#Mathilde Comont

[fibula-rasa]

“Film Comedy’s Eves” Watchalong

You know how, when you read a book on film, you inevitably inflate your to-watch list to untenable levels (or pause your reading to check some titles out)? Or is that just me?

On that note, I’ve been reading Steve Massa’s Slapstick Divas: The Women of Silent Comedy. So far, it’s an expansive, indispensable survey of the work of women in the early days of film comedy with a few cheeky extras thrown in. As a devotee of The Silent Comedy Watch Party, I was already familiar with some of the women Steve profiles in the book, but obviously I wanted to see as much of their work as possible.

So, I put together a playlist featuring most of the women from the first chapter of the book, “Film Comedy’s Eves.” The list below was curated based on the prominence of the women in the film as well as general quality (although how good a comedy is is highly subjective!), but the youtube playlist has a few more titles included.

Two quick presentation notes: 

Some of the videos have music and some don’t, so you may want to check your volume level. 

The intertitles for some of these films are not in English, so be sure you have captions turned on for English translations.

I didn’t do write-ups for the films or the divas because if these films interest you, you should check out Steve’s book! I would also be remiss if I didn’t note that many of the women from this chapter of Slapstick Divas are featured on the Cinema’s First Nasty Women set. (See if your local library has a copy!)

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Little Moritz enlève Rosalie / Little Moritz Runs Away with Rosalie (1911) 

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The Diva: Sarah Duhamel (Rosalie)

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Boireau et la gigolette (1912)

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The Diva: Valentina Frascaroli

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Léontine garde la maison / Léontine Keeps House (1912)

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The Diva: Léontine (performer as yet unidentified)

Watch more BELOW the JUMP!

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Cunégonde femme cochère / Cunégonde the Coachwoman (1913)

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The Diva: Little Chrysia

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L’acqua miracolosa / The Miracle Water (1914)

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The Diva: Gigetta Morano

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Lea si diverte / Lea’s Joke (1912)

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The Diva: Lea Giunchi 

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The Handy Man (1923)

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The Diva: Mathilde Comont

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Twelfth Night (1910)

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The Diva: Florence Turner

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All on Account of the Milk (1910)

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The Diva: Mary Pickford

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Her Crowning Glory (1911)

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The Diva: Flora Finch

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The Lady Who Dared (1930) William Beaudine

August 31st 2024

[howardhawkshollywood]

Mathilde Comont as Mama Gini in an original lobby card for Ceiling Zero (1936) with James Cagney and June Travis. Matty was born in Bordeaux, France, and had 77 acting credits from two 1908 shorts to 1937. Most of her movies are long forgotten.

[byneddiedingo]

Douglas Fairbanks in The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924)

Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Julianne Johnston, Anna May Wong, Snitz Edwards, Sojin Kamayama, Brandon Hurst, Tote Du Crow, Noble Johnson. Screenplay: Lotta Woods, Douglas Fairbanks, Achmed Abdullah, James T. O'Donohoe. Cinematography: Arthur Edeson. Production design: William Cameron Menzies. Film editing: William Nolan. 

Back when Bagdad was synonymous with flying carpets and not prolonged international conflict, Douglas Fairbanks produced what is either a magical romp or an example of Orientalism at its worst, depending on your point of view. But for the purposes of film history, let's suspend political and social consciousness and appreciate The Thief of Bagdad for what it accomplished: an amusing spectacle, with marvelous sets and (for the time) remarkable special effects. Add to that Fairbanks's energetic performance -- if you can endure the balletic pantomime he often slips into -- and you've got a classic for the usual kids of all ages. It holds up well even today, in part because it's all spectacle: Sound would be superfluous. And yes, Sojin Kamayama's Mongol prince adheres to the "yellow peril" stereotype, a foreshadowing of Flash Gordon's Ming the Merciless, with Anna May Wong slinking around as his partner in malfeasance, but we're treating this as camp, right? Julianne Johnston's princess is a little vapid, not quite the astonishing beauty who's supposed to sweep the thief off his feet and turn him away from larceny toward love. The movie is a shade too long, and it loses some momentum when the thief goes off on his quest to find the thing that will win the princess's love. Even though it helps him save Bagdad from the Mongol hordes, I found his box of magic powder (if that's what it is -- the movie is a little vague about it) less impressive than the Persian prince's (Mathilde Comont) flying carpet, the Indian Prince's (Noble Johnson) crystal ball, and the Mongol prince's golden apple that gives him power over life and death. But even when the story lags, there's always something fun to watch.   

