Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the boulevard theatre. He was the son of a leading French actor, Lucien Guitry, and followed his father into the theatrical profession. He became known for his stage performances, particularly in boulevardier roles. He was also a prolific playwright, writing 115 plays throughout his career. He was married five times, always to rising actresses whose careers he furthered. Probably his best-known wife was Yvonne Printemps to whom he was married between 1919 and 1932.
Jean-Gaspard Deburau, sometimes erroneously called Debureau, was a Bohemian-French mime. He performed from 1816 to the year of his death at the Théâtre des Funambules, which was immortalized in Marcel Carné's poetic-realist film Children of Paradise (1945); Deburau appears in the film as a major character. His most famous pantomimic creation was Pierrot—a character that served as the godfather of all the Pierrots of Romantic, Decadent, Symbolist, and early Modernist theater and art.
The Lady of the Camellias, sometimes called Camille in English, is a novel by Alexandre Dumas fils. First published in 1848 and subsequently adapted by Dumas for the stage, the play premiered at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris, France, on February 2, 1852. It was an instant success. Shortly thereafter, Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi set about putting the story to music in the 1853 opera La traviata, with female protagonist Marguerite Gautier renamed Violetta Valéry.
Camille is a 1921 American silent drama film starring Alla Nazimova as Marguerite and Rudolph Valentino as her lover, Armand. It is based on the play adaptation La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, which was first published in French as a novel in 1848 and as a play in 1852. Camille is one of numerous screen adaptations of Dumas, fils' story. The film is set in 1920s Paris, whereas the original version takes place in Paris in the 1840s. It has lavish Art Deco sets; Rudolph Valentino later married the film's art director, Natacha Rambova.
Enemies of Women is a 1923 American silent romantic drama film directed by Alan Crosland and starring Lionel Barrymore, Alma Rubens, Gladys Hulette, Pedro de Cordoba, and Paul Panzer. The film was produced by William Randolph Hearst through his Cosmopolitan Productions. Pre-fame actresses Clara Bow and Margaret Dumont have uncredited bit roles.
Camille is a 1917 American silent film based on the play adaptation of La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, first published in French as a novel in 1848 and as a play in 1852. Adapted for the screen by Adrian Johnson, Camille was directed by J. Gordon Edwards and starred Theda Bara as Camille and Albert Roscoe as her lover, Armand.
Something to Think About is a 1920 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film stars Elliott Dexter and Gloria Swanson.
Paul Legrand, born Charles-Dominique-Martin Legrand, was a highly regarded and influential French mime who turned the Pierrot of his predecessor, Jean-Gaspard Deburau, into the tearful, sentimental character that is most familiar to post-19th-century admirers of the figure. He was the first of the Parisian mimes of his era to take his art abroad—to London, in late 1847, for a holiday engagement at the Adelphi—and, after triumphs in mid-century Paris at the Folies-Nouvelles, he entertained audiences in Cairo and Rio de Janeiro. In the last years of the century, he was a member of the Cercle Funambulesque, a theatrical society that promoted work, especially pantomime, inspired by the commedia dell'arte, past and present. The year of his death coincided with the last year of the Cercle's existence.
Jean-Charles Deburau was an important French mime, the son and successor of the legendary Jean-Gaspard Deburau, who was immortalized as Baptiste the Pierrot in Marcel Carné's film Children of Paradise (1945). After his father's death in 1846, Charles kept alive his pantomimic legacy, first in Paris, at the Théâtre des Funambules, and then, beginning in the late 1850s, at theaters in Bordeaux and Marseille. He is routinely credited with founding a southern "school" of pantomime; indeed, he served as tutor to the Marseille mime Louis Rouffe, who, in turn, gave instruction to Séverin Cafferra, known simply as "Séverin". But their art was nourished by the work of other mimes, particularly of Charles's rival, Paul Legrand, and by earlier developments in nineteenth-century pantomime that were alien to the Deburaux' traditions.
Brass is a 1923 American silent romantic drama film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. It was directed by Sidney A. Franklin. This movie stars Monte Blue, Marie Prevost, and Irene Rich. The well-regarded film survives in 16mm format.
Kiss Me Again is a 1925 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch. It stars Marie Prevost, Monte Blue, and Clara Bow. The film was based on the French play Divorçons! (1880), by Victorien Sardou and Émile de Najac, and the adapted version of the play Cyprienne.
The Siren's Song is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by J. Gordon Edwards and starring Theda Bara. It is not known whether the film currently survives, and it may be a lost film.
Argentine Love is a 1924 American silent romantic drama film directed by Allan Dwan and based on a short story by Vicente Blasco Ibanez that stars Bebe Daniels.
Wages of Virtue is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Allan Dwan and written by Forrest Halsey and Percival Christopher Wren. The film stars Gloria Swanson, Ben Lyon, Norman Trevor, Ivan Linow, Armand Cortes, Adrienne D'Ambricourt, and Paul Panzer. The film was released on November 10, 1924, by Paramount Pictures. It was shot at the Astoria Studios in New York.
Robert Seller (1889–1967) was a French stage and film actor.
Black Venus is a 1983 softcore erotic melodrama film directed by Claude Mulot. It purportedly is based on an unspecified short story by Honoré de Balzac. It was produced by Playboy Enterprises and originally aired in an edited 80-minute version on the Playboy Channel; an uncut English-dubbed version was released on DVD in 2006.
The Dark Swan is a 1924 American drama film directed by Millard Webb and written by Frederick J. Jackson. It is based on the 1924 novel The Dark Swan by Ernest Pascal. The film stars Marie Prevost, Monte Blue, Helene Chadwick, John Patrick, Lilyan Tashman, and Vera Lewis. The film was released by Warner Bros. on November 26, 1924.
Recompense is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Harry Beaumont and written by Dorothy Farnum. It is based on the 1924 novel Recompense by Robert Keable. The film stars Marie Prevost, Monte Blue, John Roche, George Siegmann, Charles Stevens, and Virginia Brown Faire. The film was released by Warner Bros. on April 26, 1925.
Deburau is a 1918 French play by Sacha Guitry that also played on Broadway in a translation by Harley Granville-Barker at the Belasco Theatre in 1920–21 and at the Ambassadors Theatre in London in 1921.
Deburau is a 1951 French historical comedy drama film directed by and starring Sacha Guitry alongside Lana Marconi, Robert Seller and Jeanne Fusier-Gir. It is based on Guitry's own 1918 play Deburau, inspired by the life of the eighteenth century mime Jean-Gaspard Deburau. It was shot at the Francoeur Studios in Paris. The film's sets were designed by the art director René Renoux.
