Gaumont Treasures AGB 1897-1905

Watching Silent Films

Few individual artists have exerted as profound an influence upon the evolution of cinema as Alice Guy (later known as Guy-Blaché). With this collection of more than 60 films, culled from the world’s leading archives and carefully mastered, Guy may no longer be seen as a “woman filmmaker.” These films, produced by Guy for Gaumont before she moved to the US, reveal her to be an unqualified pioneer whose work stands alongside that of the Lumière Brothers, Georges Méliès, and Edwin S. Porter, in cinema’s rapid growth from an optical illusion to a storytelling medium to an art form. Among the highlights are a 19th-century serpentine dance, early “trick” films, experiments with hand-coloring and synchronized sound, comedies, social commentaries, and (as the collection’s centerpiece) a 33-minute religious epic: The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ (1906).

1897
The Fisherman at the Stream
Bathing in a Stream
Serpentine Dance by Mme. Bob Walter

1898
The Turn-of-the-Century Blind Man
At the Hypnotist's
The Burglars
Disappearing Act
Surprise Attack on a House at Daybreak

1899
At the Club
Wonderful Absinthe

1900
Avenue de l’Opéra
Automated Hat-Maker and Sausage-Grinder
At the Photographer's
Dance of the Seasons: Winter, Snow Dance
The Landlady
Turn-of-the-Century Surgery
Pierrette’s Escapades*
At the Floral Ball*
The Cabbage-Patch Fairy

1902
Serpentine Dance by Lina Esbrard
Midwife to the Upper Class
An Untimely Intrusion
Miss Dundee and Her Performing Dogs

1903
How Monsieur Takes His Bath
Faust and Mephistopheles

1905
The O’Mers in “The Bricklayers”
The Statue
The Magician’s Alms
Clown, Dog and Balloon
Spain
The Tango
The Malagueña and the Bullfighter
Cook & Rilly’s Trained Rooster
Cake Walk, Performed by Nouveau Cirque
Alice Guy Films a “Phonoscène”
Saharet Performs the Bolero*
Polin Performs “The Anatomy of a Draftee”†
Dranem Performs “The True Jiu-Jitsu”†
Dranem Performs “Five O’Clock Tea”†
Félix Mayol Performs “Indiscreet Questions”* †
Félix Mayol Performs “The Trottins’ Polka”†
Félix Mayol Performs “White Lilacs”†

* In the original hand-tinted color
† A synchronized-sound “Phonoscène”
Curated by Pierre Philippe Total running time: 225 Min. Full-frame (1.33:1)
Music by Sorties d’Artistes, except The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ: Music by Patrick Laviosa
American Edition produced by Bret Wood

hosted by YiFeng, Lily, Bob

Recorded on March 31, 2020