[fromthedust]

Freaks - 1932

Directed by Tod Browning

Wallace Ford … Phroso Leila Hyams … Venus Olga Baclanova … Cleopatra Roscoe Ates … Roscoe (as Rosco Ates) Henry Victor … Hercules Harry Earles … Hans Daisy Earles … Frieda Rose Dione … Madame Tetrallini Daisy Hilton … Siamese Twin Violet Hilton … Siamese Twin Schlitze … Pin Head Josephine Joseph … Half Woman-Half Man Johnny Eck … Half Boy Frances O'Connor … Armless Girl Peter Robinson … Human Skeleton Olga Roderick … Bearded Lady Koo Koo … By Herself Prince Randian … The Living Torso Martha Morris … Armless Girl Elvira Snow … Pinhead (as Zip) Jenny Lee Snow … Pinhead (as Pip) Elizabeth Green … Bird Girl Angelo Rossitto … Angeleno Edward Brophy … Rollo Brother Matt McHugh … Rollo Brother (as Mat McHugh) John Aasen … Giant (uncredited) Ernie Adams … Sideshow Patron (uncredited) Demetrius Alexis … Mr. Rogers (uncredited) Hooper Atchley … Doctor (uncredited) Jerry Austin … Knife-Throwing Dwarf (uncredited) Sidney Bracey … Hans' Butler (uncredited) Mathilde Comont … Madame Bartet (uncredited) Albert Conti … M. Duval the Landowner (uncredited) Tiny Doll … (uncredited) Edith … Crawling Girl (uncredited) Murray Kinnell … Freakshow Barker (uncredited) Constantine Romanoff … Man Bringing Frieda's Horse (uncredited) Michael Visaroff … Jean the Gamekeeper (uncredited)

[makeitquietly]

Stan Laurel and Mathilde Comont in The Handy Man (1923)

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For just $3.99 Just Like Heaven Released on October 22, 1930: A dancer who is part of a travelling dog circus falls in love with a street vendor in Paris but the balloon seller wants nothing to do with her. Directed by: Roy William Neill Written by: Adele Buffington The Actors: Anita Louise Mimi Martell, David Newell Tobey Michelle, the big noise, Yola d'Avril Fifi, Gaston Glass Jean Goulet, Thomas Jefferson Professor Michael, Mathilde Comont Madame Fogharde, Albert Roccardi Monsieur Fogharde, Torben Meyer Pierre, Emile Chautard M. Jacques Dulac Runtime: 1h 10m *** This item will be supplied on a quality disc and will be sent in a sleeve that is designed for posting CD's DVDs *** This item will be sent by 1st class post for quick delivery. Should you not receive your item within 12 working days of making payment, please contact us as it is unusual for any item to take this long to be delivered. Note: All my products are either my own work, licensed to me directly or supplied to me under a GPL/GNU License. No Trademarks, copyrights or rules have been violated by this item. This product complies withs rules on compilations, international media and downloadable media. All items are supplied on CD or DVD.

[hjfoley]

Max in a taxi 1917

Max in a taxi 1917

Max Linder in his first Los Angeles made comedy “Max in a Taxi” (L.A. Times-Ad., Apr.29, 1917). Cast: Max Linder, Marthe Mansfield, Mathilde Comont Production company: Essanay; Released: April 23, 1917 We see Max, who has wasted his substance, turned out of house and home. His dress suit proves to be an armor against hunger. Like a true knight, he finds a dragon. It’s the butler at the door of a…

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Romance (1930) Clarence Brown

February 6th 2022

[byneddiedingo]

Lillian Gish at MGM

John Gilbert and Lillian Gish in La Bohème (King Vidor, 1926)

La Bohème (King Vidor, 1926)

Cast: Lillian Gish, John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, George Hassell, Roy D'Arcy, Edward Everett Horton, Karl Dane, Mathilde Comont, Gino Corrado, Eugene Pouyet. Screenplay: Frédérique De Grésac; titles: William M. Conselman, Ruth Cummings; based on a novel by Henri Murger and an opera libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Cinematography: Henrik Sartov. Art direction: Cedric Gibbons, A. Arnold Gillespie. Costume design: Erté. Film editing: Hugh Wynn.

