TCM Schedule for Sunday, April 27 -- LOST & FOUND: ABEL GANCE

[Longhorn]

I've got some personal news to share: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=7684078&mesg_id=7684078

4:30am Boxcar Bertha (1972)
A union leader enlists his girlfriend in a plot to get back at the railroad's evil management.
Cast: Barbara Hershey, David Carradine, Barry Primus. Dir: Martin Scorsese. C-88 mins, TV-MA

6:00am G-Men (1935)
A mob protege joins the FBI when a friend is gunned down.
Cast: James Cagney, Ann Dvorak, Margaret Lindsay. Dir: William Keighley. BW-86 mins, TV-PG

7:30am Captain Kidd (1945)
An infamous pirate tries to double cross the King of England.
Cast: Charles Laughton, Randolph Scott, John Carradine. Dir: Rowland V. Lee. BW-81 mins, TV-G

9:00am Mating of Millie, The (1948)
A businesswoman who wants to adopt a child must find a husbband.
Cast: Evelyn Keyes, Glenn Ford, Ron Randell. Dir: Henry Levin. BW-87 mins, TV-G

10:30am Intermezzo: A Love Story (1939)
A married violinist deserts his family when he falls for his accompanist.
Cast: Leslie Howard, Ingrid Bergman, Edna Best. Dir: Gregory Ratoff. BW-70 mins, TV-14

11:41am Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Love On Tap (1939)
BW-11 mins

12:00pm Paths Of Glory (1957)
A military lawyer comes to question the status quo when he defends three men accused of cowardice.
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready. Dir: Stanley Kubrick. BW-88 mins, TV-PG

1:30pm Here Come The Girls (1953)
A chorus boy is used as bait to catch an attacker.
Cast: Bob Hope, Tony Martin, Arlene Dahl. Dir: Claude Binyon. C-78 mins, TV-G

3:00pm Houseboat (1958)
An Italian socialite on the run signs on as housekeeper for a widower with three children.
Cast: Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Martha Hyer. Dir: Melville Shavelson. C-110 mins, TV-G

5:00pm Glenn Miller Story, The (1954)
The famed bandleader fights to establish himself and keep his family going.
Cast: James Stewart, June Allyson, Harry Morgan. Dir: Anthony Mann. C-116 mins, TV-G

7:00pm Abel Gance: The Charm of Dynamite (1968)
This documentary explores the career of the famous French director Abel Gance.
Dir: Kevin Brownlow. BW-50 mins, TV-PG

What's On Tonight: TCM PRIME TIME FEATURE: LOST & FOUND: ABEL GANCE

8:00pm J'Accuse (1919)
In this silent film, a soldier meets his wife's lover in the trenches during World War I.
Cast: Romulad Joubi, Siverin-Mars, Maryse Dauvray. Dir: Abel Gance. BW-166 mins, TV-G

11:00pm La Roue (1922)
In this silent film, a railway worker and his son fall in love with the same beautiful woman.
Cast: Severin-Mars, Ivy Close, Pierre Magnier. Dir: Abel Gance. BW-263 mins

[Longhorn]

1. J'Accuse (1919)

France's pioneering filmmaker Abel Gance said that his definitive anti-war work J'Accuse (1919) "was intended to show that if war did not serve some purpose, then it was a terrible waste. If it had to be waged, then a man's death must achieve something." After seeing the film, a Czech journalist declared that if it could have been seen around the world in 1913 the First World War might not have happened.

J'Accuse was the only "peace film" to be made in Europe during World War I. Gance, who had served briefly in that conflict, returned to active service in 1918 to film harrowing battle scenes of soldiers actually under fire. Parts of the film were shot during the battle of St. Mihiel, one of the most significant of the war. Also, for the famous "March of the Dead" sequence at film's end, Gance used real soldiers home on leave from the front -- most of whom were killed within the following weeks. Some titles are taken from real letters written by soldiers to their families.

Gance had secured enthusiastic support from the wartime French government, which saw the project as a call to patriotism. When it finally occurred to a government official to question the title and ask exactly who or what was being accused, Gance replied: "The war and its stupidity."

The film stars Maryse Dauvray as Edith, a young Frenchwoman who is in love with a poet (Romuald Joubé) but is forced by her father (Maxime Desjardins) into a marriage with a much older man (Séverin-Mars). Edith is captured by the Germans and endures multiple rapes that result in her becoming pregnant. Edith's husband initially thinks that the poet is the father of her child, and the story ends in tragedy with both men seeing action in the trenches.

Historian Kevin Brownlow, who dedicated his book The Parade's Gone By to Gance, described J'Accuse as "a miracle film." It introduced techniques developed by Gance including rapid-cut editing and expressionistic camerawork and lighting. The film, a huge success in Europe, originally ran 14 reels (three hours) but was truncated to ten reels for its American release, damaging its continuity and preventing it from becoming a success in the U.S. The re-editing blunted the anti-war slant and gave it a happier ending.

The reconstruction, a Flicker Alley Digital Edition from the Lobster Film Collection, began when Gance's friend and heir Nelly Kaplan provided a 35mm master print of a restoration by the Cinematheque Francaise, taken from a shortened reissue in 1922. Incomplete original prints were sourced from the Lobster Collection and the Czech archive in Prague. Happily, an almost complete copy of the original edit (although in poor condition) was found in the Netherlands Filmmuseum. All these elements were transferred to high-definition video and conflated by the Netherlands Filmmuseum to make the best and most complete edition possible.

Producer: Charles Pathé
Director/Screenplay: Abel Gance
Cinematography: Marc Bujard, Léonce-Henri Burel, Maurice Forster
Film Editing: Andrée Danis, Abel Gance
Cast: Romuald Joubé (Jean Diaz), Séverin-Mars (François Laurin), Maryse Dauvray (Edith Laurin), Maxime Desjardins (Maria Lazare), Angèle Guys (Angele). BW-150m.

RESTORATION CREDITS:
Producers: Serge Bromberg, Eric Lange, Jeffery Masino
Reconstruction and Editing: Nederland Film Museum, Mark Paul Meyer, Annike Kross
Digital Restoration: Eric Lange, Lobster Films
English Titles: Lenny Borger
Music: Robert Israel Orchestra

by Roger Fristoe

[lavenderdiva]

2. thanks for the background on this film, Longhorn-

I have never seen it, but it sure sounds cutting edge for many reasons. Imagine back in the early 1900's a film being made about multiple rapes, unwanted pregnancy, a husband leaving his wife, and eventually being in the same trench with her lover... Also, recreating the original film using what, at the time, was breakthrough technology. It says a lot about the film, for the restorers to have wanted to take the time and care, to try to find original images to bring us the complete film, as it was envisioned originally. :hi:

[Longhorn]

3. I'm not really into silent films

but this one caught my eye. It sounded like an important part of film history. :)

[Matilda]

4. It is very highly regarded by film buffs.

I've read about it, but to my knowledge, it's never been shown here on
any of the silent festivals they have every so often, but I'd love to
see it if it comes my way.

I'm glad things are looking up for you, Longhorn. :party: