Movies by Léonce Perret
Sapho
During a transvestite ball, a young provincial meets Fanny Legrand. A great love is born between them. Later, the young man learns that Fanny was a great coquette. He leaves her, he comes back, he forgives. But when he embarks for America, Fanny does not follow him.
The Empire of Diamonds
Shot on location in Paris, Monte Carlo and the Riviera with both American and French actors. When Matthew Versigny discovers that the jewels his diamond company has been buying are fake, he travels to Europe to track down the counterfeiter. With him are his sister, Marguerite and her sweetheart, Paul Bernac, who is an agent in the French Secret Service.
Fire at the Mine
Gaumont Treasures 1897-1913
A 3 Part Collection of More Than 75 Early Films by Alice Guy, Louis Feuillade and Léonce Perret. The invention of cinema—and its growth into a sophisticated art form—are vividly brought to life in this massive collection of films from the early years of the influential Gaumont Film Company. Each disc is devoted to one of Gaumont’s artistic directors, who oversaw all film production at the studio, and profoundly influenced not only the identity of the studio but also the evolution of the cinema itself.
Gisèle, enfant terrible
Early short film.
La lumière et l'amour
Léonce: Cinematographer
Leonce works at the Gaumont studios as star actor and his wife suspects him of being unfaithful. She finds ladies' hair on his coat, fan letters in his pocket...
A Page of Glory
Denise lives with her grandparents on a farm and secretly meets Robert. When she tells her grandparents that she wants to marry Robert, they refuse outright, so the two lovers will have no choice but to elope and marry in the nearby town. On the eve of having a child, war breaks out and Robert is mobilized.
The Crutches
A film crew goes to a mansion to shoot a movie. The actor playing the thief is confused and is shot by the owner with a shotgun. In compensation, he is taken care of in the house and falls in love with the daughter of the owners.
Le homard
The Thirteenth Chair
Mrs. Philip Mason commits suicide after she has an affair with Stephen Lee, a disreputable stockbroker, and sells her husband's securities so that Lee can buy stocks. When Lee goes bankrupt, he blackmails Helen Trent by threatening to reveal silly love letters she wrote to him before she married. Her brother, Willy Grosby, and his fiancée, Helen O'Neil, who lives with the Grosbys, go to retrieve the letters. While Willy waits outside, Lee is knifed to death as he attacks Helen. Lee's friend, Edward Wales, attempts to pin the murder on Helen ...
The Béarnaise Girl
The Guardian of Camargue
This charming short film was shot in the Camargue, probably in the same place where Jean Durand filmed his cowboy movies. The plot is very simple. A guardian falls in love with a Parisian. Desperate, he commits suicide when she returns to the capital. But, as always with Perret, we appreciate the framing, the skilful use of the exteriors and the documentary side of life of the time. We see the young Arlesianas in traditional dress go out to collect almonds and return with their baskets to the city. The actor in the role of the guardian overr...
Madame Sans-Gêne
A French washerwoman becomes a duchess and a friend of Napoleon.
Marraines de France
In times of World War I, a group of boisterous young ladies occurs to them that they could help the boys of the front writing letters to them and, thus, becoming their godmothers of war. Madeleine writes to the soldier Jacques Bertin, but, out of prudence, instead of giving her true identity, she impersonates her late grandmother. When the soldier comes on leave and wants to see her, the mistake will bring humorous consequences.