Georges Colin

Georges Colin (1880-1945) was a French actor, who appeared in nearly 40 silent and sound films between 1909 and 1945.


French postcard in the series 'Nos artistes dans leurs expressions' by Paris sur Scène, no. 1044.


French postcard. Photo: Studio Rahma. Georges Colin as Le Tigre in the play 'Le Tigre et Coquelicot' by Charles Henry Hirsch, staged in 1923 at the Théâtre Cora Laparcerie in Paris. Cora Laparcerie played the female lead opposite Colin.

The Kiddies in the Ruins

Georges Colin was born in 1880 in Paris, France.

He was already an acclaimed stage actor who had travelled the world when he made his film debut in the silent short Moines et guerriers (Julien Clément, 1909) with Polaire.

Tired of his secondary roles on the Parisian stage, he travelled the world, acting in the US, Belgium, Japan, Scandinavia, and finally Russia, returning to Paris' stage after the armistice ending WWI. One of his most memorable and popular stagings was that of the realist play 'Mon Homme', while also 'La Danseuse Rouge' was very popular.

Colin was a regular actor at the Théâtre de la Renaissance, also named Théâtre Cora Laparcerie, as this actress ran the theatre between 1913 and 1928. Opposite her, Colin acted in many plays, e.g. as Justinian in 'Theodora', and as Le Tigre in 'Le Tigre et Coquelicot'.

Colin appeared in the British-French war film The Kiddies in the Ruins (George Pearson, 1918). It was released two days after the Armistice that halted fighting in the First World War and depicts the lives of children living in war-devastated France. That year, he also appeared opposite Musidora in La geôle (Gaston Ravel, 1918), and with René Navarre in Ce bon La Fontaine (Gaston Ravel, 1918).

Three years later, he appeared in Gigolette (Henri Pouctal, 1921) with Charles de Rochefort, and Quand les feuilles tomberont (Fernand Rivers, Marcel Simon, 1921). During the 1920s, he also appeared with Gina Palerme in La clé de voûte (Roger Lion, 1925), with Dolly Davis in Les fiançailles rouges (Roger Lion, 1927) and with Gil Clary in Amour de louve (Roger Lion, 1929).


French postcard in the Nos artistes dans leur loge series, no. 139. Photo: Comoedia.


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 792.

End of the World

During the early 1930s, Georges Colin played in many films. The drama Le procureur Hallers/The Prosecutor Hallers (Robert Wiene, 1930) starring Jean Max, was the French-language version of the German film Der Andere/The Other (1930) based on the play 'Der Andere' by Paul Lindau. The two films were made at the same studio in Berlin, with Wiene beginning work on the French version immediately after finishing the German film.

Colin also played in the comedy Marius à Paris (Roger Lion, 1930) with Colette Darfeuil, and the Science Fiction epic La fin du monde/End of the World (Abel Gance, 1931). It was director Abel Gance's first sound film. The original film was to be over three hours long, but the backing production took the film from Gance, and cut it to be 105 minutes. It was again cut on its release in the United States under the title of Paris after Dark. Neither abridged version of the film was well-received by audiences or critics.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Colin was also active on the radio, acting for radio plays such as 'Le procès de Danton' (1928), and directing the radiophonic stage company of Radio-Paris. In 1935 he was also awarded Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur.

During the 1930s, Georges Colin was known for such films as the historical drama L'aiglon/The Eaglet (Viktor Tourjansky, 1931) with Jean Weber as Napoleon II, the Moliere adaptation Le malade imaginaire/The Imaginary Invalid (Lucien Jaquelux, Marc Mérenda, 1934) with Dranem, and the Spy film Mademoiselle Docteur/Street of Shadows (G. W. Pabst, 1937) starring Pierre Blanchar and Dita Parlo.

He also appeared in the comedy Claudine à l'école/Claudine at School (Serge de Poligny, 1937) starring Max Dearly, Pierre Brasseur and Suzet Maïs. It is an adaptation of the 1900 novel of the same title by Colette.

In his later films, Colin only played supporting roles. These included the French-Italian Alexandre Dumas adaptation Le comte de Monte Cristo, 1ère époque: Edmond Dantès/The Count of Monte Cristo (Robert Vernay1, 1943) starring Pierre Richard Willm, Le chant de l'exilé (André Hugon, 1943) starring Tino Rossi, Les anges du péché/Angels of Sin (Robert Bresson, 1943) - the first feature film by Bresson, and the Balzac adaptation Vautrin/Vautrin the Thief (Pierre Billon, 1943), featuring Michel Simon.

Georges Colin died in 1945 in Paris. He was 64. His final film, the drama Le dernier sou/The Last Penny (André Cayatte, 1946) starring Gilbert Gil, was released after his death.


French postcard. Photo: Rahma. Georges Colin as Le Tigre in 'Le Tigre et Coquelicot' by Charles Henry Hirsch, staged in 1923 at the Théâtre Cora Laparcerie in Paris. Laparcerie played the female lead opposite Colin.


French postcard. Georges Colin as the lawyer Marc Brégyl in 'La Danseuse rouge' by Charles-Henry Hirsch, staged from 3 December 1921 at the Théâtre de la Renaissance/ Théâtre Cora Laparcerie in Paris. Cora Laparcerie played the female lead of Toutcha, the Red Dancer, opposite Colin. Other actors were the actresses Dorvalley and Henriette Miller and male actors Mercier and Carpentier.

Sources: Wikipedia (English and French) and IMDb.