Jaque Catelain

Jaque Catelain (1897-1965) was one of the most well-known faces of the French silent cinema. In the early 1920s, he was a popular Jeune premier or romantic lead. He was the fixed star of avant-garde director Marcel L'Herbier.


Yugoslavian postcard by Jos. Caklovic, Zagreb, no. 75. Photo: Moslinger Film, Zagreb.


French postcard by Cinémagazine, no. 42. Sent by mail in Monaco in 1928.


French postcard by Cinémagazine, no. 179.


French postcard by LL. Photo: Gaumont.


French postcard by Éditions Filma in the Les Vedettes de l'Écran series, no. 111.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 824. Photo: Isabey, Paris. Could be for the film Der Rosenkavalier (Robert Wiene, 1925), shot in Austria.

Fixed Actor

Jaque Catelain, also written as Jaque-Catelain, Jacques Catelain and Jacque Cathelain, was born as Jacques Guerin-Castelain in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, in 1897.

His father was the mayor of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and also moved into literary and theatrical circles. This allowed the young Jacques to encounter many famous names in his childhood, including Anatole France, Sarah Bernhardt, and Gabrielle Réjane.

He showed an early enthusiasm for the arts and music, and at the age of 16, he entered the Académie Julian in Paris to study fine arts. With the outbreak of the First World War in the following year, he changed direction and chose to study acting at the Conservatoire. He enrolled in the class of Paul Mounet, but was then mobilised into the artillery.

In 1914 Catelain also met Marcel L'Herbier, then a writer and critic. L'Herbier became a major influence on his life and career, and they formed a lifelong friendship. Jaque made his film debut with a film written by L'Herbier, Le Torrent/The Torrent (René Hervil, Louis Mercanton, 1917).

He then starred in L'Herbier's first completed film, Rose-France (Marcel L'Herbier, 1918). Although the film received poor reviews, Catelain became Marcel L'Herbier's fixed actor in the silent era.


French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 199. Jaque Catelain in Le marchand de plaisirs/The Pleasures Merchant (Jaque Catelain, 1923). Photo: Sartony, Lafitte. This was one of two films Catelain directed himself, in addition to his prolific career as a silent film actor.


French postcard in the Collection Magie Noire by Editions Hazan, no. 6073, 1988. Photo: Madame L'Herbier / SPADEM, Paris. Jaque Catelain in L'inhumaine/The New Enchantment (Marcel L'Herbier, 1924). The exterior of the house of inventor Einar Norsen (Catelain) was designed by architect Robert Mallet-Stevens.


Vintage postcard. Huguette Duflos and Jaque Catelain in Der Rosenkavalier (Robert Wiene, 1925).


French postcard. With Nathalie Kovanko.


French postcard. Jaque Catelain and Nathalie Kovanko in Le prince charmant/Prince Charming (Viktor Tourjansky 1925).


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 525. Jaque Catelain in Die Apachen von Paris/Paname... n'est pas Paris/Apaches of Paris (Nikolai Malikoff, 1927). Signed by Catelain in 1929.

Good looks of a rather bland and pretty kind

He starred in 12 of the silent films of avant-garde master L'Herbier, including L'homme du large/Man of the Sea (Marcel L'Herbier, 1920) with the young Charles Boyer, Eldorado (Marcel L'Herbier, 1921), L'Inhumaine/The New Enchantment (Marcel L'Herbier, 1924) and Feu Mattia Pascal/The Late Mathias Pascal (Marcel L'Herbier, 1924).

According to Wikipedia, his good looks were of a rather bland and pretty kind which did not commend him so much to later audiences, and he was often criticised for wooden and inexpressive performances. Some contemporary critics, however, notably Louis Delluc, saw his restrained and economical technique as a significant development away from the exaggerated theatrical acting that was still common in films and praised the sincerity and natural quality of his performances.

Catelain not only acted in L'Herbier's films, but he also devised controversial make-up for some of the actors in L'Inhumaine, and his artistic skills were put to further use in two set designs for L'Argent. These films made Catelain into a leading star who was in demand to appear in foreign films as well as in productions of other French directors such as Léonce Perret's lavish production Koenigsmark/The Secret Spring (Léonce Perret, 1923) with Huguette Duflos.

