L'empereur des pauvres (1921)

L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921) is a beautiful French silent film serial, based on the epic novel by Felicien Champsau. The serial was produced by Pathé Frères Consortium and the stars were Léon Mathot and Gina Relly.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Léon Mathot in L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the poor (René Leprince, 1921).


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Gina Relly in L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the poor (René Leprince, 1921).


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Andrée Pascal in L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the poor (René Leprince, 1921).


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Henry Krauss in L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the poor (René Leprince, 1921).


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Gina Relly in L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921).

A vagabond who wants to do good

French novelist and journalist Félicien Champsaur debuted with the roman à clef 'Dinah Samuel' (1882), said to present portraits of poet Arthur Rimbaud and actress Sarah Bernhardt. He went on to publish many novels, collections of articles, and other works, including 'Miss America' (1885), 'Entrée de clowns' (1886), 'Lulu' (1888), and 'Poupée Japonaise' (1912). He wrote 'L'empereur des pauvres' in 1920.

Based on Champsaur's novel, director René Leprince created the silent film serial, L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the poor (René Leprince, 1921)..

The film serial tells the epic story of a rich and spoiled young man, Marc Anavan, played by Léon Mathot. Marc leads a profligate life, but when he understands his fortune is about to evaporate, he decides to change his life.

Marc becomes a vagabond and wants to do good around him. The task is not easy, but his faith in his mission and the love of the pure Sylvette (Gina Relly) help him.

Marc becomes the peaceful spokesperson for the disinherited. He has to face revolution, anarchism and the Great War, before retaking his humanitarian mission. In the end, he overcomes all the hardships on his way.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921) with Léon Mathot as Marc Anavan.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921) with, probably downright, Léon Mathot as Marc Anavan.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921) with left, Henry Krauss, as Jean Sarrias, revolting against society.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921). In the foreground, Gina Relly as Sylvette. Standing in the back, Léon Mathot as Marc Anavan and Henry Krauss as Jean Sarrias.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921). Probably Léon Mathot as Marc Anavan.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921). Probably Léon Mathot as Marc Anavan.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921) with, at left, Léon Mathot as Marc Anavan, in the middle, Gina Relly as Sylvette, and right, Henry Krauss as her uncle Jean Sarrias.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Gina Relly in L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (1921).


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Gina Relly as Sylvette and Léon Mathot as Marc Anavan in L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921).


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Léon Mathot as Marc Anavan, Gina Relly as Sylvette, and right, Henry Krauss, as her uncle Jean Sarrias in L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921). Left of Mathot is Andrée Pascal as Clémence Sarrias.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Gina Relly and Léon Mathot in L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (1921).

One of the most successful French serials

L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921) was produced in six episodes: 1. Le Pauvre (The Poor); 2. Les Millions (The Millions); 3. Les Flambeaux (The Torches); 4. Les Crassiers (The Slag); 5. L'orage (The Storm) and 6. Floreal.

On demand of exhibitors, these six episodes were re-edited into twelve parts of 900 metres each, which were shown over six weeks in France. The Pathé production was one of the most successful French serials of the period.  In the Netherlands, the 12 parts were shown in three or two weeks.

Besides Léon Mathot and Gina Relly in the lead roles, the cast of L'empereur des pauvres included several well-known actors of the French silent cinema.

Henry Krauss played Jean Sarrias, the uncle of Silvette; Gilbert Dalleu was Cyprien Cadal, the mayor of Saint Saturnin du Var; Andrée Pascal appeared as Clémence Sarrias; and Lily Damita was Riquette, credited as Lily Deslys. In supporting parts well well-known faces as Charles Lamy, André Luguet, Charles de Rochefort and Maurice Schutz were cast.

The elaborate camera work was done by Julien Ringel and Paul Gaillard. Director René Leprince was a well-known filmmaker of the silent era, who had worked several times with comedian Max Linder and went on to make Fanfan La Tulipe (1925) with Aimé Simon-Girard. In 1929, Leprince died at the age of 53, at the end of the silent era.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the poor (René Leprince, 1921). Standing in the middle, actor Léon Mathot.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921). In the middle, Gina Relly as Sylvette, and right, Henry Krauss as her uncle Jean Sarrias, revolting against society. Left could be Andrée Pascal as Clémence Sarrias.

French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921). The vagabond could be Léon Mathot.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921). Left to right: Andrée Pascal as Clémence Sarrias, Gina Relly as Sylvette, Léon Mathot as Marc Anavan, and Henry Krauss as Jean Sarrias.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the poor (René Leprince, 1921). Gina Relly as Sylvette, Léon Mathot as Marc Anavan.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the poor (René Leprince, 1921). In bed: Gina Relly as Sylvette, left of her, Andrée Pascal as her sister Clémence.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921). Standing front, Léon Mathot.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Henry Krauss as Jean Sarrias, revolting against society, in L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921).


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Henry Krauss in L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1922).


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921). Gina Relly as Sylvette, and Léon Mathot as Marc Anavan.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Gina Relly as Sylvette and Léon Mathot as Marc Anavan in L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921).


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921). Gina Relly as Sylvette, working as a nurse during the First World War.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres / The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1921).

Sources: Guy Bellinger (IMDb), Ciné Ressources, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Mes p'tits (1923)

Italian strongman Mario Ausonia and the French actors Gina Relly and Edouard Mathé were the stars of the French silent film Mes p'tits/Le calvaire d’un saltimbanque (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1923), produced by the Marseille-based Lauréa Films company. The film evolves in the circus milieu, like many other European silent films.


French postcard by Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still for Mes p'tits (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1923) with Ausonia (Mario Guaita).


Gina Relly. French postcard by Cinématographes Méric. Photo: Gilbert René, Paris.


Mario Guaita aka Ausonia. French postcard by Cinématographes Méric.


Jane (Jeanne) Rollette. French postcard by Cinématographes Méric.


Édouard Mathé. French postcard by Cinématographes Méric. Photo: Henri Lebrun, Paris. This card and the ones above were made for a folder with cards on Mes p'tits aka Le Calvaire d'une saltimbanque (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1923).

Marseille

Athletic muscleman Mario Guaita aka Ausonia (1881-1956) was an Italian actor, director, producer and scriptwriter in the silent era. He had his international breakthrough with Spartaco (Enrico Vidali, 1913) and became a major actor in the Italian forzuto (strong man) genre.

In the early 1920s, Ausonia moved to Marseille. In the French harbour city, he made a few films including Mes p'tits (1923) and he ran a cinema. Mes p'tits evolves in the circus and fairground milieu and was scripted by Ausonia's wife Renée Deliot aka de Liot.

Gina Relly (1891-1985) was a mesmerising actress of the French silent cinema. She starred opposite Léon Mathot in the beautiful French film serial L'empereur des pauvres/The Emperor of the poor (René Leprince, 1921).

Édouard Mathé (1886-1934) was an extremely popular French actor, in particular in the silent crime serials by Louis Feuillade. He was the protagonist of the crime serial Les Vampires (1915-1916) and also appeared in Feuillade's serials Judex (1916-1917), La nouvelle mission de Judex (1917-1918), Tih Minh (1918-1919), Vendémiaire (1918-1919) and Barrabas (1919).

Ausonia, Relly and Mathé also starred together in the film La course à l’amour/Love on the run (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1924), again made in Marseille by Lauréa Films.


French postcard by Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still for Mes p'tits (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1923) with Ausonia (Mario Guaita).


French postcard by Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still for Mes p'tits (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1923) with Gina Relly.


French postcard by Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still for Mes p'tits (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1923) with Gina Relly and Edouard Mathé.


French postcard by Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still for Mes p'tits (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1923) with Gina Relly.


French postcard by Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still for Mes p'tits (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1923).

An anonymous letter

In Mes p'tits the circus artist Ausonia (Ausonia - Mario Guaita) lives with his two children in the circus Rancy. (The film was shot at the existing circus Rancy). Ausonia is a widower after his young wife fell from a trapeze. Only his children prevent him from committing suicide. All of the circus crew like Ausonia because of his strength and goodness. Wanda the amazon (Jane Rollette) is even in love with him and shows this indirectly by her affection to his children, but Ausonia is too deep in mourning to notice.

When the circus manager dies, his wife absolves the circus and all artists are on the street. In a nearby village, Ausonia discovers a fairground booth of wrestlers and becomes the centre of attention, alas not only of the audience but also of the manager (Huguette Sandry), the widow of a wrestler. Ausonia instead is enamoured by her daughter Paulette (Gina Relly), whom the widow has promised to a jealous man, her cousin Frederick (Edouard Mathé).

