Musidora

We're at the Dutch Silent Film Festival, and the first film today is Soleil et ombre (Musidora, Jacques Lasseyne, 1922). A young maid is betrayed by her fiancé, a famous bullfighter who falls in love with an exotic foreign woman. With her heavily kohled dark eyes, somewhat sinister make-up, pale skin and exotic wardrobes, Musidora (1889-1957) created an unforgettable vamp persona. The French film star is best known for her roles in the Louis Feuillade serials Les Vampires (1915-1916) as Irma Vep (an anagram for ‘vampire’), the voluptuous leader of a gang of criminals, and in Judex (1917) as Marie Verdier. At a time when many women in the film industry were relegated to acting, Musidora also achieved some success as a producer and director. Later, she became a journalist and wrote about cinema.


French cigarette card by Cigarettes Le Nil, no. 38. Photo: H. Manuel.


French postcard by Editions Gordon & Cie., Vincennes (Seine).


French postcard by Photo-Editions Renaissance, no. 532. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.


French postcard by Editions Sid, Paris, no. 8039. Photo: G.I. Manuel Frères.


French magazine cover of Mon Ciné, no. 30, 14 September 1922. Musidora in Soleil et ombre / Sol y sombre / Sun and Shadow (Jaime De Lasuen, Musidora, 1922). Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

Gift of the muses

Musidora was born Jeanne Roques in Paris, France, in 1889. She was raised by a feminist mother and a socialist father. She began her career in the arts at an early age, writing her first novel at the age of fifteen and acting on the stage with the likes of Colette, one of her lifelong friends. She performed in revues at French music halls and cabarets, such as the Folies Bergère, Concert Mayol, and La Cigale. Jeanne adopted the stage name Musidora (Greek for 'gift of the muses'), after the heroine in Théophile Gautier's novel 'Fortunio'.

She made her film debut already around 1909, but in 1914, she started to appear regularly in short silent films like Les miseres de l'aiguille / The Misery of the Needle (Raphael Clamour, 1914). She starred in a few silent films by Gaston Ravel, including La bouquetière des Catalans / The Flower Girl of Catalonia (Gaston Ravel, 1914) and Le trophée du Zouave / The Zouave Trophy (Gaston Ravel, 1915). She also began to work with the highly successful film director Louis Feuillade and appeared in a dozen of his short silent films for Gaumont. These included Severo Torelli (Louis Feuillade, 1914), Tu n'épouseras jamais un avocat / You Will Never Marry a Lawyer (Louis Feuillade, 1914) featuring Marcel Lévesque, Le calvaire / The Calvary (Louis Feuillade, 1914) with René Navarre, and Les noces d'argent / Silver Wedding (Louis Feuillade, 1915) with Édouard Mathé.

Musidora then appeared in his hugely successful serial Les Vampires / The Vampires (Louis Feuillade, 1915-1916) as cabaret singer Irma Vep opposite Édouard Mathé as crusading journalist Philippe Guerande. Musidora’s mystique was accentuated in Les Vampires by her large, dark eyes and wearing a black leotard, hood and tights. Les Vampires was not actually about vampires, but about a criminal gang-cum-secret society inspired by the exploits of the real-life Bonnot Gang. Irma Vep was adored by the surrealists, who deemed her both an embodiment of cinema itself and the projection of the deepest truth of the time. A modern fairy, a haunting enigma made flesh, night incarnate in her black silk catsuit, a bewitching shadow, the elusive and wild character of Irma Vep, with her dark-eyed gaze and seductive silhouette, made the actress Musidora immortal.

Besides playing a leading role in the Vampires' crimes, Irma Vep also spends two episodes under the hypnotic control of Moreno, a rival criminal who makes her his lover and induces her to assassinate the Grand Vampire. The series used gadgets like poison rings, poison fountain pens, cabinets with fake back panels, etc. It was an immediate success with French cinema-goers and ran in 10 instalments until 1916.

After the Les Vampires serial, Musidora starred in Judex (Louis Feuillade, 1917), another popular Feuillade serial filmed in 1916 but delayed for release until 1917 because of World War I. Judex is a twelve-part serial following the adventures of the masked vigilante Judex (René Cresté) as he fights against criminals led by the corrupt banker Favraux. Les Vampires and Judex have been lauded by critics like André Bazin as the birth of avant-garde cinema and cited by filmmakers like Fritz Lang and Luis Buñuel as being extremely influential in their desires to become directors.


French postcard by Maury's International Attraction Circuit. Photo: publicity still for Severo Torelli (Louis Feuillade, 1914). Severo Torelli was a French silent feature, produced by Gaumont and based on a 1883 play by François Coppée. Fernand Herrmann played the title role, and the female lead was Renée Carl (Dona Pia). Musidora played Portia.


French postcard, no. 67. Caption: Le Tréport - Le Repos de la Pêcheuse de Crevettes. (Le Tréport - The Rest of the Shrimp Fisherwoman). Collection: Marlène Pilaete.


Spanish postcard. Photo: Gaumont. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.


