El Dorado is the fifth film directed by Marcel L’Herbier for Gaumont’s prestige collection ‘Pax’ which was characterised by high production quality. Its most striking aspect is the invention of new elements of the cinematographic language. L’Herbier uses distortions of the images to convey different messages or impressions: the faces of drinkers become distorted as they become drunk, Sibilla’s face becomes blurred as she thinks about her sick child, or photographs of the Alhambra are distorted to express the artistic vision of the painter intending to represent them.

In German expressionist films such as Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari or Von Morgen bis Mitternacht distortions were also used, but they were only applied to the sets, which could also be done in a theatre. Here, it is done by optical means which is specifically cinematographic and opens a whole new range of possibilities. A new technique also pioneered by L’Herbier is the Point of view shot to put the spectator in the middle of the action: he shares for example Sibilla’s feelings when she is thrown out of the house by the servants of her son’s father, or those of characters locked at night in the Alhambra. Point of view shots are also used to show various characters remembering what they have experienced.

The editing is very modern. Crowd scenes are filmed from different points of view, alternating very rapidly wide shots and close-ups focusing on the expression of some of the characters: an old man, a group of women with their children. Sequences are linked in an original way e.g. by fades to white, white masks, or by blurring out.

L’Herbier innovates also with camera movements, using tracking shots or panning, sometimes very fast, to follow characters. By contrast, shots with a static camera are very carefully composed and lit. L’Herbier fully uses the opportunity he had to shoot the film on location in Spain, in Granada, Seville and the Sierra Nevada, to realise beautiful pictures of landscapes and indoor scenes, in particular in the Alhambra Palace in Granada, often with unusual camera angles and lighting. He also includes some footage of Semana Santa (Easter week) celebrations in the streets of Sevilla.

Lights, shadows and transparency create a very original atmosphere in the last scene in the cabaret with cross-cutting between on-stage and backstage, separated by a curtain which partially reveals what is happening on the other side.

The story, presented as a melodrama by L’Herbier, is an original variation on the common theme of the woman seduced and betrayed and has a rather unexpected ending. It is interpreted in a convincing way notably by Eve Francis as Sibilla, and Jaque Catelain and Marcelle Pradot, already seen in L’homme du large.

El Dorado (1921, Marcel L'Herbier - Web-dl 1080).mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 34 min
Size: 	4.90 GiB
Video
Codec: 	h264
Resolution: 	1440x1080 
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	7 326 kb/s
BPP: 	0.188
Audio
#1:  	French 2.0ch AAC LC @ 128 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/FF84C4A547CE9FF/El_Dorado_(1921,_Marcel_L’Herbier_-_Web-dl_1080).mkv
https://nitro.download/view/1A3392B4682F608/El_Dorado_(1921,_Marcel_L’Herbier_-_Web-dl_1080)_v2.srt

Language(s):Silent (French intertitles)
Subtitles:English

The post Marcel L’Herbier – El Dorado (1921) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

PLOT: Ludivine, a lttle tomboy, takes on the too polite Delphin. Being caught, and punished, she wants him and his father to be dead. When the latter dies, she feels guilty and takes Delphin under her wing.

Le.diable.au.coeur.1928.Marcel.L'Herbier.DVDRip.DD2.0.x264.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	2 h 1 min
Size: 	2.62 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	716x576 ~> 768x576
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	2 842 kb/s
BPP: 	0.276
Audio
#1:  	French 2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 kb/s (Stereo)

https://nitro.download/view/7EDE9A766F7638D/Le.diable.au.coeur.1928.Marcel.L’Herbier.DVDRip.DD2.0.x264.mkv

Language(s):French [intertitles]
Subtitles:English

The post Marcel L’Herbier – Le diable au coeur AKA The Devil in the Heart AKA Little Devil May Care (1927) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
Claire Lescot is a famous first lady. All men want to be loved by her and among them is the young scientist Einar Norsen. When she mocks at him, he leaves her house with the declared intention to kill himself.

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Released to intense controversy in 1924 for its cinematic and technical innovations, L’Inhumaine (The Inhuman Woman) is a visual tour-de-force; a fantastical, science-fiction melodrama; and a momentous collaboration of legendary figures from the avant-garde movement. Directed by Marcel L’Herbier (L’Argent, Feu Mathias Pascal) and starring the famous French opera singer Georgette Leblanc – who helped produce the film along with L’Herbier’s company, Cinégraphic – L’Inhumaine is most notable for the style of filmmaking. In L’Herbier’s words, it represents a “miscellany of modern art,” bringing 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, and directors Alberto Cavalcanti and Claude Autant-Lara, among others, to create a collaborative cinematic experience.