In 1922 he was working in Munich under contract with a German film company and he returned there in 1925 to appear in Robert Wiene's (silent) production of Der Rosenkavalier (1925). Also in 1925, he was offered a seven-year contract by MGM to work in America, but he turned this down.

Under the aegis of L'Herbier's production company Cinégraphic, he directed two silent films himself: Le marchand de plaisirs/The Pleasures Merchant (Jaque Catelain, 1923), shot at Le Touquet, and La galerie des monstres/Gallery of Monsters (Jaque Catelain, 1924) with Jean Murat, shot in Spain.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1805/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Die Apachen von Paris/The Apaches of Paris (Nikolai Malikoff, 1927).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1936/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Trude Heiringer, Dora Horovitz, Wien (Vienna).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 3611/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Manuel Frères, Paris.


French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 455. Photo: Studio G.L. Manuel Frères.


French postcard by Europe, no. 174. Photo: Société des Cinéromans.


French postcard by Europe, no. 262. Photo: Société des Cinéromans.

Reporter in Hollywood

With the advent of sound, Jaque Catelain first continued to play leads, mostly in L'Herbier's early sound films. After L'Herbier's La Route Imperiale/The Imperial Road (Marcel L'Herbier, 1935) with Käthe von Nagy. Catelain continued to play, e.g. in Jean Renoir's La Marseillaise/The Marseillaise (1938) with Pierre Renoir, but his parts became smaller.

More and more he worked on the stage. In the late 1930s, he was also sent to Hollywood as a reporter for the French Daily Journal, to interview Charlie Chaplin, Josef von Sternberg and Erich von Stroheim. At about the same time Catelain married Suzanne Vial, a friend since childhood who had become a production assistant to L'Herbier in the 1920s and continued working with him until 1944.

In May 1940, Catelain left France for a four-month theatrical tour of South America, but within a month France was occupied by the Germans and his absence lasted for six years. He worked as a stage actor in Montreal and dubbed films for MGM in Hollywood.

After the liberation, he found only bit parts in American films. In 1946, back in France he only played minor roles in films by L'Herbier such as Les derniers jours de Pompeii/The Last Days of Pompeii (Marcel L'Herbier, Paolo Moffa, 1950). Bit parts (partly uncredited) followed in films by Jean Renoir, French CanCan/Only the French Can (Jean Renoir, 1954), Elena et les hommes/Elena and Her Men (Jean Renoir, 1956) and the TV film Le Testament du Dr. Cordelier/The Doctor's Horrible Experiment (Jean Renoir, 1959).

In 1950, Catelain published a book on his 'mentor', Marcel L'Herbier. Jaque Catelain died in 1965, Paris, France. He was the husband of the editor and stage manager Suzanne Vial.


The original cover of the French film journal Mon Ciné, no. 32, 28 September 1922.


French postcard by Europe, no. 294. Photo: Cinéromans-Films de France.


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 543. Jaque Catelain and Ruth Weyher in Paname...n'est pas Paris/Die Apachen von Paris (Nikolai Malikoff, 1927), a Franco-German co-production, distributed by Ufa.


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 641.


French postcard by A. N., Paris, in the series 'Les vedettes de Cinema', no. 68. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères.


French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 347. Photo: Alban.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 444. Photo: Ernst Förster, Vienna.


German autograph card, signed in 1932. Photo: Sandau Brauer, Berlin. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), 1895, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 4 September 2023.

Paname...n'est pas Paris (1927)

Paname...n'est pas Paris/Die Apachen von Paris/Apaches of Paris (Nikolai Malikoff, 1927) was a French silent crime drama, supervised by maestro Marcel L'Herbier. His protege Jaque Catelain plays a young street gangster, who is torn between a good and a bad woman. The French press labelled these criminals in Paris 'Apaches' because of their savage violence. They became a fad, especially after the Apache dance conquered the world. 


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 543. Photo: Jaque Catelain and Ruth Weyer in Paname...n'est pas Paris/Die Apachen von Paris (Nikolai Malikoff, 1927).


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 528. Photo: Charles Vanel in Paname...n'est pas Paris/Die Apachen von Paris (Nikolai Malikoff, 1927). Signed by Vanel at 25 April 1930.


