03 April 2009

Postcard Friendship Friday - Castillan

Yes, it's Friday! Time for Postcard Friendship Friday. Today we have a French star from the Silent Film era for you. During the early 1910s handsome French actor Castillan starred in several short films by Pathé Frères, the pioneers of the French cinema.

Castillan
French postcard by Pathé Frères. Photo: Félix.

Opium pipe


Charles Jules Flasshoen Castillan was usually billed as Castillan or M. (Monsieur) Castillan.

Around 1901, his career started on the stage at the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt, Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin and Théâtre L'Ambigu. He started his short film career in silent films like L’autre mère/The Other Mother (Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset, 1910) by Société Française des Films Éclair.

From 1911 on he worked mostly for another pioneering film company, Pathé Frères, in such shorts as Le roman d’une pauvre fille/The Novel of a Poor Girl (Gérard Bourgeois, 1911), Un mariage sous Louis XV/A Wedding Under Louis XV (Camille de Morlhon, 1912), and Les martyrs de la vie/The Martyrs of Life (René Leprince, 1912).

René Leprince also directed Castillan in La pipe d’opium/The Opium Pipe (René Leprince, 1912), L’infidèle/The Infidel (René Leprince, 1912), and Coeur de femme/A Woman's Heart (René Leprince, Ferdinand Zecca, 1913) with René Alexandre.

Among his leading ladies were forgotten divas like Stacia Napierkowska and Berthe Bovy.

Berthe Bovy
Berthe Bovy. French postcard by Edition Pathé Frères. Photo: Félix. Caption: Mlle Berthe Bovy of the Comédie Française.

Sources: The Complete Index To World Film since 1895 (now defunct), BnF (French) and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 12 September 2023.

10 comments:

Pearl said...

Hi Bob, and Happy PFF to you! You certainly do put alot of work into each post... I am enjoying the images and history, alot. That stiff white collar sure does look un~comfy! Thanks for your recent visit 'n kind comment on my Flower Fairies post... I just put up my PFF and hope you'll be able to stop by, again... Hope all is well with you...
~blessings~
Pearl

Sheila said...

Very handsome! He looks rather as if he knows it too, but no doubt all film stars do. I wonder why his career was so short.

Eddy said...

Hello Bob, Thank you for your visit to my blog.
I didn't know this French actor, perhaps because he has a little catalogue of films and it was in silent time...
Happy PFF.

Evelyn Yvonne Theriault said...

This type of card is an excellent resource to study the clothing of different eras.
Evelyn in Montreal

Chris Overstreet said...

A pity that, having been great enough to be billed under only one name, that he is forgotten, his work being in a medium that is mostly forgotten.

Of course, being billed under just one name today usually implies the opposite of greatness.

MuseSwings said...

Such a handsome fellow. Wonder why his career was so short. Thank you for another fascinating PFF!

Margo said...

fascinating story and postcard. Thanks for telling his story.. Happy PFF!

Marie Reed said...

He hasn't been forgotten because we have you to remind us! I've been casually slipping the tidbits of film history I've learned here into various conversations. I feel so sneaky! I sound like a real cinema historian:)

Judith Richards Shubert said...

Castillan was a very handsome gentleman. I enjoyed reading about this star whom I had never heard of until today. Happy PFF!

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