French postcard by F.C. & Cie, no. 498. Photo: Fémina.
Big photocard by Cinéma Pathé / Pathé Frères. Photo: S.A.P.F. Madeleine Roch as the title character in the historical drama Radgrune (Camille de Morlhon, 1911).
Big photo card by Cinéma Pathé / Pathé Frères. Photo: S.A.P.F. Madeleine Roch as the title character in the historical drama Radgrune (Camille de Morlhon, 1911). Right of her, René Alexandre as the young prince.
11 Film d'Art-like historical films
Julienne Madeleine Roch was born in 1883 in Les Mureaux, Yvelines, France. She entered the the Conservatoire national de musique et de déclamation in Paris in 1901 and attended the class of Silvani. She graduated the following year with a first prize for tragedy, playing the role of Roxane in Racine's 'Bajazet'. She entered the Comédie-Française in 1903 at the age of 20 and was Sociétaire (a member) between 1912 and 1930.
Between 1909 and 1911, Madeleine Roch acted in a series of 11 Film d'Art-like historical films. Most of these short silent films she made at Pathé Frères, but at Gaumont, she appeared in Esther (1910) by Louis Feuillade.
She made her film debut as Katusha, a country girl, who is seduced and abandoned by Prince Nekludov in the Lev Tolstoy adaptation Résurrection (André Calmettes, Henri Desfontaines, 1909). Henri Andréani directed her in Messaline (Ferdinand Zecca, Henri Andréani, 1910), Cléopâtre/Cleopatra (Ferdinand Zecca, Henri Andréani, 1910), and Moïse sauvé des eaux/Moses Saved from the Waters (Henri Andréani, 1911).
Camille de Morlhon directed her in Une intrigue à la cour d’Henry VIII/Anne Boleyn (Camille de Morlhon, 1911) and Radgrune (Camille de Morlhon, 1911). De Morlhon also scripted Radgrune. The plot deals with the rivalry between two powerful princes, Ildacre and Odobert (Louis Ravet). Odobert had a convoy headed for the neighbouring castle seized by an armed force. In revenge, Ildacre, at the instigation of his daughter Radgrune, abducts the son of Prince Odobert (René Alexandre). A dancer seduces the son and delivers him to Ildacre.
However, Radgrune falls in love with the prince whose death she wanted. She begs her father in vain to pardon her prisoner. Unable to bend his anger, she frees the young prince, having exchanged his clothes for hers. Left alone, the young girl, fearing her father's anger, prefers death and plunges a dagger into her heart, happy to sacrifice her life for the one she loves.
French postcard. Madeleine Roch was the nurse in the play 'Médée' by Catulle Mendès, performed at the Comédie Française, Paris in July 1903.
French postcard by F.C. & Cie, no. 247. Photo: Boyer and Bert. Madeleine Roch as Mme Hurtz in 'Paraître' by Maurice Donnay, performed in 1906.
French postcard. Photo by J. Maussier, Avignon. Caption: Madeleine Roch de la Comédie Française. Possibly in 'La fille du soleil'. Arènes de Béziers, 29 and 31 August 1909.
Sociétaire of the Comédie-Française
Madeleine Roch quit film acting in 1912, probably because she became Sociétaire of the Comédie-Française. She performed in particular the plays of Jean Racine, such as 'Bajazet', 'Bérénice', 'Andromaque', 'Brittanicus', 'Iphigénie' and 'Phèdre'.
She also acted in plays by Corneille and in Greek tragedies such as Sophocles' 'Electra' and Euripides's 'Iphigenia'. Sometimes, she did sidesteps in comedy, such as 'Paraître' (1906) by Maurice Donnay. She was also one of the great interpreters of Victor Hugo. In 1914, she was invited to Guernsey for the inauguration of a monument to Hugo, designed by Jean Boucher.
At the open air Théâtre des Arènes in Béziers, she starred in 'Le premier glaive' (1908), 'La fille du soleil' (1909), 'Héliogabale' (1910), and 'Les esclaves' (1910). She also performed in open air theatre at Orange, Cauterets and Pau.
Madeleine Roch died in 1930 in Gaillon-sur-Montcient at the age of 47. A street in her hometown Les Mureaux was named after her. There she is buried in the local cemetery. A commemorative plaque has been placed on the promenade des Marronniers, the former Théâtre de la Nature in Lectoure, where she performed for the last time on 3 August 1930.
Some of her films have survived. A black-and-white version of Moïse sauvé des eaux (Henri Andréani, 1911) can be found on YouTube. Roch plays Moses' mother. YouTube also offers a copy of the modern film Femme fatale (1912), in which Roch plays the mother of the first victim of the femme fatale. Un intrigue à la cour d'Henri VIII is also on YouTube in a in-coloured version. Roch plays Jane Seymour, who plots the downfall of her rival, Queen Anne Boleyn, played by Léontine Massart. The title on the English titled print is also: Anne Boleyn.
French postcard, no. 26. Caption: Théâtre Antique d'Orange, August 1910. The photo shows a group of artistic personalities, from left to right: Albert Lambert, Aimée Tessandier, Georges Rivollet (author of 'Alkestis', 1899), Yvonne Boucher, Balcourt (souffleur), Jeanne Rémy, Madeleine Roch, Boucher (director), Morcan, Jean Mounet-Sully, Petit, Marc Gérard. 'Alkestis' by Euripides was reworked by Rivollet. Albert Lambert had played the lead of Herakles in 'Alkestis' 1900 in Paris, while Paul Mounet, Mounet-Sully's elder brother had played the role at its premiere in 1899 at the Theatre d'Orange.
French postcard. Photo: Mazel-Pons, Béziers. Scene from the French open-air play 'Héliogabale', performed from 21 August 1910 at the Arènes de Béziers. Caption: Rusca ordait des desseins de vengeance (Rusca called for plans for revenge). 'Héliogabale' was a French lyric tragedy, with a ballet, three acts and a prologue. The libretto by Emile Sicard was based on the book 'L'agonie' by Jean Lombard. Music was by Déodat de Séverac. In addition to opera singers and ballet dancers from various opera houses, many actors of the Comédie-Française recited prose. Among them were Edouard de Max as the decadent and cruel Roman Emperor Heliogabalus, René Alexandre as the Christian Rusca, Jean Hervé as Claudien, and Madeleine Roch as Soemias, mother of Heliogabalus. The prestigious production drew a crowd of 15.000 and was generally positively reviewed, but the production costs were higher than the revenues, resulting in claims by various creditors, including the creators.
French postcard, no. 6. Photo: Félix. Madeleine Roch as the Tragic Muse in the play 'Les Cloches de Port Royal' at the Comedie Francaise in Paris. This picture was also used in the French magazine Le Theatre of March 1912.
French postcard by P.R., no. 226. Photo: Henri Manuel. Madeleine Roch in perhaps the special war propaganda theatre show 'Three Guards Festival', performed in Paris on 28 April 1916. Roch performed 'La Marseillaise'. She co-acted with the actresses Vera Sergine and Carni Tub.
Source: Fondation Jerome Seydoux - Pathé, Wikipedia (French) and IMDb.
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