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 527. Lia Eibenschutz in Paname...n'est pas Paris/ Die Apachen von Paris (Nikolai Malikoff, 1927).

A fire in the editing room

In Paname...n'est pas Paris/ Die Apachen von Paris (Nikolai Malikoff, 1927), Jaque Catelain plays the young Milord who is part of a gang of criminals as well as his companion, Mama Savonette (Ruth Weyher).

Milord is under the spell of Winnie Rowlandson (Lia Eibenschütz) and hesitates to steal her bracelet. He plans to make amends, but becoming an honest boy is more difficult than Milord supposes...

The cast was a mix of French and German actors. Mylord's opponent, the Apache Bécot, was played by the great Charles Vanel. Other actors were the Frenchman Bondy, and from Germany Olga Limburg and Jakob Tiedtke.

The Director of the film was the Russian director Nikolai Malikoff, assisted by Georges Lampin. The famous French director Marcel L'Herbier was the producer supervisor. The film's art direction was done by the later film director Claude Autant-Lara and Vladimir Meingard.

The Franco-German co-production, by L'Alliance Cinématographique Européenne (ACE) and the Ufa, had a difficult production history. According to Cinémagazine, a fire broke out on Thursday 31 July 1927 in the editing room of the G. M. Film factory in Billancourt, where the film was being developed.

At the time of the fire, the film had just been finished. The producers decided to re-shoot the film completely. The German premiere took place on 17 December 1927 in Berlin at the Gloria-Palast cinema. The French premiere was on 17 February 1928.


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 525. Signed by Jaque Catelain in 1929.


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 526. Ruth Weyher in Paname...n'est pas Paris/Die Apachen von Paris (Nikolai Malikoff, 1927).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1805/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa.

Paname and the Apaches

'Paname' is the 'argot' (slang) name for Paris and its suburbs. But there is a difference between the two. Paname is the hidden Paris, the dark and dangerous Paris of the criminals and the prostitutes. During the First World War, the term took off and was used in songs.

'Apache' literally refers to the Native American Apache tribe, but had the additional meaning in French of a Paris street gangster. After a particularly heinous crime in 1902, the newspaper reporter Authur Dupin wrote the headline "Crime Committed by the Apaches of Belleville," referring to the perceived savagery of the American Indians described in James Fenimore Cooper novels, popular at that time. The French pronounce it "a-PAHSH", and the term stuck.

In 1900, the name was also taken up by a group of young artists including the composers Claude Debussy, Manuel de Falla, and Maurice Ravel. Inadvertently they bumped once into a newspaper seller who exclaimed "Attention les apaches". They soon adopted the name, which Ravel suggested that they adopt the first melody of Borodin's 2nd Symphony as their theme, an idea with which they all agreed. The group met each Saturday and rallied around Claude Debussy's opera 'Pelléas et Mélisande' at and after its controversial premiere.

The young Apaches of Montmartre, Belleville, and the Barrières swaggered with arrogant pride, dressed distinctively and were handy with a knife. In 1908, American dancer Maurice Mouvet and French actor and dancer Max Dearly began to visit the low bars frequented by Apaches in a search for inspiration for new dances. They formulated the new dance from moves seen there and gave to it the name Apache, according to Wikipedia and other sources. Max Dearly first performed it in 1908 in Paris at the Ambassadeurs and Maurice in Ostend at the Kursaal. A short while later, in the summer of 1908, Maurice and his partner Leona performed the dance at Maxim's, and Max Dearly made an even bigger impact with it, partnered with Mistinguett, in the Moulin Rouge show, 'La Revue du Moulin'.

However, Mistinguett later claimed that she had invented the Apache dance. Who was right? Dance historian Richard Powers wrote an interesting article about the history of the Apache dance. Powers: "with a Mr. Paulo as her partner, Mistinguett took the low-class hugging a step further and invented 'The Cake Walk of the Barrières', which was a mock fight-as-dance between a hooligan from the low-class Barrières, and his woman. This new dance was described, with photos, in the same 1903 issue of Paris qui Chante. The illustrations show the street thug violently threatening the woman, and pulling her by her hair.  The article described the dance as "vulgar and amazing at the same time." Like her 'Cake-Walk Parisien', this mock battle was entertainment, a fiction. Mistinguett never stated that there was any prototype of men choreographically abusing women in reality. This dance also went by another name, 'La Valse Chaloupee', or 'Swaying Waltz', and later as 'La danse du Pavé', 'Danse Apache' and 'Valse Apache'."

