''The Corsican Brothers'' (french: Les Frères corses) is a

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) fact ...

Alexandre Dumas, père Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer. ...

, first published in 1844. It is the story of two conjoined brothers who, though separated at birth, can still feel each other's physical distress. It has been adapted many times on the stage and in film.

Plot

The story starts in March 1841, when the narrator travels to

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

and stays at the home of the widow Savilia de Franchi who lives near Olmeto and Sollacaro. She is the mother of formerly

conjoined twins Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are twins joined ''Uterus, in utero''. A very rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 49,000 births to 1 in 189,000 births, with a somewhat higher in ...

Louis and Lucien. Louis is a lawyer in Paris, while Lucien clings to his Corsican roots and stays at his mother's home. The brothers were separated at birth by a doctor with his

scalpel A scalpel, lancet, or bistoury is a small and extremely sharp bladed instrument used for surgery, anatomical dissection, podiatry and various arts and crafts (either called a hobby knife or an X-acto knife.). Scalpels may be single-use dispos ...

, but Louis and Lucien can feel each other's emotions, even at a distance. Lucien explains he has a mission to undertake, with reluctance. He has to mediate in a

vendetta Vendetta may refer to: * Feud or vendetta, a long-running argument or fight Film * ''Vendetta'' (1919 film), a film featuring Harry Liedtke * ''Vendetta'' (1950 film), an American drama produced by Howard Hughes * ''Vendetta'' (1986 film), an ...

between the Orlandi and Colona families and invites the narrator to accompany him and meet the head of the Orlandi family.

Adaptations

Theatre

The play '' The Corsican Brothers'', by Dion Boucicault, based on the story, premiered in 1852.

Film

* ''The Corsican Brothers'' (1898), directed by film pioneer and inventor George Albert Smith * ''The Corsican Brothers'' (1902), directed by Dicky Winslow * ''The Corsican Brothers'' (1912), featuring

George Lessey George Lessey (June 8, 1879 – June 3, 1947) was an American actor and director of the silent era. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1910 and 1946. He also directed more than 70 films between 1913 and 1922. Lessey was born in Amh ...

* ''The Corsican Brothers'' (1915), starring

King Baggot William King Baggot (November 7, 1879 – July 11, 1948) was an American actor, film director and screenwriter. He was an internationally famous movie star of the silent film era. The first individually publicized leading man in Americ ...

in the dual title roles, directed by George Lessey *'' The Corsican Brothers Up To Date'' (1915), directed by

Charles Hutchison Charles Hutchison (December 3, 1879 – May 30, 1949) was an American film actor, director and screenwriter. He appeared in more than 40 films between 1914 and 1944. He also directed 33 films between 1915 and 1938. Though he directed nume ...

* ''The Corsican Brothers'' (1917), directed by

André Antoine André Antoine (31 January 185823 October 1943) was a French actor, theatre manager, film director, author, and critic who is considered the father of modern mise en scène in France. Biography André Antoine was a clerk at the Paris Gas Utilit ...

* ''The Corsican Brothers'' (1920), directed by

Louis J. Gasnier Louis Joseph Gasnier (September 15, 1875 – February 15, 1963) was a French-American film director, producer, screenwriter and stage actor. A cinema pioneer, Gasnier shepherded the early career of comedian Max Linder, co-directed the enormously ...

* ''The Corsican Brothers'' (1941), starring

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr., (December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000) was an American actor, producer and decorated naval officer of World War II. He is best known for starring in such films as ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937), ''Gunga Din'' (1939) ...

* ''Apoorva Sagodharargal'' (1949), a Tamil film starring M. K. Radha and P. Bhanumathi, directed by Acharya *''

The Bandits of Corsica ''The Bandits of Corsica'', alternative title ''The Return of the Corsican Brothers'', is a 1953 American adventure film directed by Ray Nazarro and starring Richard Greene, Paula Raymond and Raymond Burr. It is loosely based on the 1844 novella ...

'' (1953), starring Richard Greene in the dual title roles, directed by

Ray Nazarro Ray Nazarro ''(aka'' "Ray" and "Nat;" ''né'' Raymond Alfred Nazarro; September 25, 1902 – September 8, 1986) was an American film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. Budd Boetticher called him a "ten-day picture guy."Budd B ...

