Le mot de l'énigme (1916)

Today, EFSP has another film special with Spanish Chocolate cards from the collection of Ivo Blom. The subject is the French film Le mot de l'énigme‎/The Word of The Enigma (Georges Monca, 1916), a Pathé Frères production with Gabrielle Robinne, Jean Kemm, Henri Bosc and Andrée Pascal. Chocolate Salas-Sabadell made a series of six cards for the film, which was titled Celos mortales (Mortal skies) for Spain. Ivo has acquired five of them.


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Salas-Sabadell, no. 1. Photo: Pathé Frères. Gabrielle Robinne, Henri Bosc and Andrée Pascal in Le mot de l'énigme (Georges Monca, 1916).


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Salas-Sabadell, no. 2. Photo: Pathé Frères. Gabrielle Robinne (left) and Jean Kemm (at the table) in Le mot de l'énigme (Georges Monca, 1916).


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Salas-Sabadell, no. 3. Photo: Pathé Frères. Gabrielle Robinne, Henri Bosc and Andrée Pascal in Le mot de l'énigme (Georges Monca, 1916).

The forbidden marriage

Jean Kemm plays in Le mot de l'énigme‎/The Word of The Enigma (Georges Monca, 1916) the elder Robert Duroc, who falls in love with young Lucy Le Quesnel (Gabrielle Robinne), in vain. In the countryside, Lucy visits her friend Thérèse Tillier (Andrée Pascal) and falls in love with her brother Maxime (Henri Bosc).

Yet, Mr. Tillier forbids marriage between Lucy and Maxime when he hears about the financial misfortune of Lucy's family and sends his son to the US. The father even removes a letter by Maxime asking Lucy in marriage. Lucy thinks Maxime has abandoned her and marries Duroc, who generously offers his fortune to save Lucy's family.

Years pass by. Lucy hasn't forgotten Maxime but her heart now belongs to her husband. Maxim reappears but Lucy avoids him, withdrawing to the countryside. Maxime has followed her.

The husband thinks he has seen him leaving the villa, so he bluntly confronts Lucy by telling him that Maxim's car crashed: he has killed himself. Lucy's face decomposes and she mortally collapses. All the help comes too late.

It is not clear who played father Tillier in Le mot de l'énigme, but Lucy's parents were played by Léon Bernard and Paule Andral.

The film came out at the Paris cinema Omnia Pathé, on 3 August 1916. It was produced by Société cinématographique des auteurs et gens de lettres (SCAGL) for Pathé Frères. It was a typical example of the many films Robinne did with director Georges Monca between 1915 and 1917. In the years 1912-1915, she had made films with René Leprince with her fixed partner and husband René Alexandre.


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Salas-Sabadell, no. 4. Photo: Pathé Frères. Henri Bosc and Andrée Pascal in Le mot de l'énigme (Georges Monca, 1916).


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Salas-Sabadell, no. 6. Photo: Pathé Frères. Gabrielle Robinne and Jean Kemm in Le mot de l'énigme (Georges Monca, 1916).


The French poster for Le mot de l'énigme (Georges Monca, 1916). Source: Larry Smith @ Flickr.

Sources: Fondation Jerome Seydoux Pathe (French) and IMDb.

The Reutlinger Studio

The Reutlinger Studio in Paris was opened in Paris in 1850 and took photos of the rich and famous until 1937. Reutlinger was known for their unusual Art Nouveau styles of postcard designs, especially for portraits of actresses. This is the first post in a new series on star photographers.


Sarah Bernhardt. British postcard by Rotary Photo Co., London, no. 228A. Sent by mail in 1905. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.


Gabrielle Robinne. French postcard by A.N., Paris, in the series Les Vedettes du Cinéma, no. 13. Photo: Reutlinger


Huguette Duflos. French postcard by A.N., Paris, in the series Les Vedettes du Cinéma, no.  16. Photo: Reutlinger.

A Successful Postcard Business

The Reutlinger studio was founded by Charles Reutlinger, of German descent. The studio passed on to Charles’ brother Emile in 1880, who ran the studio until 1890.

In 1883, Emile’s son Léopold Reutlinger (1863) came to Paris from Callao, Peru, where he grew up. Léopold took over in 1890, and he developed a very successful postcard business. He photographed the stars of the Moulin Rouge and the Folies Bergère.

He became one of the most requested portrait photographers of the Belle Epoque and he photographed among others Mata Hari, Cleo de Merode, Geraldine Farrar, Polar, Colette, Sarah Bernhardt Leonie Yahne, Liane the Pougy, Anna Held, La Belle Otero and Lina Cavalieri. Many of his pictures were sold to leading newspapers and magazines.

Léopold continued to run the studio until he lost an eye in an accident with a champagne cork in 1930. He died in 1937 at the age of 74.



Lina Cavalieri. French postcard by S.I.P., no. 180/1. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.


Lina Cavalieri. French postcard by S.I.P., no. 188/9. Sent by mail in 1906. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.


Germaine Gallois.French postcard by Olympia / S.I.P., no. 194/18. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.


Gabrielle Robinne. French postcard, no. 181/10. Sent by mail in 1903. Photo: Reutlinger.


Gabrielle Robinne. French postcard by S.I.P., no. 865/17. Sent by mail in 1904. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.

Art Nouveau Fantasy Overlays

The earliest Reutlinger postcards in our collection date roughly from 1900-1902. They feature images of identified famous actresses, singers, and dancers from the day, surrounded by highly stylized Art Nouveau frames. Often, the same frames were used with different actress images in the centre.

In the several years that followed, the Reutlinger studio began to experiment with colour tinting, different stylization, and more outlandish or novel photomontage techniques.

P.K. Hobbs at Everything Vintage: "Léopold introduced a very distinctive style of merging photographic images with art nouveau fantasy overlays. He added to that process exceptionally well-done hand tinting.

The Reutlinger Studio became known for their unusual art nouveau styles of postcard designs, especially for portraits of actresses. These postcards were not cheaply produced, nor were they cheaply sold. This part of his business was very successful and sought-after, as thousands of his art nouveau postcards were produced."

In 1904, divided backs were permitted in France. Till then the back was reserved for the recipient’s address and all messages had to appear on the front. It explains the handwriting on the front of some cards in this post. 


Gabrielle Robinne. French postcard by S.I.P., no. 1342. Sent by mail in 1906. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.


Sylvie. French postcard by S.I.P. Sent by mail in 1906. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.


Lina Cavalieri. French postcard by S.I.P., no. 1188. Sent by mail in 1906. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.


Lina Cavalieri. French postcard, no. 1188. Sent by mail in 1906. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.


Gabrielle Robinne. French postcard. Photo Reutlinger, Paris. 04-69.

Sources: P.K. Hobbs (Everything Vintage), Victor (Wonderings), and Wikipedia.