Cast
- Henri Gouget as Goudron
- Henry Roussel as Tourist
- Renée Sylvaire as Tourist's wife
- Bahier as Plume
- Robert Saidreau
| The System of Doctor Goudron | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Maurice Tourneur |
| Written by | André de Lorde Edgar Allan Poe |
| Starring | Henri Gouget Henry Roussel Renée Sylvaire |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
| Country | France |
| Languages | Silent French intertitles |
The System of Doctor Goudron (French:Le système du docteur Goudron et du professeur Plume, also released in the United States as The Lunatics) is a 1913 French short silent horror film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Henri Gouget, Henry Roussel and Renée Sylvaire. [1] It was adapted from a 1903 Grand Guignol play (also starring Gouget) by André de Lorde, which was itself based on the 1845 short story The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether by Edgar Allan Poe. It has been called the first French feature-length horror film. [2]
The film was the first of two Grand Guignol adaptations directed by Tourneur, written by de Lorde, and starring Gouget and Roussel; the second would be 1914's Figures de cire .
It is currently considered lost and nobody has a full video of it.
The plot revolves around a journalist, who, accompanied by his wife, travels to an old castle (complete with moat) which has been turned into an asylum, in the hopes of writing about a new approach to curing patients which is said to be practiced there. Arriving during a storm, they quickly discover that the inmates have taken over, and that the "cure" to insanity is gouging out an eye and slitting the throat. One "doctor" seems to be practicing this technique; another believes that he can float. Escape seems impossible, and the reporter is drawn to a table to undergo the "cure", but a gust of wind scattering the "doctor's" papers provides a distraction, and, with the help of a sympathetic inmate, the two protagonists are able to flee to safety.
Hanford Judson, writing for industry trade magazine The Moving Picture World in 1914, called the film “the kind of picture that will put immediate quietus on any buzz of conversation in the auditorium and will be called a ‘terrible, powerful’ picture. It is artistic, real, and gripping,” and praised the cinematography, along with Gouget's performance. [3] Tourneur biographer Harry Waldman described the film as "...one of the first truly original French films - the earliest of the Grand-Guignol genre and the most celebrated if not most shocking of its day." [1]
Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol —known as the Grand Guignol–was a theatre in the Pigalle district of Paris. From its opening in 1897 until its closing in 1962, it specialised in naturalistic horror shows. Its name is often used as a general term for graphic, amoral horror entertainment, a genre popular from Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre, to today's splatter films.
André de Latour, comte de Lorde (1869–1942) was a French playwright, the main author of the Grand Guignol plays from 1901 to 1926. His evening career was as a dramatist of terror; during daytimes he worked as a librarian in the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal. He wrote 150 plays, all of them devoted mainly to the exploitation of terror and insanity, and a few novels. For plays the subject matter of which concerned mental illness he sometimes collaborated with psychologist Alfred Binet, the developer of IQ testing.
Maurice Félix Thomas, known as Maurice Tourneur, was a French film director and screenwriter.
Paul Gégauff was a French screenwriter, actor, and director. He collaborated with director Claude Chabrol on 14 films. His screenplays include Plein Soleil, for which he and director René Clement received an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America, Les Biches, This Man Must Die, and the autobiographical Une partie de plaisir.
"The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" is a dark comedy short story by the American author Edgar Allan Poe. First published in Graham's Magazine in November 1845, the story centers on a naïve and unnamed narrator's visit to a mental asylum in the southern provinces of France.
Departure is a 1931 French drama film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Jean Marchat, Simone Cerdan and Gaby Basset. It was based on a novel by Roland Dorgelès. It was shot at the Saint-Maurice Studios in Paris. The film's sets were designed by the art director Jacques Colombier.
The Two Orphans is a 1933 French historical drama film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Rosine Deréan, Renée Saint-Cyr and Gabriel Gabrio. The film's sets were designed by the art director Lucien Aguettand. The film was based on the play The Two Orphans which had been turned into several films. Tourneur altered the story slightly by moving it forward from the French Revolution to the Napoleonic Era.
The Red Promenade is a 1914 French silent drama film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Henry Roussel, Renée Sylvaire and Charles Keppens.
Accused, Stand Up! is a 1930 French crime film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Gaby Morlay, Suzanne Delvé and Camille Bert. After the two female stars of a Parisian cabaret are seen arguing, one of them turns up dead. This leads to the arrest and trial of the other until the real culprit is caught.
The Secret of the Well is a 1914 French silent film directed by Maurice Tourneur.
Monsieur Lecoq is a 1914 French silent mystery film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Harry Baur.
The Sparrow (French:Soeurette) is a 1914 French silent film directed by Maurice Tourneur.
The Gaieties of the Squadron is a 1913 French silent comedy film directed by Joseph Faivre and Maurice Tourneur and starring Edmond Duquesne, Henry Roussel and Henri Gouget. It is a military-based farce adapted from the popular play by Georges Courteline. Tourneur later remade it as a sound film Fun in the Barracks (1932).
Jean la Poudre is a 1913 French silent drama film directed by Emile Chautard and Maurice Tourneur and starring Henri Gouget and Henry Roussel. It portrays Thomas Robert Bugeaud and his part in the Conquest of Algeria in the nineteenth century.
Henri Gouget was a French film actor. He appeared in more than sixty films during the silent era.
Renée Sylvaire is a French film actress of the silent era.
Tricks of Love is a 1913 French silent comedy film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Renée Sylvaire.
The Last Pardon is a 1913 French silent comedy film directed by Maurice Tourneur.
The Cameo is a 1913 French silent drama film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Emmy Lynn, Henry Roussel and Alexandre Arquillière.
Figures de Cire is a 1914 French short silent horror film directed by Maurice Tourneur. The film stars Henry Roussel, and was based upon the short story of the same name by André de Lorde. De Lorde adapted the story from the stage play he wrote with Georges Montignac, which was first performed in 1912 at the Grand Guignol in Paris.
Grand-Guignol also has a long tradition in French cinema, and the country's first feature length horror film, Le système du docteur Goudron et du professeur Plume... was an adaptation of a Grand-Guignol play.
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