La déserteuse (1917)

In our 'Spanish Chocolate series', EFSP presents a film special on the Gaumont production La déserteuse/Déserteuse! (Louis Feuillade, 1917). Stars were Yvette Andreyor and René Cresté. Chocolate Pi produced a series of six cards on the film of which the Spanish release title was Tortura de madre.


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 1. Photo: Gaumont. René Cresté in La déserteuse/Déserteuse! (Louis Feuillade, 1917).


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 2. Photo: Gaumont. Yvette Andreyor and René Cresté in La déserteuse/Déserteuse! (Louis Feuillade, 1917).


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 3. Photo: Gaumont. Yvette Andreyor and Olinda Mano in La déserteuse/Déserteuse! (Louis Feuillade, 1917).

Paying her fault with her death

Little is known about La déserteuse/Déserteuse! (Louis Feuillade, 1917), but at the backs of the collectors cards the plot is written. We've translated the Spanish text.

Solange de Gensac (Yvette Andreyor) is unhappily married to a man her parents chose. Her only reason for joy is her daughter Lucille (Olinda Mano). One day, she is visited by her youth friend, the navy officer Olivier de Esparre (René Cresté), whom she once secretly loved. He asks her to reconsider her marriage, but she answers she is still a mother.

However, when one night she sees her husband embracing another woman, she gives Gensac an ultimatum. He laughs it away, so she leaves him with her daughter. Yet, Oliver's work forces him to leave for Peking, so she decides to accompany him. When they are about to take the train though, the child's governess comes alone, as her husband has claimed the child.

Ten years after, Solange and Oliver have returned and live on the Côte d'Azur. Solange's heart has kept bleeding like it did that fatal night on the station. Because of a car accident she is escorted by a governess to a villa of an American couple, who happen to host Lucille. Solange is overjoyed to meet her daughter again, and substitutes as governess to Lucille, but the joy is cut short when the arrival of her ex is announced - so she disappears again in the dark, but not after confessing to Mrs. Davis her tragedy.

Solange gets more and more ill and begs her friend to bring Lucille to her. The husband, though, brutally denies a dying woman her last wish. It is Mrs. Davis, however, who brings Lucille to her dying mother, even if the girl doesn't know who she is. Solange has her last ecstasy seeing her daughter and smelling her flowers. Olivier asks Gensac how he will live on with his guilt, as Solange has paid her fault with her death.


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 4. Photo: Gaumont. Yvette Andreyor in La déserteuse/Déserteuse! (Louis Feuillade, 1917).


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 5. Photo: Gaumont. Yvette Andreyor in La déserteuse/Déserteuse! (Louis Feuillade, 1917).


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 6 (of six cards). Photo: Gaumont. Yvette Andreyor and René Cresté in La déserteuse/Déserteuse! (Louis Feuillade, 1917).

Sources: Wikipedia (French), and IMDb.

Yvette Andréyor

Beautiful Yvette Andréyor (1891-1962) was a French actress of the silent era. Her two most famous films were Louis Feuillades’ serials Fantômas (1913) and Judex (1916). She appeared in 108 films between 1910 and 1962.


French postcard in the 'Nos artistes dans leur loge' series, no. 327. Photo: Comoedia, Paris.


French postcard in the 'Les Artistes de Judex' series by Coquemer Grav. Photo: Gaumont. Publicity still for Judex (Louis Feuillade, 1916) with Yvette Andreyor as Jacqueline.


French postcard in the Les Vedettes du Cinéma series by Editions Filma, no. 1. Photo: Agence Générale Cinématographique.

Fantômas

Yvette Andréyor was born as Yvette Louise Pauline Royé in Paris, France in 1891. She was the daughter of the artist Jean-Baptiste André Royé and Marie-Louise Carcel.

At age six, she made her stage debut at the Théâtre de l'Odéon. She had her artistic training at the Conservatoire where she would win the first prize in 1913. Then she played at the Théâtre Antoine and in Belgium.

