Madame Pompadour (1927 film)

Last updated

Madame Pompadour
"Madame Pompadour" (1927).jpg
Directed by Herbert Wilcox
Written by Ewald André Dupont
Frances Marion
Rudolph Schanzer (operetta)
Ernst Welisch (operetta)
Produced byEwald André Dupont
Starring Dorothy Gish
Antonio Moreno
Henri Bosc
Nelson Keys
Music by Leo Fall
Production
company
Distributed by Paramount British Pictures
Release date
  • 1 August 1927 (1927-08-01)(US)
Running time
70 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£80,000 [1]

Madame Pompadour is a 1927 British silent historical drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Dorothy Gish, Antonio Moreno and Nelson Keys. [2] The film depicts the life of Madame de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV of France. It was the first film to be shot at the newly christened Elstree Studios. [3]

Contents

Plot

In 18th-century France, the King's mistress Madame Pompadour (Dorothy Gish), frees her jailed lover, political prisoner Rene Laval (Antonio Moreno), to make him her bodyguard.

Cast

Production

Gish and Wilcox had just enjoyed a big hit with Nell Gwyn. British National Pictures and Paramount signed them to make three more movies of which this was the first.

Gish was paid £1500 a week for six weeks. Filming was delayed an extra three weeks and this added a large amount to the budget and almost brought the film to a standstill. [4]

Wilcox was paid £3000 for a film plus 25% of the profits but there were none. [1]

Critical reception

Allmovie wrote, "Dorothy Gish's screen vehicles for British director Herbert Wilcox were usually a treat, but her 1927 film Madame Pompadour tended to be weighed down by the ponderous stylistic choices of its producer, Germany's E. A. DuPont....Madame Pompadour was an especially lavish and handsome production. Unfortunately, despite its brief 75-minute running time, the film moved at a snail's pace." [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madame de Pompadour</span> Chief mistress of Louis XV (1721–1764)

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and remained influential as court favourite until her death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Gish</span> American actress (1898–1968)

Dorothy Elizabeth Gish was an American stage and screen actress. Dorothy and her older sister Lillian Gish were major movie stars of the silent era. Dorothy also had great success on the stage, and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. Dorothy Gish was noted as a fine comedian, and many of her films were comedies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Josepha of Saxony, Dauphine of France</span> Princess of Poland & Dauphine of France

Maria Josepha Karolina Eleonore Franziska Xaveria of Saxony was Dauphine of France through her marriage to Louis, the son and heir of Louis XV. Marie Josèphe was the mother of three kings of France, Louis XVI, Louis XVIII and Charles X, as well as Madame Élisabeth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio Moreno</span> Spanish-American actor (1887–1967)

Antonio Garrido Monteagudo, better known as Antonio Moreno or Tony Moreno, was a Spanish-born American actor and film director of the silent film era and through the 1950s.

<i>Madame Pompadour</i> (operetta) Operetta by Leo Fall, Rudolph Schanzer and Ernst Welisch

Madame Pompadour is an operetta in three acts, composed by Leo Fall with a libretto by Rudolph Schanzer and Ernst Welisch. Conducted by the composer, it opened at the Berliner Theater in Berlin on 9 September 1922 and then at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on 2 March 1923.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Wilcox</span> Film producer and director from Britain

Herbert Sydney Wilcox CBE was a British film producer and director.

<i>Nell Gwyn</i> (1934 film) 1934 British film

Nell Gwyn is a 1934 British historical drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Cedric Hardwicke, Jeanne de Casalis, Miles Malleson and Moore Marriott. The film portrays the historical romance between Charles II of England and the actress Nell Gwyn. In the opening credits, the dialogue is credited to "King Charles II, Samuel Pepys and Nell Gwyn" with additional dialogue by Miles Malleson. It was also released as Mistress Nell Gwyn.

<i>Limelight</i> (1936 film) 1936 British film

Limelight is a 1936 British musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Arthur Tracy, Anna Neagle and Jane Winton. It was released in the U.S. as Backstage.

Money Means Nothing is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring John Loder, Irene Richards and Miles Malleson. It was shot at Elstree Studios as a quota quickie for release by Paramount British.

