THE FILMS OF MARCEL L’HERBIER
Filmmaker Marcel L’Herbier
Marcel L’Herbier’s films are most closely linked to the 1920’s avant garde. After making several movies in the late 1910’s and early 1920’s that were produced by Gaumont, L’Herbier established his own production company (Cinégraphic), in order to give himself more creative independence. For L’INHUMAINE (1924), the director showcased the most cutting-edge aspects of modernism in France (plastic arts, decorative arts, architecture, high fashion, music and cinema). For this production, L’Herbier brought together some of the greatest artists from the time period, including painter Fernand Léger, architect Robert Mallet-Stevens, glassmaker René Lalique, fashion designer Paul Poiret, sculptor Joseph Csaky, tapestry-maker Jean Lurçat, and directors Alberto Cavalcanti and Claude Autant-Lara, all of whom contributed to the striking visual design of this noteworthy film. FEU MATHIAS PASCAL (1926) features stylized sets designed by Alberto Cavalcanti and Lazare Meerson. For L’ARGENT, L’Herbier once again availed himself of the talents of Meerson (assisted by André Barsacq and Jaque Catelain). The modern interiors are Art Deco, furnished by Pierre Chareau with accompanying accessories by Jean Lurçat and the design firm Desny. The costume design is by Jacques Manuel, who created timeless dresses with ornate bodices, raising the low waist of the 1920s, lowering the skirt line well below the knee at the front, and constructing long, transformative trains at the back, all in contrast to the clothing style of the contemporaneous jazz and flapper era.
GME distributes DVD editions of the following Marcel L’Herbier films:
Marcel L’Herbier (France)
L’ARGENT is L’Herbier’s silent-era swan song. Known for his ability to translate artistic and innovative sensibilities into commercial fare, L’Herbier designed the film to compete with the super-productions coming out of France, United States, and Germany at the time. It is thus bursting with state-of-the-art techniques, a big-name international cast, 1500 extras, and was shot by France’s highest paid cameraman at the time, Jules Krüger.
L’INHUMAINE
Marcel L'Herbier (France)
In 1922, after several years of directing successful films for the Gaumont studios, Marcel l'Herbier created his own production company, Cinégraphic. In addition to producing films by Claude Autant-Lara, Louis Delluc, Jean Dréville and others, L’Herbier put together an extremely ambitious project, L’INHUMAINE, a film intended to showcase the most cutting-edge modern arts in France (plastic arts, decorative arts, architecture, high fashion, music and cinema).
THE LATE MATHIAS PASCAL (FEU MATHIAS PASCAL)
Marcel L'Herbier (France)
The biggest French fantasy film of the 1920s, it is remarkably cast with some of the great actors of that era: Ivan Mosjoukine, (as Mathias Pascal), Michel Simon, Lois Moran, Pierre Batcheff and Marcelle Pradot. The film also boasts famous stylized sets designed by Alberto Cavalcanti and Lazare Meerson, seen here to best advantage in a stunning tinted and toned print restored by the Cinématheque Française, and accompanied by a beautiful large-orchestra score composed and conducted by Timothy Brock.