''Mademoiselle from Armentieres'' is a 1926 British World War I silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Maurice Elvey Maurice Elvey (11 November 1887 – 28 August 1967) was one of the most prolific film directors in British history. He directed nearly 200 films between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year. He a ...

and starring

Estelle Brody Estelle Brody (15 August 1900 – 3 June 1995) was an American actress who became one of the biggest female stars of British silent film in the latter half of the 1920s. Her career was then derailed by a series of ill-advised decisions and ...

, John Stuart and

Alf Goddard Frank Henry "Alf" Goddard (28 November 1897 in Brentford, Middlesex – 25 February 1981 in Ealing, London) was an English film actor. Brother of a famous boxer, Alf Goddard was once a boxer too. He was also a trained athlete and a professiona ...

. The film was Elvey's first collaboration with screenwriter

Victor Saville Victor Saville (25 September 1895 – 8 May 1979) was an English film director, producer, and screenwriter. He directed 39 films between 1927 and 1954. He also produced 36 films between 1923 and 1962. Biography Saville produced his first f ...

. It was followed by a 1928 sequel '' Mademoiselle Parley Voo''.

Plot

The unnamed Mademoiselle (Brody) helps her aunt to run a restaurant in

Armentières Armentières (; vls, Armentiers) is a commune in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille. The motto of the town is ''Pauvre mais fière'' (Poor but proud). Geograp ...

. British soldier Johnny (Stuart) has fallen in love with her, and she shows signs of reciprocation. The local liaison officer asks Mademoiselle whether she can find out anything about a customer named Branz, who has aroused suspicion. By working her charms on him to gain his confidence, she discovers that he is a German spy. Mademoiselle has to keep her mission secret to avoid giving away her real motives. However Johnny misinterprets the attention she pays to Brandt, assuming her to be fickle. Johnny is summoned to the fighting line before Mademoiselle can explain herself. Once she has fulfilled her mission, she goes in search of Johnny to put him in the picture. She finds his regiment in a captured German trench, with Johnny wounded. Then the trench is recaptured by the Germans with Branz in tow. Things look bleak until the British forces counter-attack and once again take the trench, killing Branz in the process. Mademoiselle and Johnny are trapped when the trench wall collapses, but manage to extricate themselves and look forward to their future together.

Cast

as Mademoiselle * John Stuart as Johnny * Marie Ault as Aunt * Gabriel Rosca as Branz *

as Fred *

Clifford Heatherley Clifford Heatherley Lamb (8 October 1888 in Preston, Lancashire – 15 September 1937 in London) was an English stage and film actor. Filmography * ''Henry VIII'' (1911) * ''Bleak House'' (1920) * '' The Tavern Knight'' (1920) * '' The Mys ...

as Interrogator * Humberston Wright as Old Soldier * Boris Ranevsky as Liaison Officer

Later history

The film opened in London in September 1926 and was still playing in cinemas around the country until well into 1927. It was reportedly the most profitable British film of 1926 and made an instant star of Brody. The

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

holds fragments amounting to around one third of the film in the

BFI National Archive The BFI National Archive is a department of the British Film Institute, and one of the largest film archives in the world. It was founded as the National Film Library in 1935; its first curator was Ernest Lindgren. In 1955, its name became the N ...

, but the remaining two thirds cannot be found and the film as a whole is classed as "missing, believed lost". It is included on the BFI's " 75 Most Wanted" list of missing British feature films.

References

External links

BFI 75 Most Wanted entry
with extensive notes * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mademoiselle From Armentieres 1926 romantic drama films British romantic drama films British silent feature films British spy drama films British black-and-white films Films directed by Maurice Elvey Films set in France Lost British films Western Front (World War I) films World War I spy films 1920s spy drama films Films produced by Victor Saville Films with screenplays by Victor Saville 1926 films 1926 lost films 1920s British films Silent romantic drama films Silent war films Lost war films