What the others don’t know is that Paulette is secretly married to a young man from a rich British family. She confesses her secret to Ausonia and tells him also she is pregnant. Ausonia promises to help her, but because of the jealousy of Frederick and the widow, he is fired and once more on the streets.

Ausonia has odd jobs as a carrier in the food halls, but when his little girl gets sick they head for the sea. Here he sees the booth of Paulette’s mother again but cannot reach Paulette. He finds an anonymous letter, though, asking to send the letter a.s.a.p. to someone else. He arrives at a villa where two men quarrel and one draws a gun. While the culprit flees, Ausonia helps the victim who seems to be dying and Ausonia is arrested for murder.

His children are brought to the countryside, to his mother, who dies when she reads about her son’s arrest. The children are on the street, on their own. Meanwhile, Paulette, who had thrown the letter, is locked up by Frederick, who discovered her secret marriage and who afterwards shot her English husband.

Ausonia manages to escape from prison, returns to his natal village to discover, to his despair, that the house is empty, his mother dead and his children on the streets. He meets a small acrobatic guy (Riri Fortoul) and they form a duo. They travel the small fairgrounds, while he keeps looking for his children. His fate turns when he meets Wanda again, who has become a big music hall star, enlists Ausonia for the music-hall and hires detectives to help him.

When in a dance hall defending Wanda, Ausonia gets in a fight and disgusted he leaves the city. By chance, he manages to trace and find his children in the countryside, who are starving of hunger. He also discovers a villa where Frederick keeps Paulette locked up and the husband who survived the gunshot and now tries to free Paulette. After a fierce fight, Ausonia conquers Frederick and has him arrested, gives Paulette back to her husband and marries Wanda, thus giving the children a new mother.


French postcard by Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still for Mes p'tits (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1923). Mario Guaita aka Ausonia performs under his stage name as a strongman at the booth of the widow of Paul Mons, on a French fairground in the countryside. Note that the posters may well have been from Ausonia's former own stage career, in which he was also subtitled "l'Athlète mondain".


French postcard by Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still for Mes p'tits (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1923).


French postcard by Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still for Mes p'tits (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1923) with Ausonia (Mario Guaita).


French postcard by Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still for Mes p'tits (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1923). The girl at the right is Jane Rollette, who plays Wanda the amazon, in love with the leading character played by Mario Guaita / Ausonia.


French postcard by Cinématographes Méric. Mario Guaita/Ausonia in Mes p'tits aka Le Calvaire d'une saltimbanque (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1923). The woman in the middle could be Jane (Jeanne) Rollette.

Sources: Ciné Ressources (French), IMDb and the film print.

This post was last updated on 20 January 2021.

Gina Relly

Gina Relly (1891-1985) was an actress of the French silent cinema. Her Hollywood adventure was not a success, but she revenged herself with the prestigious production L'empereur des pauvres/The Emperor of the poor (1921).


French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 32. Photo: Cliché Pathé.

The Secret Document

Gina Relly was born Anne-Marie Geneviève Boyer in Thenon, France in 1891.

During the First World War, probably in 1916, she played her first film role, a bit part in René Navarre’s film Le Document secret/The Secret Document with Navarre himself and Denise Grey in the lead. However, IMDb mentions La dette/The Debt (Charles Burguet, 1912) as her film debut 

Her film career, however, only really set off after the First World War. In the Pathé production Perdue/Lost (Georges Monca, 1919) starring René Alexandre, she was one of the leading actresses, together with Marie Fromet (Pathé’s former child actor) and Germaine Rouer.

In the same year, Relly acted in La chimère/The chimera (Lucien Lehmann, 1919), starring Edmond Van Daële as a provincial whose plan to conquer Paris with his journal fails because of schemes. He also loses his mistress but wins a nice countryside girl in the end.


French postcard by Éditions Filma in the series Les Vedettes du Cinéma, no. 69. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma.

Reckless Life

In 1920 Gina Relly had the female lead as Jeanne de Rosan in La dette/The Debt by Gaston Roudès, a remake of the earlier film of 1912.

Pierre Magnier plays a count who wants to make up for his reckless life, which has caused one dead person. Chance brings together the son of his victim (Marcel Vibert) with the count’s own daughter (Relly).