Spanish promotional postcard for the 12-part serial Judex (Louis Feuillade, 1916) with Musidora and at right Marcel Lévesque. The man left is possibly Jean Devalde. It's a scene from episode 4, Le secret de la tombe / The Secret of the Tomb. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

The most deserving girl of France

Musidora also starred in films by other directors, like Le pied qui étreint (Jacques Feyder, 1916) - a funny send-up of Feuillade's serials, the silent adventure film Les chacals / The Jackals (André Hugon, 1917), starring André Nox, La jeune fille la plus méritante de France / The Most Deserving Girl of France (Germaine Dulac, 1918), and Mademoiselle Chiffon (André Hugon, 1919), with Suzanne Munte.

Apart from her acting career, she became a film producer and director under the tutelage of her mentor, Louis Feuillade. Her first film was an adaptation of a novel by her friend Colette, La vagabonda / The Vagabond (Musidora, Eugenio Perego, 1918). Between the late 1910s and early 1920s, she directed ten films, all of which are lost except two: the tragic romance Soleil et ombre / Sol y sombre / Sun and Shadow (Jaime De Lasuen aka Jacques Lasseyne, Musidora, 1922) and La terre des taureaux / La tierra de los toros / The Land of the Bulls (Musidora, 1924), both of which were filmed in Spain, starring the Cordoban mounted bullfighter Antonio Cañero.

In Italy, she produced and directed La Flamme Cachée / The Hidden Flame (Roger Lion, Musidora, 1918) based on another work by Colette. At a time when many women in the film industry were relegated to acting, Musidora achieved a degree of success as a producer and director. Annette Förster writes in an article at Women Film Pioneers Project: “While her films were favorably reviewed in the press, Musidora as producer reputedly only lost money on them. It remains unclear whether this was due to the terms of her contract, as she claimed in a 1946 interview with Renee Sylvaire, or to the fact that the films failed at the box office.”

Her final film role was as Delilah in the drama Le berceau de dieu / The Cradle of God (Fred LeRoy Granville, 1926). After her career as an actress was over, she focused on writing and producing. Her last film was an homage to her mentor Feuillade entitled La Magique Image / The Magic Image (1950), which she both directed and starred in.

Late in her life, she would occasionally work in the ticket booth of the Cinemathèque Française. Few patrons realised that the older woman in the foyer might be starring in the film they were watching. At 68, Musidora died in Paris, France, in 1957 and was laid to rest in the Cimetière de Bois-le-Roi. Musidora was married to Dr. Clément Marot from 1927 till 1944. The union produced one child, Clément Marot Jr.


French postcard in the series Nos Artistes dans leur Loge, no. 97. Photo: Comoedia. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.


French postcard by A.N. Paris, no. 3737. French painter René Carrère (1879-1959) was notably known for his portraits of celebrities of his time, such as Mistinguett, Spinelly, Colette, Aristide Bruant or Sacha Guitry. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.


French collector card in the series 'Portrait de Stars; L'encyclopédie du Cinéma' by Edito Service, 1992. Photo: Collection Cinémathèque Française. Caption: Musidora, 1915, France.


Italian postcard by Il Cinema Ritrovato, 2019. Poster: Collection La Cinémathèque Française.

Sources: Annette Förster (Women Film Pioneers Project), Bobb Edwards (Find A Grave), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

Who is Souricette?

Recently, I bought this little cigarette card (4 by 6 cm; 1.7 by 2.7 inch) and wondered if the Souricette on the picture could be French actress Musidora (1889-1957). With her heavily kohled dark eyes, somewhat sinister make-up, pale skin and exotic wardrobes, she created an unforgettable vamp persona in the Louis Feuillade serial Les Vampires (1915-1916). Her Irma Vep is a voluptuous, amoral villainess, who wears the same black leotard, hood and tights as  Souricette on my cigarette card. I googled Musidora and found images of her in the same style and costume, but not this particular picture. Nor did I find an indication that her picture was used by Cigarettes Le Nil. So I asked two ladies for help.


French cigarette card by Cigarettes Le Nil, no. 38. Photo: H. Manuel.

Thieves operating in hotels

First I mailed with Marlene Pilaete of La Collectionneuse and asked her if this could be Musidora or an imitator. Marlene is a real Mrs. Sherlock who often helps me with little postcard mysteries and corrects my errors at European Film Star Postcards.

Marlene replied me: "This cigarette card is a good find. Of course, I cannot be sure at 100% but I really think she’s Musidora. Her distinctive face is recognizable. I have among my vintage Musidora cards one on which she is exactly dressed the same way (but the pose is different). I even recognize her shoes.

Musidora has been photographed several times by the Manuel studios, so this is a further clue.

I don’t know why she is called 'Souricette' on this cigarette card. She is dressed here in her famous costume from Les vampires. It’s a typical outfit worn by the thieves operating in hotels.

You certainly remember that in Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief, Cary Grant and Brigitte Auber also wear this kind of leotard. In French, those thieves are called 'souris d’hôtel'. 'Souricette' being a kind of diminutive form of 'souris', maybe that’s where the publishers got their idea."


French postcard, no. 67. Caption: Le Tréport - Le Repos de la Pêcheuse de Crevettes. (Le Tréport - The Rest of the Shrimp Fisherwoman). Musidora working as a bathing beauty for picture postcards. Collection: Marlène Pilaete.

A Dog called Lacsalé

I also contacted Dutch film historian Annette Förster, author of Women in Silent Cinema. Histories of Fame and Fate, which has been selected for the prestigious Choice Outstanding Academic Titles list 2017.

Her book is a study on the comprehensive accounts of the professional itineraries of three women in the international silent cinema: Dutch stage and film actress Adriënne Solser, Canadian-born actress and filmmaker Nell Shipman, and Musidora.

Annette writes me: "I'm pretty sure that this is Musidora, not so much because of all the similarities, but mainly because of the dog in the lower right corner: that is her own dog Lacsalé!

He is also on other publicity photos of Musidora, such as those by Photogenie that she had sent to Cinéa (see my book on page 243).

What a great find!"

Thank you, Marlene and Annette, and Lacsalé too!


French postcard by Editions Gordon & Cie., Vincennes (Seine).

Nos artistes dans leur loge

One of the most fascinating and beautiful series of star postcards is Nos artistes dans leur loge. The series presents dozens of French stage and film stars of the 1920s in their dressing rooms. The postcards were all produced by the French journal Comoedia and one with Editions La Fayette.


Huguette Duflos. French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge by Editions La Fayette, Paris. Photo: Comoedia.


Maurice Chevalier. French postcard in the series Nos Artistes dans leur loge, no. 201. Photo: Comoedia.


Vera Sergine. French postcard in the series Nos Artistes dans leur loge, no. 69. Photo: Comoedia.


Jean Coquelin. French postcard in the series Nos Artistes dans leur loge, no. 59. Photo: Comoedia.


Raquel Meller. French postcard in the series Nos Artistes dans leur loge, no. 20. Photo: Comoedia.

Tour de France
Nowadays the Paris journal Comœdia is defunct. In 1907, it was founded by French bicycle racer and sports journalist Henri Desgrange (1865 – 1940), according to Wikipedia. Desgrange was also the first organizer of the Tour de France and the founder of the popular sports journal L’auto (nowadays L'Equipe). However, another source Le Guichet du Savoir cites an article by Nathalie Léger in Dictionnaire des lettres françaises: le XXe siècle, who claims that the founder was Georges de Pawlowski. The journal - or in French ‘revue’ – Comœdia appeared as a daily from 1 October 1907 to 6 August 1914. In the beginning it had four pages. Because of the First World War the publication then halted. After the war, on 1 October 1919 Comœdia returned, again as a daily. The 1920’s with its expanding rheatre and silent film industry were a golden period for Comœdia. Among its contributors were such famous authors as Francois Coppe, Tristan Bernard, Jean Richepin, Jules Renard, and Georges Courteline. They published columns, reviews and articles about actors, actresses and directors. There were two supplements. Since 1908 there was the bi-monthly art journal Comœdia illustrated. In 1926 the daily Comœdia-journal was started. In 1936 Desgrange fell ill and Comoedia disappeared. In 1941, after the death of Desgrange, the journal returned, but now as a weekly till August 1944. It reappeared between 1952 and 1954 under the name Paris-Comoedia, weekly show with journalist and scenario writer Jacques Chabannes as its director.


Damia. French postcard in the series Nos Artistes dans leur loge, no. 256. Photo: Comoedia. Collection: Performing Arts / Artes Escénicas.


Gabriel Signoret. French postcard in the series Nos Artistes dans leur loge, no. 185. Photo: Comoedia.


Maurice de Féraudy. French postcard in the series Nos Artistes dans leur loge, no. 131. Photo: Comoedia.


Eugène Silvain. French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge, no. 191. Photo: Comoedia.


Musidora. French postcard in the series Nos Artistes dans leur loge, no. 97. Photo: Comoedia. Collection: Beth Gallagher.

The Mirror
The series Nos artistes dans leur loge was probably published between 1922 and 1926 as a supplement for Comœdia Illustrated. The series contained portraits of famous stage actors. The stars were often only referred to by their surname like Signoret, Dranem, De Feraudy et al. Many film stars were included. The ingredients of the picture were always the same. A full shot of an artist who is preparing for the spotlights in his or her dressing room. A recurring element on the photos is the mirror. Sometimes the star is glancing into the mirror, looking at himself or at the photographer. On other postcards he is watching the photographer – and the public – directly. The dressing room is never in full view, but on the pictures you can discover details: a chair, a lamp, an artwork. And every card has a signature of the artists written over it. The result is wonderful. And my favourite dressing room is Musidora's.


Victor Francen. French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge, no. 108. Photo: Comoedia.


Max de Rieux. French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge, no. 285. Photo: Comoedia.


Harry Baur. French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge, no. 202. Photo: Comoedia.


Jacques Baumer. French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge, no. 321. Photo: Comoedia.


Tramel. French postcard in the series Nos artistes dans leur loge, no. 5. Sent by mail in 1923. Photo: Comoedia.

Sources: Wikipedia (French) and Le Guichet du Savoir (French).