''The Oubliette'' is a 1914 American silent

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

film directed by

Charles Giblyn Charles Giblyn (September 6, 1871 – March 14, 1934) was an American film director and actor of the silent era. He directed nearly 100 films between 1912 and 1927. He also appeared in 23 films between 1914 and 1934. He was one of the foun ...

, featuring

Murdock MacQuarrie Murdock MacQuarrie (August 25, 1878 – August 20, 1942) was an American silent film actor and director. His name was also seen as Murdock McQuarrie. MacQuarrie was born in San Francisco, California, and attended school there. He was the ...

, Pauline Bush, and

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...

. It is part one of a four-film series directed by Giblyn called '' The Adventures of François Villon''. ''The Oubliette'' was written by Harry G. Stafford, based on a short story of the same name by George Bronson Howard published in ''

The Century Magazine ''The Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associatio ...

''. Of the four films in the series, Chaney appears only briefly in ''The Oubliette'' and reappeared as a completely different character in the second installment of the serial, ''The Higher Law'' which is not known to survive in any archive. A still exists showing Chaney as Bertrand de la Payne moments before the character is killed in the swordfight. The film co-starred

Millard K. Wilson Millard K. Wilson (May 5, 1890 – October 5, 1933) was an American actor of the silent film era. He appeared in 94 films between 1914 and 1930, co-starring with Lon Chaney Sr. in some of them. Chaney and Wilson were life-long friends.Blake, ...

who became a lifelong friend of Chaney's, and later directed Chaney in some films at M-G-M.Blake, Michael F. (1998). "The Films of Lon Chaney". Vestal Press Inc. Page 1. . This film and ''

By the Sun's Rays ''By the Sun's Rays'' is a 1914 American short silent Western film directed by Charles Giblyn and featuring Lon Chaney and Murdock MacQuarrie. It is one of the earliest surviving films of Lon Chaney, with several prints existing in private fil ...

'' are two of Lon Chaney's earliest surviving films. ''The Oubliette'' was considered lost until the summer of 1983 when a nitrate print in excellent condition was discovered in Georgia. A couple rebuilding the steps of their front porch uncovered all three reels of the film, still in their metal cans.

Plot

Francois Villon, vagabond, poet and philosopher, is on the road to Paris with his vagabond friend Colin when they see an elderly couple being evicted from their home. The two men turn over all their money to help the couple, but later, feeling hungry, they steal the purses of two monks. They are caught and arrested, but with Colin's help, Villon dresses as one of the monks and escapes. Colin is hanged and Villon is saying farewell to his friend's corpse dangling at the gibbet when the Chevalier de Soissons arrives and mocks the swinging corpse. Villon attacks and kills the knight and dons his suit of armor. Philippa de Annonay is held prisoner at an inn by her wicked guardian, the Chevalier Bertrand de la Payne (Lon Chaney). Villon arrives at the inn and, hearing Phillippa call for help, tries to rescue her. De Payne is killed in the ensuing battle with Villon and his body is thrown off a second floor balcony. Phillippa is returned to her castle and Villon continues on to Paris. King Louis XI wishes to test Villon's loyalty so he has the poet arrested and then, disguised as a convict, the king offers to help Villon escape if he will help him to overthrow the king. Villon denounces the man, affirming his support of King Louis. The King then reveals himself and Villon is knighted for his loyalty to the throne.

Cast

François Villon François Villon (Modern French: , ; – after 1463) is the best known French poet of the Late Middle Ages. He was involved in criminal behavior and had multiple encounters with law enforcement authorities. Villon wrote about some of these ex ...

* Pauline Bush as Philippa de Annonay *

as Chevalier Bertrand de la Payne *

Doc Crane Doc Crane (1847 – April 17, 1920) was an American silent film actor. Crane was a medical doctor in Boston who served in the Civil War and returned to his practice after its end. When he was 65, he moved to California to retire. After financia ...

King Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revol ...

Chester Withey Chester "Chet" Withey (8 November 1887, Park City, Utah – 6 October 1939, California) was an American silent film actor, director, and screenwriter. He participated in the production in total of some 100 films. Born in Park City, Utah, th ...

as Colin *

as Chevalier Philip de Soisson *

Frank Lanning Frank Lanning (August 14, 1872 – June 17, 1945) was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 84 films between 1910 and 1934. He was born in Marion, Iowa and died in Los Angeles, California. Lanning's film debut came in ''The Me ...

as Oliver Le Dain *

Agnes Vernon Agnes Vernon (18951948) was an American film actress of the silent era. While still in her teens, she experienced a meteoric ascent from obscurity to box-office sensation. After turning twenty-three and a movie career fading away, she abandoned ...

Reception

Moving Picture World stated on 8/15/14: "A new series which is to follow a serial story running in the Century Magazine, it is extremely carefully staged and well-acted picture and very sure to attract attention. One of the best serial stories, judging by this first installment, that has been offered. It will make a hit in places where patrons want action and art in their pictures." Moving Picture World stated: "The camera becomes a veritable magic mirror to us in this delightful picture of the days of Francois Villon...It is remarkable how convincing and like real human life these scenes from the long dead past are. Here we have men in armor behaving like real flesh and blood people , and we quite forget we are not contemporaries with them.... We can safely say that there is no obtrusive note of anachronism in the whole first installment. It has been produced in a reasonably scholarly way. Perhaps better than the staging even is the humanity of the characters...To sum up, we find the first installment of this picture a very entertaining romantic story, full of lively and naturally produced action, well-drawn characters, clear photographs and fairly scholarly staging. We commend it highly as a first-class offering and think that it will prove a door, as it were, to better work of this kind than we have had before as a general thing."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oubliette, The 1914 films 1914 drama films 1914 short films American drama films American silent short films American black-and-white films Films directed by Charles Giblyn Films about François Villon Universal Pictures short films Cultural depictions of François Villon Cultural depictions of Louis XI of France 1910s American films Silent American drama films