Ma cousine

Gabrielle Rejane stars in this short subject under the direction of Marguerite Vrignault. Originally it was presented with sound; a series of these movies were made for the Paris Exposition in 1900. Unfortunately, the sound recordings are missing.

Here's where we get into an aspect of film history that is pretty obscure, and runs directly contrary to what most people who care about the matter believe. Sound movies were not invented int he 1920s, with THE JAZZ SINGER the first. Neither were the various experiments of the 1920s the first regularly produced sound pictures. From 1906 through 1914, Gaumont, Lumiere, Hepworth and even Edison produced sound pictures. There were movies in Berlin, Paris, Boston, New York, and almost certainly elsewhere in which you could see the images and hear the singing -- usually they were musical shorts -- at the same time. Neither were these the first series of sound movies. This movie is one of at least nine recorded by the Phono-CInema Theatre. I have seen three of them; none of them had their sound tracks in any form.

These weren't even the earliest sound films. Look up "Dickson Experimental Sound Film" if you don't believe me. Go on. I'll wait.

This is a theatrical mime comedy centered around the protagonist, played by French actress Gabrielle Réjane. The other three actors in the film are uncredited. I think Réjane did a solid job-she clearly had a strong theatrical presence, which is immediately evident even in this 125-year-old film.

That said, the film itself isn't particularly engaging. I watched two versions: one in its original silent form, and another with added music. The version with music was far more interesting and, in my opinion, better restored.

Interestingly, the film is sometimes attributed to Clément-Maurice Gratioulet as director, who, as I understand it, was the business partner of Marguerite Vrignault. I'm not sure which of them actually directed the film, but after more than a century, that detail hardly matters. What matters is the remarkable fact that we can still watch a piece of cinema this old.