''The System of Doctor Goudron'' (French:''Le système du docteur Goudron et du professeur Plume'', also released in the United States as ''The Lunatics'') is a 1913 French

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

silent horror film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Henri Gouget,

Henry Roussel Henry Roussel (1875–1946), also known as Henry Roussell, was a French silent film actor, film director and screenwriter best known for his silent films of the 1910s and 1920s. He starred in well over 40 films between 1912 and 1939. Selecte ...

and

Renée Sylvaire Renée Sylvaire is a French film actress of the silent era.Waldman p.20 Selected filmography * ''The System of Doctor Goudron ''The System of Doctor Goudron'' (French:''Le système du docteur Goudron et du professeur Plume'', also released ...

. It was adapted from a 1903

Grand Guignol ''Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol'' (: "The Theatre of the Great Puppet")—known as the Grand Guignol–was a theatre in the Pigalle district of Paris (7, cité Chaptal). From its opening in 1897 until its closing in 1962, it specialised in natura ...

play (also starring Gouget) by

André de Lorde André de Latour, comte de Lorde (1869–1942) was a French playwright, the main author of the Grand Guignol plays from 1901 to 1926. His evening career was as a dramatist of terror; during daytimes he worked as a librarian in the Bibliothèque d ...

, which was itself based on the 1845

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

'' The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether'' by

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

. It has been called the first French feature-length horror film. The film was the first of two Grand Guignol adaptations directed by Tourneur, written by de Lorde, and starring Gouget and Roussel; the second would be 1914's ''

Figures de cire ''Figures de Cire'' (also known in English as ''The Man with Wax Faces,'' and re-released in 1918 as ''L'Homme aux figures de cire'') is a 1914 French short silent horror film directed by Maurice Tourneur. The film stars Henry Roussel, and wa ...

''.

Plot

The plot revolves around a journalist, who, accompanied by his wife, travels to an old castle (complete with moat) which has been turned into an asylum, in the hopes of writing about a new approach to curing patients which is said to be practiced there. Arriving during a storm, they quickly discover that the inmates have taken over, and that the "cure" to insanity is gouging out an eye and slitting the throat. One "doctor" seems to be practicing this technique; another believes that he can float. Escape seems impossible, and the reporter is drawn to a table to undergo the "cure", but a gust of wind scattering the "doctor's" papers provides a distraction, and, with the help of a sympathetic inmate, the two protagonists are able to flee to safety.

Cast

* Henri Gouget as Goudron *

as Tourist *

as Tourist's wife * Bahier as Plume *

Robert Saidreau The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

Critical reception

Hanford Judson, writing for industry trade magazine ''

The Moving Picture World The ''Moving Picture World'' was an influential early trade journal for the American film industry, from 1907 to 1927. An industry powerhouse at its height, ''Moving Picture World'' frequently reiterated its independence from the film studios. I ...

'' in 1914, called the film “the kind of picture that will put immediate quietus on any buzz of conversation in the auditorium and will be called a ‘terrible, powerful’ picture. It is artistic, real, and gripping,” and praised the cinematography, along with Gouget's performance. Tourneur biographer Harry Waldman described the film as "...one of the first truly original French films - the earliest of the Grand-Guignol genre and the most celebrated if not most shocking of its day."

References

Bibliography

* Waldman, Harry. ''Maurice Tourneur: The Life and Films''. McFarland, 2001.

External links

* 1913 films 1913 horror films Films based on works by Edgar Allan Poe Films directed by Maurice Tourneur French silent short films French horror films French black-and-white films Silent horror films 1910s French films {{1910s-horror-film-stub