* ''The Corsican Brothers'', (1955), an Argentine film, directed by

Leo Fleider Leo Fleider (October 12, 1913 in Hermanowa, Poland - August 5, 1977 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) was a Polish born Argentine film director and screenwriter, and one of the influential directors in the Cinema of Argentina of the classic era. He ...

* ''The Corsican Brothers'' (1961 film), a French-Italian production starring

Geoffrey Horne Geoffrey Horne (born August 22, 1933) is an American actor, director, and acting coach at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. His screen credits include ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'', '' Bonjour Tristesse'', ''The Strange One'', '' ...

*''

Aggi Pidugu ''Aggi Pidugu'' () is a 1964 Indian Telugu-language swashbuckler film, produced and directed by B. Vittalacharya under the Sri Vital Combines banner. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Krishna Kumari and Rajasree, with music composed by Rajan–Nagendr ...

'' (1964), a Telugu film directed by

B. Vittalacharya B. Vittalacharya (28 January 1920 – 28 May 1999) was an Indian film director and producer known for his works in Telugu and Kannada cinema. He was known as ''Janapada Brahma'' in the Telugu film industry. Vittalacharya formed his film pr ...

, starring N. T. Rama Rao, Krishna Kumari and

Rajasri Rajasree (Rajasree Thota Panchajanyam, Kusuma Kumari, born 31 August 1945), also known as Rajasri or Rajashri, is an Indian actress active from 1956 to 1979. She is particularly famous for her portrayal as a princess in several folklore Telug ...

*'' Aathma Pooja'' (1970), a Sinhala (Sri Lankan) film directed by M. Masthaan, starring

Gamini Fonseka Kala Keerthi Sembuge Gamini Shelton Fonseka () (21 March 1936 - 30 September 2004 as :si:ගාමිණී ෆොන්සේකා, ගාමිණී ෆොන්සේකා), was a Cinema of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan film actor, film director ...

*''

Start the Revolution Without Me ''Start the Revolution Without Me'' is a 1970 British-French-American period comedy film directed by Bud Yorkin and starring Gene Wilder, Donald Sutherland, Hugh Griffith, Jack MacGowran, Billie Whitelaw, Orson Welles (playing himself as nar ...

'' (1970), a parody starring

Gene Wilder Jerome Silberman (June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016), known professionally as Gene Wilder, was an American actor, comedian, writer and filmmaker. He is known mainly for his comedic roles, but also for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in ''Willy Won ...

and

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films '' Citizen X'' (1995) a ...

as two sets of identical twins, one of each pair switched at birth *'' Neerum Neruppum'' (1971), a Tamil film starring

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

and

Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

*''

Gora Aur Kala ''Gora Aur Kala'' () is a 1972 Indian Hindi-language film, produced by Rajkumar Kohli and directed by Naresh Kumar. The film stars Rajendra Kumar in a double role, Hema Malini, Rekha, Premnath, Prem Chopra, Madan Puri and Jagdeep. The film's ...

'' (1972), a Hindi film starring

Rajendra Kumar Rajendra Kumar Tuli (20 July 1927 – 12 July 1999) was an Indian actor who starred in Bollywood films. Starting his career in 1949, he appeared in more than 80 films in a career spanning over four decades. He was popularly known as the 'Jubil ...

Hema Malini Hema Malini (born 16 October 1948) is an Indian actress, director, producer, and politician. She is primarily known for her work in Hindi films. Known for starring in both comic and dramatic roles, she is one of the most popular and successfu ...

Rekha Bhanurekha Ganesan (born 10 October 1954), better known by her stage name Rekha, is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Hindi films. Acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Indian cinema, she has starred in more than 180 fi ...

*'' Cheech and Chong's The Corsican Brothers'' (1984), a parody * ''The Corsican Brothers'' (1985), a

Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City-based greeting card company. The longest-running prime-time series in ...

movie featuring

Trevor Eve Trevor John Eve (born 1 July 1951) is an English film and television actor. In 1979 he gained fame as the eponymous lead in the detective series ''Shoestring'' and is also known for his role as Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd in BBC televi ...

