''Le Carnaval des vérités'' is a 1920 French silent film written and directed by

Marcel L'Herbier Marcel L'Herbier (; 23 April 1888 – 26 November 1979) was a French filmmaker who achieved prominence as an avant-garde theorist and imaginative practitioner with a series of silent films in the 1920s. His career as a director continued unti ...

Background

After completing a commercial film for

Léon Gaumont Léon Ernest Gaumont (; 10 May 1864 – 10 August 1946) was a French inventor, engineer, and industrialist who was a pioneer of the motion picture industry. He founded the world’s first and oldest film studio Gaumont Film Company, and worked in ...

, Marcel L'Herbier was offered a contract to work on a prestigious series of films which would be known as "Gaumont Série Pax". Although the terms of the contract placed unwelcome restrictions upon his control over his work, L'Herbier realised that it also offered him an unparalleled opportunity to benefit from the international links of the Gaumont company and to work in the best technical facilities then available. His first project, which he was both to write and to direct, was ''Le Carnaval des vérités'', a symbolist drama about the struggle between Truth and Falsehood.

Production

Filming took place on location on the Basque coast near Biarritz in November 1919 and subsequently at the Studios de La Villette in Paris. The central role in the film was played by the stage actress

Suzanne Desprès Suzanne Desprès (16 December 1875 – 1 July 1951) was a French actress who was born at Verdun, Meuse and trained at the Paris Conservatoire, where in 1897 she obtained the first prize for comedy, and the second for tragedy. She then became as ...

, who was making her first appearance in a film. Other parts were taken by the experienced

Paul Capellani Paul Capellani (September 9, 1877 – November 7, 1960) was a noted French silent film actor. His brother was the director Albert Capellani and his uncle the film director Roger Capellani who died May 1940 at the Battle of Dunkirk. He starre ...

and two actors who would make regular appearances in L'Herbier's silent films,

Marcelle Pradot Marcelle Pradot (born Marcelle Marie Claire Pénicaud, or Pénicaut; 27 July 1901 – 24 June 1982) was a French actress who worked principally in silent films. She was born at Montmorency, Val-d'Oise, near Paris. At the age of 18 while she ...

and

Jaque Catelain Jaque Catelain (9 February 1897 – 5 March 1965) was a French actor who came to prominence in silent films of the 1920s, and who continued acting in films and on stage until the 1950s. He also wrote and directed two silent films himself, and he ...

. Great emphasis was placed on the visual design of the film, and one of the two set-designers was

Claude Autant-Lara Claude Autant-Lara (; 5 August 1901 – 5 February 2000) was a French film director and later Member of the European Parliament (MEP). Biography Born at Luzarches in Val-d'Oise, Autant-Lara was educated in France and at London's Mill Hill Sc ...

, then aged 18 and undertaking his first job in cinema. His work included a "phantasmagoric" set for the climactic scene of the film which featured a masked ball.

Plot

Comtesse Della Gentia and her lover Paul attempt to seduce and blackmail a rich neighbour Juan, who is in love with a naïve young friend of theirs, Clarisse. Their plot fails; the Comtesse kills herself at a ball, and her lover re-covers her face with its mask.

Cast

, as Madame Della Gentia *

, as Paul Dorsenne *

, as Juan Tristan *

, as Clarisse *Eugénie Nau, as Madame Aristoy *

Claude France Claude France (March 9, 1893 – January 3, 1928) born in Emden, Germany; was a German-born French actress. She was born Jane Joséphine Anna Françoise Wittig. She was discovered by Leon Gaumont who was impressed with her beauty. She had worked ...

Marcelle Chantal Marcelle Chantal (1901–1960) was a French stage and film actress. Chantal appeared in a number of leading roles in films such as Maurice Tourneur's '' In the Name of the Law'' (1932). Early in her career she married British banker Jefferson ...

Philippe Hériat Philippe Hériat (15 September 1898 in Paris – 10 October 1971) was a multi-talented French novelist, playwright and actor. Biography Born Raymond Gérard Payelle, he studied with film director René Clair and in 1920 made his debut in silent ...

Reception

On its release in June 1920, the film met with reasonable success both with critics and with the public. The receipts from its release were valued at 188,800 francs, showing a small profit over its costs. Of the six films which L'Herbier made for Gaumont, this seems to have been the only one which did not make a financial loss. Léon Gaumont was sufficiently pleased with the film to allow L'Herbier a larger budget for his next work, '' L'Homme du large''.Jaque Catelain, ''Jaque Catelain présente Marcel L'Herbier''. (Paris: Vautrain, 1950.) pp.42-43.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Carnaval des verites 1920 films French black-and-white films French silent feature films Films directed by Marcel L'Herbier