So Mistinguett created the Apache dance, five years before she partnered Max Dearly at the Moulin Rouge. The Apache dance reenacts a violent 'discussion' between an Apache, a pimp and a gigolette, a young prostitute. It includes mock slaps and punches, the man picking up and throwing the woman to the ground, or lifting and carrying her while she struggles or feigns unconsciousness. Thus, the dance shares many features with the theatrical discipline of stage combat. In some versions of the dance, the woman may fight back. The Apache remained a popular cabaret act through the 1960s.

The Apaches also figured in early French films, such as in Georges Mélies' short comedy Les Apaches (1904). The famous French film serial Les Vampires (Louis Feuillade, 1915) about the Apache gang called 'Les Vampires' contains a number of Apache dance scenes. A notable detail is that during a part of the waltz the man holds firmly onto the woman's hair, rather than her body. Apache dances also figured in many international films. And in Paname...n'est pas Paris/Die Apachen von Paris (Nikolai Malikoff, 1927).


Mistinguett and Max Dearly. French postcard by F.C. & Cie, no. 283. Photo: Boyer & Bert. Collection: Didier Hanson.


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 528. Photo: Charles Vanel in Paname...n'est pas Paris/Die Apachen von Paris (Nikolai Malikoff, 1927).


Excerpt from Paname...n'est pas Paris/Die Apachen von Paris (Nikolai Malikoff, 1927). Source: Maximilian Guth (YouTube).

Sources: Richard Powers (The hidden story of the Apache dance), Wikipedia (English and English) and IMDb.

Der Rosenkavalier (1925)

French actors Huguette Duflos and Jaque Catelain, and German actors Paul Hartmann and Michael Bohnen played the leads in the Austrian silent film Der Rosenkavalier/The Knight of the Rose (Robert Wiene, 1925), adapted from the comic opera by Richard Strauss with a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 824. Photo: Isabey, Paris. Jaque Catelain in Der Rosenkavalier/The Knight of the Rose (Robert Wiene, 1925).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 47/1. Photo: Bruckmann-Verleih / Robert Wiene-Produktion der Pan-Film A.-G., Vienna. Jaque Catelain and Elli Felicie Berger in Der Rosenkavalier/The Knight of the Rose (Robert Wiene, 1925).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 47/2. Photo: Bruckmann-Verleih / Robert Wiene-Produktion der Pan-Film A.-G., Vienna. Huguette Duflos and Jaque Catelain in Der Rosenkavalier/The Knight of the Rose (Robert Wiene, 1925).

Amorous twists and turns

The Austrian silent film Der Rosenkavalier/The Knight of the Rose (1925) was based on the opera of the same name by Richard Strauss (music) and Hugo von Hofmannsthal (libretto). Robert Wiene, creator of the expressionistic masterpiece Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari/The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), was the director.

Hugo von Hofmannsthal considerably changed the storyline of the opera for the film version of Der Rosenkavalier (1925). The film included for instance a final scene in the formal gardens behind the Field Marshal's residence.

The story is situated at the Austrian court. While the marshal of Werdenberg (Paul Hartmann) is becoming famous in the war, his wife, Countess Maria Theresia von Werdenberg (Huguette Duflos), consoles herself in the arms of the young Count Octavian (Jaque Catelain) and tries to arrange the love affairs of her nephew, Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau (Michael Bohnen), by presenting him to young Sophie (Ellie Felicie Berger).

This baron is taken with her and the 'Marschallin' proposes Octavian to be Ochs’ matchmaker (Rosenkavalier, the Knight of the Rose) in order to present the traditional silver rose to his fiancée. But when they meet, Octavian and Sophie immediately fall in love with each other...

Analogous to the opera’s three acts, the film’s narrative consists of three main units. These are interspersed with war scenes portraying the world as lived in by the Marshall, who does not appear in the opera. In the film, his character takes on an active role, resolving the amorous twists and turns at the end of the film which, in the opera, are left unresolved.

Filming began on 18 June 1925 at the famous Schloßtheater Schönbrunn in Vienn, which lasted until the end of August after several weather-related interruptions. Other locations were in Vienna, as well as outside, in Lower Austria. Indoor shots were shot in the film studio of Listo-Film. The numerous and elaborate rococo costumes were created by the Wiener Werkstätte für dekorierte Kunst Ges.m.b.H. and the wigs of Ludwig Rudolf.

The production fell temporally in the middle of the worst crisis of the Austrian silent cinema, which at this time endured heavy competition by the cheaply made but qualitative US productions. Numerous domestic production companies went bankrupt at that time. The Pan-Film was one of the few major companies that continued to make films.


Vintage postcard. Huguette Duflos and Jaque Catelain in Der Rosenkavalier/The Knight of the Rose (Robert Wiene, 1925).


German postcard by Ross B.V.G., Berlin. Photo: Verleih Filmhaus Bruckmann & Co., A.G. Paul Hartmann in Der Rosenkavalier/The Knight of the Rose (Robert Wiene, 1925).

A formidable narrative power

Der Rosenkavalier/The Knight of the Rose (Robert Wiene, 1926) premiered on 10 January 1926 at the Dresden Semperoper (Semper Opera House), which had also hosted the actual opera's premiere 15 years earlier. Richard Strauss' score included music not only from the opera but also sections of his Couperin Suite and several marches and dances from Strauss’ repertoire. Strauss also composed new ones.

During the film's performances, the music was provided by an orchestra. At the premiere, this was conducted by Richard Strauss himself. The film's projection speed had to be adjusted by the projector in order to fit the speed of the orchestra. This task fell to the film's cameraman, Hans Androschin, because only he knew the exact length of each scene and cut.

In later performances, a special recording, also conducted by Strauss, provided the music. Richard Strauss conducted the Vienna and London premieres and recorded excerpts from the film score on the Victrola label at that time. A planned tour of the United States in 1927 by Strauss and his orchestra failed to go ahead because of the emergence of sound films.

Although Pan-film landed her greatest artistic success with this film, the company also went broke due to the enormous costs of this production. For a long time, the film and the accompanying score for large orchestra had not been performed due to synchronisation problems and the loss of the last reel.

After the restoration of the film in 2006 and the reconstruction of the missing final sequence of the film by the Filmarchiv Austria, Der Rosenkavalier was re-released for a television broadcast by German broadcaster ZDF and Arte on 6 September 2006 at the site of its premiere, the Semperoper in Dresden. The musical accompaniment was performed by the Saxon Staatskapelle Dresden, conducted by Frank Strobel.

Frank Strobel: "In Wiene’s film, which some consider to be too conventional, the cinematic imagery is just one element within the overall concept. The other is the music, whose interaction with the film is lending it a formidable narrative power. In the Rosenkavalier film, the typical approach to film music composition, whereby the music is written subsequent to the film and functionally adapted to it, is turned on its head: The film’s central element is the music played by the orchestra as opposed to the libretto. The music is served by the film along with its new episodes and is also consistently referred to by the choreography of the actors. This is not surprising since the film was shot after the music."


German postcard by Ross B.V.G., Berlin. Photo: Verleih Filmhaus Bruckmann & Co., A.G. Jaque Catelain, Paul Hartmann and Ellie Felicie Berger in Der Rosenkavalier/The Knight of the Rose (Robert Wiene, 1925).


German postcard by Ross B.V.G., Berlin. Photo: Verleih Filmhaus Bruckmann & Co., A.G. Michael Bohnen, Jaque Catelain, Ellie Felicie Berger and Carl Forest in Der Rosenkavalier/The Knight of the Rose (Robert Wiene, 1925).


German postcard by Ross B.V.G., Berlin. Photo: Verleih Filmhaus Bruckmann & Co., AG. Paul Hartmann and Huguette Duflos in Der Rosenkavalier/The Knight of the Rose (Robert Wiene, 1925).

Sources: Frank Strobel, Wikipedia and IMDb.