Leblanc plays the “Inhuman Woman” of the title, Claire Lescot, who lives on the outskirts of Paris, where she draws important men to her like moths to a flame. At her luxurious parties, she basks in the amorous attentions of her many admirers while always remaining aloof. When it appears she is the reason for a young devotee’s suicide, however, her fans desert her. The filming of the concert where she’s raucously booed is a renowned piece of cinema history: L’Herbier invited more than 2,000 people from the arts and fashionable society to attend the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and play the part of the unruly audience. Among the attendees were Pablo Picasso, Man Ray, Erik Satie, René Clair, James Joyce, and Ezra Pound (although none are actually visible).

2.72GB | 2h 03m | 768×576 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/0FB2C3C6E48FD1F/L’inhumaine.(Marcel.L’Herbier.1924).BDRip.576p.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/99B9AE8B3E41889/About_the_Recording_of_Aidje_Tafial_s_Music.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/CE1625D6AA0B409/Behind_the_Scenes_of_L’Inhumaine.mkv

Language:French
Subtitles:English

The post Marcel L’Herbier – L’Inhumaine aka The Inhuman Woman (1924) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
Another amazing circus film gets an Alloy Orchestra score. Until its recent restoration by Lobster Films in France, Gallery of Monsters was virtually unknown and unseen. Despite the film’s title, it’s not a horror film. It’s an exciting and sometimes tender love story that follows the lives of circus folk, and particularly the loving relationship of Riquet and his wife, Ralda. The “monsters,” as the intertitles explain, are the evil circus owner and the lion tamer, whose unwanted advances are refused by the beautiful dancer, Ralda. The cast of characters are the staples of a circus side show – a giant, a little person, a bearded lady, a woman with only half a body, and others – who are sympathetically depicted as a supportive family, and come to the aid of the couple. Excellent cinematography, surreal costumes, and a terrifying lion attack bring this intriguing story to life.

2.77GB | 1h 33m | 1440×1080 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/16F49A2EA0DC49A/La.galerie.des.monstres.1924.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-KG.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/4E2A66FBB72E547/La.galerie.des.monstres.1924.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-KG.srt

Language(s):French intertitles
Subtitles:English

The post Jaque Catelain – La galerie des monstres AKA Gallery of Monsters (1924) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

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A few months later, (L’Herbier) directed Rose-France, an excessive and disturbing poem, filmed in the form of a weird symbolist collage. In this movie he started to experiment with special effects and celebrated the young actor Jaque Catelain, an expressive beauty, a true Dorian Gray, whose presence would mark almost all of his silent films. His mastery of the medium earned him a two-year contract at the Gaumont Film Company.

894MB | 00:41:55 | 720×592 | avi

https://nitro.download/view/4B0BEA648FFC9A9/Rose_France_LHerb_1918.avi
http://nitroflare.com/view/93394D3FE3F7EF4/1918_Rose_France__Fledrmaus_.srt
http://nitroflare.com/view/471229E7C05A8CF/1918_Rose_France__knappen_.srt

Language:Silent, French intertitles
Subtitles:English

The post Marcel L’Herbier – Rose-France (1918) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Adapted from Bernstein’s Le Bercail, the film follows Evelyne’s attempt to reconnect with her family after a traumatizing experience with a young writer.

Evelyne Landry, intellectuelle et passionnée, a épousé un homme bon et droit, mais fermé à tout ce qui intéresse la jeune femme. Jacques, écrivain secondaire et arriviste, la persuade de son amour. Elle s’enfuit avec lui abandonnant mari et enfant. Sa liaison ne lui apporte que déception, elle rompt avec Jacques et, repentante, demande son pardon à Etienne Landry qui finit par le lui accorder.

395MB | 1h 9mn | 640×480 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/8FAB167DB538F6B/Le_Bercail_(Marcel_L_Herbier,_1919).mkv
http://nitroflare.com/view/F5DA2A6952C16FC/Le_Bercail.srt

Language(s):Dutch intertitles (no music)
Subtitles:English

The post Marcel L’Herbier – Le Bercail (1919) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Based on a play by Charles Méré, the 1926 French production Le Vertige was released in the U.S. two years later as “The Living Image”, or “The Lady of Petrograd”. The film opens with the overthrow of the Czar during the 1917 Russian revolution. The family of General Count Svirsky (Roger Karl) cower in their home, certain that the mobs of angry peasants will tear them apart. But even in this moment of crisis, Svirsky can find time to murder the young officer who has been having an affair with Countess Svirska (Emmy Lynn). The Countess knows what has happened, but she loyally remains with her husband as they escape to the safety of the French Riviera. It is here that the Countess meets Henri de Cassel (Jaque Catelain), the “living image” of her dead lover. Once again, the General prepares to shoot the Countess’ paramour in cold blood — but this time, the outcome is quite different.From Hal Erickson

https://nitroflare.com/view/E55A36AC11AAF45/Le_Vertige.avi
http://www.nitroflare.com/view/86CAAA734137B53/Le_Vertige.srt

Language:French
Subtitles:Silent with french intertitles,English

The post Marcel L’Herbier – Le vertige (1926) first appeared on Cinema of the World.