Liliom will not be admitted into Heaven, only Purgatory, until he returns to Earth to do one good deed.

<i>22 Bullets</i> 2010 French film

22 Bullets is a 2010 French gangster-action film directed by Richard Berry. It tells a part of the life story of Jacky Imbert, and is based on the novel L'Immortel (2007) by Franz-Olivier Giesbert. Filming began on 23 February 2009 in Marseille, in Avignon in early April 2009, and continued for 8 weeks in Paris.

One Man Band, also known as London and Swinging London is an unfinished short film made by Orson Welles between 1968 and 1971. The film started life as a part of a 90-minute TV special for CBS, entitled Orson's Bag, consisting of Welles' 40-minute condensation of The Merchant of Venice, and assorted sketches around Europe. This was abandoned in 1969 when CBS withdrew its funding over Welles' long-running disputes with US authorities regarding his tax status, and Welles continued to fashion the footage in his own style.

<i>Sappho</i> (film) 1921 film

Sappho is a 1921 German silent film directed by Dimitri Buchowetzki and starring Pola Negri as the title character. Alfred Abel, best known for his role as John Fredersen in Metropolis (1927), appears in the role of Andreas De La Croix, the insane brother.

<i>Six and One Half Times Eleven</i> 1927 film

Six and One Half Times Eleven, also known as 6½ x 11, is a 1927 French melodrama film directed by Jean Epstein, starring Edmond Van Daële, Suzy Pierson, Nino Constantini and René Ferté. It is about two brothers falling in love with the same woman. The original scenario of the film was written by Marie Epstein, the director's sister.

<i>Crainquebille</i> (1934 film) 1934 film

Crainquebille is a 1934 French drama film directed by Jacques de Baroncelli and starring Félicien Tramel, Rachel Devirys and Jeanne Fusier-Gir. It is based on the 1901 story L'Affaire Crainquebille by Anatole France, which had previously been adapted into a 1922 silent film Crainquebille directed by Jacques Feyder. The film's sets were designed by the art director Claude Bouxin.

References