Videoteca

Un roman d’amour et d’aventures 1918

The Blindness of Youth 1917
"A charming story of a young society girl and the pathetic love of a youth..." Considered a lost film.

Jeanne Doré 1915
Jeanne Doré becomes the accomplice of her son Jacques who unfortunately commits a crime to help his mistress, Fanny, find money.

Polycarp's Laziness 1914
Polycarpe wants to sleep, but the woman of the house beats him awake. When he falls back asleep, his shoes tie themselves, as does his cravat. Indeed, everything works for him when he sleeps.

Fancy Matches 1914 star_border 6.2
To the rhythm of a frenzied choreography, acrobatic matches come to life on a black background. Leaving their matchbox, they line the film in circular, concentric movements. In an almost aquatic momentum, the squadron of little bits of wood mould the contours of a character, a run-of-the-mill smoker, before transforming into a funny harness. The film ends when the matches, again transformed, take on the appearance of a distinguished man who, after several attempts, finally finds a way of lighting his cigarette.

Polycarpe fait de la morale au centimètre 1914 star_border 5
Charles Servaes as Polycarpe becomes an inspector of sort; he goes around measure the length of women's skirts in Paris to make sure they don't reveal tooo much leg for the moral Apaches of Montmartre.

The Tenacity of Polycarp 1914
Polycarpe -- that's Charles Servaes -- encounters a painter in a museum. He strikes a funny pose and the painter decides he wants to paint that picture. However a succession of obstacles get in their way.

Arthème Opérateur 1914 star_border 5
Arthème decides to become a film projectionist.

Polycarpe Wants to Make a Hit 1914
The homeless Polycarpe steals a rifle from some careless society sportsmen and goes on a mindless shooting spree. (MoMA)

L'omelette de Polycarpe 1913
Charles Servaes playing Polycarpe is cooking some eggs in his residential hotel. What do you need when you want to cook eggs?A clean chimney that won't kill you. So he takes a chimney brish up to the roof and gets to work. This does not please the other residents, when he pushes soot down their chimney into their rooms!

The Find of Polycarp 1913
Charles Servaes finds a coin on the ground and takes possession. When he tries to use it to pay for his cab ride, the cabbie says it's counterfeit. Sorry! I've nothing else, being a comic slapstick bum, indicates Servaes, and goes on his way to not pay a succession of people.

Polycarp's Permission 1913
Polycarpe is in the cavalry in this one. He gets a date with the hefty young woman who seems to work in the dungeon of the barracks. However, while another soldier makes time with his girl, Polycarpe can't seem to get off base for one reason or another.

Polycarpe en villégiature 1913
Charles Servaes decides it's time to get out of the city, so he ties an abandoned bath tub to a truck and lets it tow him to the seaside. Once there, he spends his time talking to the camera with a self-satisfied smirk and annoying the people around him until the police carry him and his bath tub to the pokey.

Arthème Sorcier 1913 star_border 5
Artheme is fascinated when he sees a conjurer do some simple tricks with a magic wand, and so he steals it, proceeding to change a horse into a cow,an auto into a donkey cart,and a man into demon in a park.

The Little Ones 1913
When Pierre Dormain and his wife die in a train disaster, the custody of their children Simon and Dédée is transferred to their uncle Jean de Mareuil. The uncle is persuaded to let his servant’s mother take charge of their care. The money she receives for the care is spent entirely on alcohol and the children have to work hard for their meal. Eventually the children run away from home and roam the streets of Paris. When one of the children is seriously injured after an accident, the uncle finally realizes he has made a grave mistake.

Dupin Takes his Uncle Out 1913 star_border 5
Artheme takes his elderly uncle for a walk in his wheelchair, but abandons the invalid in the woods overnight when he spots a pretty girl. (MoMA)

Polycarpe commis d'architecte 1913
Accident-prone Polycarpe wreaks havoc on a construction site—a popular location for so many early film comedies.

A Man for a Day 1912

Les Métamorphoses Comiques 1912 star_border 5.5
An animation where real life objects turn into animations.

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