She made her film debut in 1910 for the Gaumont studio. Opposite Léonce Perret she played the wife in Le Haleur/The Hauler (Léonce Perret, 1911). In Le Bossu/The Hunchback (Andrew Heuzé, 1912) with Henry Krauss, she was the first interpreter of Aurore de Nevers.

Director Louis Feuillade noted her and made several short films with her alongside Renée Carl, René Navarre, André Luguet or Suzanne Grandais. For the next ten years, she was known as one of the favourite performers of Feuillade.

In 1912, she played Josephine in Fantômas (Louis Feuillade, 1913), a serial in twelve episodes with René Navarre in the title role. Three years later, she played the sweet Jacqueline Aubry in another popular serial, Judex (Louis Feuillade, 1916). Aubry is a young widow who falls in love with the popular hero, played by René Cresté.

In 1918, she filmed the last episode of La nouvelle mission de Judex/The new mission of Judex (Louis Feuillade, 1918). It would turn out to be her final collaboration with Feuillade. In 1917, she married actor Jean Toulout. They made several films together and divorced in 1926.


Spanish minicard. Photo: Reclam Films, Mallorca / Gaumont. Edmund Breon as Inspector Juve, Georges Melchior as the reporter Fandor and Yvette Andreyor as Joséphine 'la pierreuse' (the hustler) in a scene from the serial Fantomas, second series, Juve versus Fantômas/ Juve contre Fantômas (Louis Feuillade, Gaumont, 1913), card no. 2. Juve and Fandor meet Joséphine at the fancy ball.


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 4. Photo: Gaumont. Yvette Andreyor in La déserteuse (Louis Feuillade, 1917). The Spanish release title was Tortura de madre.

A beautiful voice and talent

Yvette Andréyor worked with many filmmakers, such as Gaston Ravel, Jacques de Baroncelli, Robert Peguy and Germaine Dulac. She played with Romuald Joubé, her husband Jean Toulout and Gaston Modot in Mathias Sandorf (Henry Fescourt, 1921), an adaptation of the adventure novel by Jules Verne.

In 1923, she returned to the Théâtre de l'Odéon where she had made her stage debut. For several years she devoted herself exclusively to the stage. In 1928, she appeared in one last silent film, Les deux timides/Two Timid Souls (René Clair, 1928), featuring Jim Gérald and Pierre Batcheff.

The sound cinema showed little interest in her, although she had a beautiful voice and talent. In the 1930s, Andréyor only played in some short films and was offered supporting roles under the direction of Alberto Cavalcanti and Robert Peguy.

After the war she shared the bill with Georges Marchal in Torrents (Serge de Poligny, 1946) and with Bourvil in Pas si bête/Not so stupid (André Berthomieu, 1946).

The actress later focused mainly on the theatre where she played in Luigi Pirandello's 'Six Characters in Search of an Author' and François Mauriac's 'Le Feu sur terre' (Fire on Earth). She finished her film career with the role of the governess of Yves Vincent in La planque/The Hideout (Raoul André, 1961).

In total anonymity, Yvette Andréyor died in 1962 in Paris. She was 71. Her former husband Jean Toulout had died just 12 days before her.


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 2. Photo: Gaumont. Yvette Andreyor and René Cresté in La déserteuse (Louis Feuillade, 1917). The Spanish release title was Tortura de madre.


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 3. Photo: Gaumont. Yvette Andreyor in La déserteuse (Louis Feuillade, 1917). The Spanish release title was Tortura de madre.


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 5. Photo: Gaumont. Yvette Andreyor in La déserteuse (Louis Feuillade, 1917). The Spanish release title was Tortura de madre.


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 6 (of six cards). Photo: Gaumont. Yvette Andreyor and René Cresté in La déserteuse/Déserteuse! (Louis Feuillade, 1917). The Spanish release title was Tortura de madre.

Sources: Wikipedia (French and English) and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 4 September 2022.