<i>Bitter Sweet</i> (1933 film) 1933 British film by Herbert Wilcox

Bitter Sweet is a British musical romance film directed by Herbert Wilcox and released by United Artists in 1933. It was the first film adaptation of Noël Coward's 1929 operetta Bitter Sweet. It starred Anna Neagle and Fernand Gravey, with Ivy St. Helier reviving her stage role as Manon. It was made at British and Dominion's Elstree Studios and was part of a boom in operetta films during the 1930s.

<i>London</i> (1926 film) 1926 film

London is a 1926 British silent romantic drama film, directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Dorothy Gish. The film was adapted by Wilcox from a short story by popular author Thomas Burke. The British Film Institute considers this to be a lost film.

Wolves is a 1930 British crime film directed by Albert de Courville and starring Charles Laughton, Dorothy Gish and Malcolm Keen. The screenplay concerns a woman who is captured by a gang of criminals operating in the Arctic, only for the leader to later help her escape. It was based on a play by Georges Toudouze. It was produced by Herbert Wilcox's British and Dominions Film Corporation, but filmed at the Blattner Studios whilst sound equipment was being installed at Wilcox's nearby Imperial Studios, and the sound was added after filming was completed. It was Gish's first sound film, and was Laughton's second talkie, having completed a film of a musical variety performance earlier the same year. Of 57 minutes original duration, it was released in 1936 in a 37-minute version retitled "Wanted Men".

<i>Flames of Passion</i> 1922 film

Flames of Passion is a 1922 British silent film drama directed by Graham Cutts, starred Mae Marsh and C. Aubrey Smith.

<i>Tip Toes</i> 1927 film

Tip Toes is a 1927 British silent film comedy-drama, directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Dorothy Gish and Will Rogers. The film is a loose adaptation of the stage musical Tip-Toes, with the action transferred from Florida to London.

<i>Nell Gwyn</i> (1926 film) 1926 film by Herbert Wilcox

Nell Gwyn is a 1926 British silent romance film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Dorothy Gish, Randle Ayrton and Juliette Compton. It was based on the 1926 novel Mistress Nell Gwyn by Marjorie Bowen and follows the life of Nell Gwynne, the mistress of Charles II. Wilcox later made a second version of the film in 1934, Nell Gwynn which starred Anna Neagle.

<i>Mistress Nell Gwyn</i>

Mistress Nell Gwyn is the title of the New York edition of an historical novel by the British writer Marjorie Bowen. The book was also published in London with the title Nell Gwyn: A Decoration. The book was first published in 1926.

<i>Lilacs in the Spring</i> 1954 British film by Herbert Wilcox

Lilacs in the Spring is a 1954 British musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Errol Flynn and David Farrar. The film was made at Elstree Studios with sets designed by the art director William C. Andrews. Shot in Trucolor it was distributed in Britain by Republic Pictures. It was the first of two films Neagle and Flynn made together, the other being King's Rhapsody. It was released in the United States as Let's Make Up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British and Dominions Imperial Studios</span> Former film studios in Elstree, England

Imperial Studios were the studios of the British and Dominions Film Corporation, a short-lived British film production company located at Imperial Place, Elstree Way, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. The studios were active from 1929 to 1936, when they were destroyed by fire.

Madame de Pompadour (1721–1764) was a member of the French court and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV.

Fame is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and starring Sydney Howard, Muriel Aked and Miki Hood. It was made at Elstree Studios.

References

  1. 1 2 "Dorothy Gish Made £41,000 from Three British Films". The Sun . No. 5408. Sydney. 8 March 1928. p. 1 (FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved 19 August 2017 via National Library of Australia.
  2. "Madame Pompadour (1927)". Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  3. Studios, Elstree. "History of Studio". Archived from the original on 6 November 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  4. "Bittiard-Marker Who Became Famous Film Producer". Sunday Times (Perth) . No. 2374. Western Australia. 8 August 1943. p. 7 (THE SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE). Retrieved 17 August 2017 via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Madame Pompadour (1927) - Herbert Wilcox - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie".