#british-french film

[nine-frames]

“Today, there’s Mrs. Harris.”

Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris, 2022.

Dir. Anthony Fabian | Writ. Carroll Cartwright, Anthony Fabian, Keith Thompson & Olivia Hetreed | DOP Felix Wiedemann

[ratuszarsenal]

very funny to me that every polish person who watched 1670 on here is writing posts begging non-polish people to watch it. including me.

[blacknarcissus]

Jane Birkin in Wonderwall (1968)

[kristin-scott-thomas]

Kristin Scott Thomas on the runway for Miu Miu | Paris Fashion Week | 5th March 2024

[fibula-rasa]

Christmas Films of a Century Past

(updated!)

For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to watch somewhere 50-60 Christmas and Christmas-adjacent silent films from before 1920 to put together a playlist for you all. 

I chose these as a representative selection. My general criteria were:

Christmas should be central to the story

The plot should be novel to a modern viewer or something a modern viewer would be surprised to see so early on film 

The list on the whole should have a variety of settings and narrative structures

Here’s a direct link to the YouTube playlist, if you want to watch them all in one go. (They are all shorter than feature length!)

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.

READ ON BELOW!

1. Santa Claus (1898) (UK)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Directed by George Albert Smith 

Short and sweet, this film sees children put to bed by their nanny on Christmas Eve and Santa Claus coming down the chimbley to fill their dutifully hung stockings. Director G.A. Smith used his own patented technique of double exposure to show Santa’s arrival without cutting away from the children’s room. Santa Claus might not pack the punch of a Méliès trick film, but it’s a fun novelty and is purportedly the first appearance of Santa Claus on film.

2. The Little Match Seller (1902) (UK)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Directed by James Williamson 

This one’s a quick but effective adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson tragedy featuring impressively well-coordinated superimpositions.

3. The Christmas Angel (1904) (FR)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Directed by George Méliès for Star Film Company

The Christmas Angel follows an impoverished girl driven into the city to beg on a snowy winter night. First she’s chased away from a church by more seasoned beggars; then she’s thrown out of a poultry seller and harassed by police. On the verge of falling asleep in the snow, a rag-and-bone man rouses her and offers her help. Later, the girl passes out beside a road but is luckily spotted by a wealthy couple on a car ride. When they learn of her plight, they bring her home along with food and gifts. 

Though not as fantastical as some of Méliès’ more famous works, The Christmas Angel is still highly stylized (and stylish) and features special effects that are photographed beautifully. It’s also worth noting that the version of the film included here is the American cut. The original French cut, titled Détresse et Charité (Distress and Charity), did not include the sequence with the wealthy couple and instead ends with the girl dying in the snow. 

4. The Night Before Christmas (1905) (US)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Directed by Edwin S. Porter for Edison Manufacturing Company

This is the first time the poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas” was put on film. Loosely following the poem, we see Santa Claus prepare for his yearly trek while a middle-class family prepares for his visit. When Santa heads out, we are treated to an extended panning sequence with a fully painted backdrop for a mini Santa and his reindeer to glide across. When Santa arrives at the family home, he chaotically dumps presents and decorations around their living room and makes a large, decorated tree appear out of thin air. (Across many of the movies I watched to put this post together, this seems to be a favored scenario for the jolly fat man around this time—and it’s delightful.) The family then wakes to find their gifts and the film closes with Santa directly wishing us a Merry Christmas. 

5. A Little Girl Who Did Not Believe in Santa Claus (1907) (US)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Directed by J. Searle Dawley and Edwin S. Porter for Edison Manufacturing Company

Even at the risk of this list being too Edison heavy, I couldn’t leave this great short out. While walking with his mother, a rich little boy encounters a poor little girl alone in the cold. They take her home to play and warm up. When the boy learns that the girl doesn’t believe in Santa because apparently Santa doesn’t visit poor children, he hatches a scheme. On Christmas Eve, the boy holds a stake out near the fireplace and takes Santa hostage, tying him up and holding him at gunpoint. The boy then forces Santa to visit the girl—going so far as shimmying down the chimney himself to let Santa in the front door. When the girl wakes up to a beautifully decorated tree, new toys, and a full stocking, she can finally believe in Santa Claus. While I’m generally not so into stories about supposedly benevolent rich people, I do love the implications this story has on how Santa Claus works and I also find the means with which the boy gets his way hilarious.

6. Il Natale di Cretinetti / Foolshead’s Christmas (1909) (IT)

[& Come fu che l’ingordigia rovino il Natale di Cretinetti / How Greediness Spoilt Foolshead’s Christmas (1910) & Il Natale di Cretinetti (1911)]

[letterboxd | imdb]

Directed by Andre Deed for Itala Film

This entry is a three-for, which I hope you’ll excuse, but I couldn’t decide which Cretinetti Christmas to share! Cretinetti, the comedic persona of filmmaker Andre Deed, is an absolute agent of chaos. 

In the 1909 film, Cretinetti attempts to bring a tree home for a Christmas party. The destruction escalates wildly, culminating in an entire building falling to pieces. 

If you can believe it, the stakes are even higher in the 1910 film, when Cretinetti can’t resist sneaking out of bed on Christmas Eve to snack on the candy decorating the tree. When Santa sees what Cretinetti has done, he chides him and takes him back to his workshop—which is apparently in heaven. Destruction ensues. Cretinetti then proceeds to cause havoc for Saint Peter, annoying god so much that he calls the devil to come get Cretinetti. Cretinetti is then chased to hell where demons try to cook him alive. Thankfully, spoiler alert, it was all a bad dream and he wakes up on Christmas morning with a terrible stomach ache. 

The 1911 film returns to localized chaos. Cretinetti has a run-in with a mail carrier and his Christmas packages get mixed up with one of the carrier’s parcels. The parcel contains three bottles of ether which then begin to emit gasses in the middle of the family Christmas party. 

I wasn’t familiar with Cretinetti before reviewing films for this list, but I’m definitely going to seek out more of Deed’s movies. Each of these films had well-executed chaotic slapstick; over-the-top in all the right ways.

7. Making Christmas Crackers (1910) (UK)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Produced by Cricks & Martin Films for Clarke, Nickolls, & Coombs Confectionery

To start, if you’re not sure what a Christmas cracker is, it’s a colorfully decorated paper tube that makes a cracking noise as you pull it open. Inside the tube is a paper hat, a joke, and/or a small toy. It’s a traditional part of UK Christmas celebrations.

This short starts as a documentary of the workers at Clarke, Nickolls, & Coombs constructing the crackers. It’s a fun thought that as early as 1910, people were interested in watching how mass-produced consumer goods were made. It’s also fun to see these skilled workers ply their trade so deftly (even though wages and working conditions were likely less than ideal). The film ends with a family celebrating around a Christmas tree topped with a functional giant cracker.

8. A Christmas Carol (1910) (US)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Directed by J. Searle Dawley for Edison Films Manufacturing Company

There are so so so many film adaptations of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol made before 1920 that it was hard to choose which one to include on this list. In the end I chose this 1910 version for its economy of storytelling, fluid use of special effects, and for Marc McDermott’s great performance as Scrooge.

9. Broncho Billy’s Christmas Dinner (1911) (US)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Directed by Gilbert M. Anderson (Broncho Billy) for The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company

Gilbert M. Anderson was an incredibly prolific and popular filmmaker and star of early American film, particularly in his role as Broncho Billy. As was typical for Anderson, he’s pulling triple duty on Broncho Billy’s Christmas Dinner as the star, director, and producer. The film features a simple and heartwarming story. 

On Christmas, Billy comes across a young woman in peril as her horses got startled and are now pulling her cart along wildly. Billy manages to wrangle the horses and in gratitude she invites him to Christmas dinner at her parents’ home. Unfortunately, her father happens to be the sheriff. But, all is well, as it turns out that Broncho Billy’s been given a pardon and the sheriff welcomes him to the table gladly. 

The enduring appeal of outlaws or criminals getting into the Christmas spirit is fascinating to me and it’s cool to see such an early instance of the story!

10. Le Noel de la princesse / The Little Princess’s XMas Gift (1911) (FR)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Produced by Société Générale des Cinématographes Éclipse

In all honesty, this is the least Christmassy (but also probably most christian-y) of all the films I included here, but its style and novelty stood out. The sets, costuming, and production design are lush. It might also be one of the weirdest Christmas stories I’ve even encountered.

After Lord Othberg passes away, the conniving Otto plans to assassinate the baby prince in order to inherit the lordship himself. He poisons the baby, but the princess prays for her baby brother to come back to life as her Christmas gift. An angel appears to her and they summon Jesus, who resurrects her baby brother. Of course, they then place the revivified baby in the castle’s nativity scene, to the joy of all but Otto.

11. Ida’s Christmas (1912) (US)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Directed by Van Dyke Brooke for Vitagraph Company of America

With a more classic Christmassy story, Ida’s Christmas tells us of a family who are facing hard times. Ida (played by a very small Dolores Costello) has her eyes on a pricey doll. Meanwhile, her mother seeks out employment with a wealthy family. The matriarch of the wealthy family overhears Ida’s wish and decides to buy the doll for her as a surprise. Later, Ida is distraught to find that the doll has been purchased but comes across a wallet that someone has dropped. She considers taking the money, but chases down the owner instead. The old man gives her some reward money for returning the wallet. Ida rushes to see if she can buy the doll, but has second thoughts when she thinks about how much her family could use the money. She arrives home with the money just in time for a Santa-esque old man to show up bearing packages and an assurance that the wealthy family has work for her father. The film ends with the family celebrating an unexpectedly Merry Christmas. 

It’s a sweet story that hits so many beats of what we now consider traditional Christmas tales.

12. Рождество обитателей леса / The Insect’s Christmas (1913) (RU)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Directed by Władysław Starewicz for Khanzhonkov

Fair warning, if you thought The Princess’s XMas Gift was odd, you might need to ready yourself for this one. Stop-motion virtuoso Władysław Starewicz (Ladislas Starevich) spins a tale about a tiny ornament of Santa/Ded Moroz coming to life on Christmas and going out into the wild to bring Christmas joy to creatures small and smaller, including a frog and a ladybug. Starewicz’s animation is as impeccable as ever and the short is imaginative and quirky.

Honorable Mention:

Dance of the Seasons (1900)

Christmas Dream (1900)

Christmas Eve (1913)

A Christmas Carol (1914)

Snow White (1916)

A Winter Straw Ride (1906)

[theersatzcowboy]

Bonjour Tristesse (1958)

Real-life tragic icon Jean Seberg sheds the follies of adolescence — and learns the consequences of her actions the hard way — in this black-and-white / Technicolor vacation porn from director Otto Preminger, who first “discovered” the beautiful young actress when he plucked her out of obscurity to star in Saint Joan (1957).

Director:  Otto Preminger

Cinematographer: Georges Périnal

Starring: Jean Seberg, Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Mylène Demongeot, and Juliette Gréco

[misspeppermint2003]

⭐️ Weekly Fandom Vote (Round 66) ⭐️

[clarabowlover]

Emily Bolton In Moonraker (1979)

[ittakestwopod]

[cctinsleybaxter]

Wait I was so distracted by everything else going on I didn't even notice- why does he have an American accent?!

[mariocki]

Alfred Burke puts on his best policing face as Parisian detective Inspector Maron, in Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!: The Billion Franc Mystery (1.6, ABPC, 1957)

[celluloidrainbow]

WAITING FOR THE MOON (1987) dir. Jill Godmilow A few months in the life of Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein. During this 1930s summer, they fear Gertrude is seriously ill. While they await the results of medical tests, Alice attends to Gertrude in addition to giving assistance editing Gertrude's writing. They go driving in the French countryside (Gertrude drives, Alice navigates) and meet a young American on his way to fight in the Spanish Civil War. They visit Pablo Picasso and his muse, Fernande Olivier, and Guillaume Apollinaire. Ernest Hemingway pays a call. A friend brings a fatherless baby whom Alice agrees to care for. Through it all, Gertrude takes Alice for granted, treating her abruptly and unfeelingly. Hemingway complains on Alice's behalf. Can Gertrude bring herself to be tender? (requested by @luckycyclenun, link in title)

[alchemisoul]

Johnny Marr | Did You Know?

Johnny Marr would be considered a legendary guitarist within the British Canon for his innovative guitar work as a member of The Smiths alone, but he was also a full-time member of Modest Mouse, The Pretenders, and The The - and a prolific session musician and collaborator with the Pet Shop Boys, Talking Heads, Bryan Ferry and Hans Zimmer.

Also Johnny Marr, in French "J'en ai marre", roughly translates to "I'm fed up" or "I've had it up to here".

The photo above, where he is featured on the far left, was taken by Brian Rasic from a show during his time as a full time member of Modest Mouse during the "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank" recording sessions and subsequent tour.

[blacknarcissus]

Les fameux escaliers: Villa Léopolda, Villefranche-sur-Mer

Du Côté de la Côte (1958) & The Red Shoes (1948)

[comfortabletogether]

happy 80th anniversary of D-Day or the American, British and Canadian invasion of the beaches of Normandy.

personally i take today as a day of remembrance of what my family had lost instead of it being a turning point in the war.

also fuck you to the kids in my military history class who like Germany in the 1940’s or simp over WWII Italy and Germany’s leaders. It’s frankly disgusting.

[fibula-rasa]

Favorite New-to-me Films

February ‘24

(listed in order of collage above, L to R)

READ on BELOW the JUMP!

The Clowns / I Clowns (1970)

[letterboxd | imdb | kanopy (US)]

Synopsis: Fellini delves into the world of European clowning, traveling with his crew to various capitals of clown culture. From a dramatization of his own challenging childhood experience with clowns to a barrage of performances by current clowns (in a variety of unique venues) and recreations of historical circus-based acts, Fellini creates a dizzying comedic portrait of an artform struggling to survive. (CW/TW: blackface, as seen in one recreation of a historical act.)

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Gribouille redevient Boireau (1912)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Synopsis: In this meta short, French-born comedian André Deed dramatizes (or slapstick-izes) his move from Italy, where he made films as Cretinetti (Gribouille in France) for Itala, to France, where he would continue making shorts under the name Boireau. Cretinetti/Gribouille survives an altercation with the father of his sweetheart Valentina (Valentina Frascaroli), a run in with border patrol, an attempted kidnapping, a train hijacking and subsequent derailing, and being forced at gunpoint to make films for France. Now Boireau, he is rushed onto set where a bit more chaos ensues before he addresses the camera directly and assures us in pantomime that he will keep making films and that his heart is here in France.

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Torture Garden (1967)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Synopsis: At an amusement park sideshow, a fiendish host, Dr. Diabolo (Burgess Meredith), selects a few of his guests to get a preview of their potential downfalls from Atropos, the Goddess of Destiny. The first customer (Michael Bryant) is warned away from victimizing his uncle and cutting an unholy deal with a demon cat. The second (Beverly Adams) has to look out for the consequences of too ruthlessly pursuing fame in Hollywood. Her cousin (Barbara Ewing) has to look out for a boy and his piano possessed by his dead mother. The final customer (Jack Palance) is an avid Poe fanboy who is at risk of taking his obsession too far. Dr. Diabolo is not a simple carny though, so these glimpses into their respective futures may give them an opportunity to change their fates.

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The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Synopsis: An unflinching look into the Chicago police’s vicious assassination of Fred Hampton but also a survey of some of the important antifascist work Hampton did with the Black Panthers in his final years.

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Bedtime for the Bride / Coucher de la mariée (1896)

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Synopsis: A new bride (Louise Willy) disrobes before bed on her wedding night.

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The Others / Le Altre (1969)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Synopsis: Alessandra & Flavia, a lesbian couple living in Rome, decide that they want to have a baby. The process of finding a suitable baby daddy is a series of misadventures but eventually Flavia becomes pregnant. Their relationship is tested but they build a happy home until the potential dads figure out what’s going on. The men want to turn their relationship into big news and an ad campaign; their private lives become public spectacle. Thankfully, Alessandra hatches a scheme to solve all their problems.

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The Marriage Circle (1924)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Synopsis: The marriage of Mizzi and Dr. Josef Stock (Marie Prevost & Adolphe Menjou) is on the rocks. Josef hires a detective to gather enough evidence to secure a divorce. Meanwhile, Mizzi attempts a flirtation with Dr. Franz Braun (Monte Blue), who she soon finds out is the husband of an old friend, Charlotte (Florence Vidor). To complicate matters, Dr. Gustav Mueller (Creighton Hale), who is Franz’s business partner, is in love with Charlotte. A variety of schemes and misunderstandings ensue before the Stocks’ marriage dissolves and the Brauns’ marriage is saved.

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It Happened Tomorrow (1944)

[letterboxd | imdb | tubi (US)]

Synopsis: An aspiring reporter, Larry Stevens (Dick Powell), thinks he would be set for life if he could see one day into the future. Larry’s wish is granted in an unexpected way when he gets a copy of the next day’s newspaper. Larry tries to make the most out of the situation while sparking up a romance with a phony psychic called Sylvia (Linda Darnell). It does not take long before Larry figures out that the scenario for success that he dreamed up may be a nightmare.

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Personal Problems (1980)

[letterboxd | imdb | kanopy (US)]

Synopsis: A soap opera wrapped in a cinema-verité package, Personal Problems recounts a period in the life of Johnnie Mae (Vertamae Grosvenor), a nurse living in Harlem. Johnnie Mae tries to juggle her job as an ER nurse with an affair with a musician, tension with her husband (who is also having an affair), a father-in-law (who has overstayed his welcome), and a long-term visit from her brother and sister-in-law (who was just released from prison).

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New Year’s Eve / Sylvester (1924)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Synopsis: In this wordless spectacle, a man tries to hold his household together after the antipathy between his mother and his wife boils over one New Year’s Eve.

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Cane River (1982)

[letterboxd | imdb | kanopy (US)]

Synopsis: Peter (Richard Romain) returns to his small hometown in Louisiana after trying to make something of himself in the big, wide world. When touring a local plantation, tied to his ancestry, he meets Maria (Tommye Myrick) and they begin a romance. However, Maria has saved up for years to leave Natchitoches and go to college and she plans on leaving soon to start school. Various complications arise in their relationship as their different backgrounds and ambitions come into stark contrast.

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Honorable mention:

Léontine Keeps House / Léontine garde la maison (1912) [letterboxd | imdb]

Boireau et la gigolette (1912) [letterboxd | imdb]

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This month, I watched a silly amount of silent comedy shorts because I’m reading Steve Massa’s Slapstick Divas and wanted to sort of watch along. I put together a little list of some of the highlights in case you all are also interested in the women of early silent comedy: “‘Film Comedy’s Eves’ Watchalong”

The next installment of Lost but Not Forgotten is a doozy, but it’ll be up very soon! In the meantime, I made a gifset of a few surviving minutes of A Lover’s Oath (1925).

Other themed gif and still sets I put together this month include:

Out of the Unknown: 1.01 No Place Like Earth (1965)

Eleven P.M. (1928)

The Ghost Ship (1943)

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For March, I’ve got a little cosplay in the works in addition to the next entry in my LbNF series. So stay tuned!

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