*''

Big Business Big business involves large-scale corporate-controlled financial or business activities. As a term, it describes activities that run from "huge transactions" to the more general "doing big things". In corporate jargon, the concept is commonly ...

'' (1988), starring Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin, based on the concept *''

Twin Dragons ''Twin Dragons'' (also known as ''Shuang long hui'' and ''Brother vs. Brother'') is a 1992 Hong Kong action comedy film directed by Ringo Lam and Tsui Hark, and starring Jackie Chan in a double role as identical twin brothers separated at ...

'' (1992), a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

movie starring

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

, based on the concept

In popular culture

* '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' characters

Tomax and Xamot Tomax and Xamot Paoli (also called the Crimson Twins or Crimson Guard Commanders) are fictional characters from the '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' toyline, comic books and animated series. They are the co-leaders of Cobra's elite troops, the ...

are twin brothers described as having "Corsican Syndrome" in that they share a psychic link and can feel each other's pain. * In the U.S. television science fiction series ''

Warehouse 13 ''Warehouse 13'' is an American science fiction television series that originally ran from July 7, 2009, to May 19, 2014, on the Syfy network, and was executive produced by Jack Kenny and David Simkins for Universal Cable Productions. Describ ...

'', "The Corsican Brothers' Vest" is an artifact which causes who ever hurts the wearer to feel the pain (and get wounded) instead of him. In episode 12 of season 2 H. G. Wells wears the vest and, when being shot, the shooter gets the bullet instead. * In Dear Bill, the parody of British political life during the

Thatcher era Margaret Thatcher's term as the prime minister of the United Kingdom began on 4 May 1979 when she accepted an invitation of Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, and ended on 28 November 1990 upon her resignation. She was elected to the po ...

Denis Thatcher Sir Denis Thatcher, 1st Baronet, (10 May 1915 – 26 June 2003) was an English businessman and the husband of Margaret Thatcher, who served as the first female British prime minister from 1979 to 1990; in turn, he became the first male prime m ...

routinely refers to the government's PR consultants

Saatchi and Saatchi Saatchi & Saatchi is a British multinational communications and advertising agency network with 114 offices in 76 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in 1970 and is currently headquartered in London. The parent company of the agency gr ...

as "The Corsican Brothers". * In 1970 US television, a comedic parody aired on the television sitcom ''Bewitched''. In the episode titled "The Corsican Cousins", Samantha's mother, Endora, places a spell on Samantha so she will feel and act out everything her cousin, Serena does. * In the 1981 novel ''

The Xanadu Talisman ''The Xanadu Talisman'' is the title of an action-adventure/spy novel by Peter O'Donnell that was first published in 1981, featuring the character Modesty Blaise. This was the tenth book to feature the character. It was first published in the Un ...

'' by

Peter O'Donnell Peter O'Donnell (11 April 1920 – 3 May 2010) was an English writer of mysteries and of comic strips, best known as the creator of ''Modesty Blaise'', an action heroine/undercover trouble-shooter. He was also an award-winning gothic h ...

, Georges and Bernard Martel are compared to the Corsican Brothers because "one was good and one was bad". * Volume 14 Chapter 01 of the manga series '' Black Jack'' involves the title character treating twin brothers who are able to feel each other's pain, which their guardian compares to the Corsican Brothers. * In the '' Men in Black: The Series'' episode "The Psychic Link Syndrome," Agent J compares Agent K to the Corsican Brothers when an alien named Forbus forms a psychic bond with K, causing the two to experience one another's sensations and emotions.

External links

''The Corsican Brothers'' by Alexandre Dumas (English)
Henry Frith's translation on Project Gutenberg *
''The Corsican Brothers'' (1898)
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

''The Corsican Brothers'' (1902)
at the Internet Movie Database
''The Corsican Brothers'' (1912)
at the Internet Movie Database
''The Corsican Brothers'' (1915)
at the Internet Movie Database
''The Corsican Brothers Up To Date'' (1915)
at the Internet Movie Database
Zoot Radio, free old time radio show downloads of ''The Corsican Brothers''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corsican Brothers, The 1844 short stories Alexandre Dumas French novels adapted into films French novels adapted into plays French short stories Fiction set in 1841 Fictional conjoined twins Fictional French people Novels adapted into comics Novels set in Corsica