In the same year Gina Relly also played the female lead in Nine ou la jeune fille au masque (Robert Péguy, 1920), opposite Paul Amiot and Renée Carl.

Relly then had a supporting part in the feature-length comedy Les femmes collantes (Georges Monca, Charles Prince, 1920), starring Charles Prince.

Finally also in 1920, Relly tried her luck in the US, playing the female lead in the Fox production The Face at Your Window (Richard Stanton, 1920), a patriotic, anti-bolshevist production. It didn’t materialize in a Hollywood career, so Relly returned to France.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinema. Gina Relly and Léon Mathot in the French silent film L'empereur des pauvres/The Emperor of the poor (René Leprince, 1921), an adaptation of the novel by Felicien Champsaur.

Prestigious Revenge

Gina Relly perfectly revenged herself for her failed American career with the prestigious production L'empereur des pauvres/The Emperor of the poor (René Leprince, 1921), based on the novel of Félicien Champsaur, and starring Léon Mathot.

The film tells about rich, young and spoiled Marc Anavan (Mathot), who decides to change his life, becomes a vagabond and starts doing good around him. He becomes the peaceful spokesperson for the disinherited, helped by the love of pure, young Sylvette (Relly).

Marc has to face revolution, anarchism and the Great War, before retaking his humanitarian mission. In the end he overcomes all the hardships on his way.

L’empereur des pauvres was released in France in 1922. Other main actors in the film were Henry Krauss, Gilbert Dalleu, Andrée Pascal and Lily Damita. In small parts appeared Charles de Rochefort (as Charlot) and Maurice Schutz (Marc’s father).


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres/The Emperor of the poor (René Leprince, 1921).

German Films

In 1922 Relly played in two German films: Der falsche Dimitri (Hanns Steinhof, 1922)  starring Alfred Abel as Iwan the Terrible and Eugen Klöpfer as Boris Gudunow, and Sünden von gestern (Robert Wüllner, 1922).

In the same year Relly had the lead in Le Sang des Finoël (Georges Monca, Rose Pansini, 1922) about the last survivor of a family of lumberjacks. Her life is a series of miseries: her adoption by a nice old gentleman fails, her aunts mistreat her, she prefers an infidel painter to a solid young coalman but the artists dumps her. In the end she dies of misery.

In 1923 Relly played with Edouard Mathé opposite the Italian strongman Mario Guaita ‘Ausonia’ in Mes p’tits, mostly shot on location for Laurea Films in Marseille and directed by Charles Keppens and Paul Barlatier.

The story is draped around Ausonia, who raises his two children on his own and is kicked out of a circus. Meanwhile he is falsely accused of murder and his rival (Mathé) manages to steal the man’s lover away. In the end Ausonia is acquitted from the accusation and reunited with his children, he hits the road again.


French postcard by M. Le Deley, Paris. Photo: Pathé Consortium Cinéma. Publicity still for L'empereur des pauvres/The Emperor of the poor (René Leprince, 1921).

Dreaming The Whole Old Testament

In 1924 Gina Relly acted in a second film with Mario Guaita ‘Ausonia’  and Edouard Mathé, La course à l’amour/The race to love (Charles Keppens, Paul Barlatier, 1924). This time it was a romantic comedy, about a girl (Relly) who has three suitors: an old marquis and two young men.

In the same year, Relly had a supporting part in Les deux gosses/The two kids (Louis Mercanton, 1924), about a rich child who is raised together with a poor son of circus acrobats.

In 1926 Relly acted in her last two films: the comedy Eh bien dansez maintenant/Well, Now Let's Dance (Emilien Champetier, 1926), with Henry Baudin and Madeleine Guitty, and the religious drama Le berceau de Dieu/The Cradle of God (Fred LeRoy Granville, 1926).

The latter film starred Léon Mathot as a man who loses faith but finds it again in Jerusalem when meeting a humble Christian girl and dreaming the whole Old Testament – in which an all star cast of the French silent cinema of the 1920s performed. Relly played Bethsabé, the woman king David (Lucien Dalsace) falls in love with.

After this, Relly completely retired from the screen. Gina Relly died in 1985 at the age of 93 in Colombes, France.


French postcard by A.N., Paris, in the series Les Vedettes de Cinéma, no. 98. Photo: Sartony.

Sources: DVDtoile (French), CinéRessources (French), Filmportal.de and IMDb.