Bohème without Puccini, except for a few themes from the opera interpolated into the piano accompaniment for some contemporary prints. The screenplay by Frédérique (billed as Fred) De Grésac is said to be "suggested by Life in the Latin Quarter" by Henri Murger, which is also the source of the opera libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. But the librettists took liberties with Murger, combining several characters and incidents, that are copied in the movie, so it's pretty clear that De Grésac paid at least as much attention to the opera as he did to Murger. It's very much a vehicle for Lillian Gish, making her debut at MGM. She wanted John Gilbert to play Rodolphe to her Mimi, but sometimes seems to be playing an anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better game with her co-star. There is, for example, a scene in which Gilbert acts out the proposed ending to the play he is writing, with much swashbuckling. Then, a few scenes later, Gish acts it out again with similar verve for a potential backer for the play. Their courtship is a surprisingly hyperactive one, particularly in the scene in which they and their fellow bohemians go on a picnic that involves much running about. And Gish is not content to die calmly: On hearing that she won't live through the night, she makes a mad dash across Paris to be reunited with her lover, at one point allowing herself to be dragged along the streets while hanging onto the back of a horse-cart. Gilbert poses with feet apart and arms akimbo much too often, and the starving bohemians are given to much dashing and dancing. (Among them is the endearing and enduring Edward Everett Horton as Colline.) It's all a bit too much, and I have a feeling that the print I saw shown at the wrong speed, giving it that herky-jerky quality we used to attribute to silent films before experts corrected the speed at which they should be projected. The costumes are by the celebrated designer Erté, who is said to have had so much trouble working with Gish that he gave up designing for Hollywood.

Lars Hanson and Lillian Gish in The Scarlet Letter (Victor Sjöström, 1926)

The Scarlet Letter (Victor Sjöström, 1926)

Cast: Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson, Henry B. Walthall, Karl Dane, William H. Tooker, Marcelle Corday, Fred Herzog, Jules Cowles, Mary Hawes, Joyce Coad, James A. Marcus. Screenplay: Frances Marion, based on a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Cinematography: Henrik Sartov. Art direction: Cedric Gibbons, Sidney Ullman. Film editing: Hugh Wynn.

I'm pretty sure that any high school students who think they can get by watching Frances Marion's adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter instead of reading it are likely to be disappointed in English class. That said, no film version is going to reproduce the depth of characterization, the symbolic force, or the intellectual density of Hawthorne, so we should be grateful for what this one does give us: one of Lillian Gish's greatest performances. This was Gish's second film for MGM, after La Bohème, and it suggests that her talents were better suited to a contemplative director like Victor Sjöström -- or Seastrom, as MGM insisted on anglicizing his name -- than to King Vidor's more action-oriented style. If her Mimi in La Bohème was disturbingly hyperactive, her Hester Prynne is a marvel of understated acting. She uses her eyes and mouth and the tilt of her chin to convey a miraculous range of emotions, from stubbornness to fear, from strength to frailty. It's a pity that her Dimmesdale, Lars Hanson, doesn't match her in subtlety. He's more successful in this regard in their 1928 collaboration The Wind, which was also directed by Sjöström.

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For just $3.99 Along Came Love Released on November 6, 1936: A sales girl working in the basement of a large New York City department store searches for her perfect mate. Directed by: Bert Lytell Written by: Austin Strong and Arthur Caesar The Actors: Irene Hervey Emily 'Emmy' Grant, Charles Starrett John Patrick O'Ryan, Doris Kenyon Mrs. Gould, H.B. Warner Dr. Martin, Irene Franklin Mrs. Minnie 'Goldie' Grant, Bernadene Hayes Sarah Jewett, Ferdinand Gottschalk Mr. Vincent, store General Manager, Charles Judels Joe Jacobs, Frank Reicher planetarium lecturer, Mathilde Comont customer, Baby Edward Baby Edward, Lowden Adams store manager, Herbert Ashley policeman, Wilson Benge Dr. Martin's butler, Vance Carroll policeman, Sam Flint dinner party guest, Broderick O'Farrell floorwalker, Harry Semels orangeade stand proprietor Runtime: 57min *** This item will be supplied on a quality disc and will be sent in a sleeve that is designed for posting CD's DVDs *** This item will be sent by 1st class post for quick delivery. Should you not receive your item within 12 working days of making payment, please contact us as it is unusual for any item to take this long to be delivered. Note: All my products are either my own work, licensed to me directly or supplied to me under a GPL/GNU License. No Trademarks, copyrights or rules have been violated by this item. This product complies withs rules on compilations, international media and downloadable media. All items are supplied on CD or DVD.