French postcard by Edition Bergeret.
Pathé and Gaumont in 1905
French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3573. Photo: Film Pathé. This is the final scene from La poule aux oeufs d'or / The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs (Gaston Velle, 1905). Caption: The gold fairy.
La poule aux oeufs d'or /The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs (Gaston Velle, 1905) was adapted from the fable of Jean de la Fontaine. The cinematography and special effects were done by Segundo de Chomón. A poor farmer wins a chicken in the lottery at the fairground. The chicken is an enchanted animal (doing a chicken dance with the other chicken girls), laying big eggs full of money. Thieves whom we already saw 'working' at the fairground, steal rabbits from the farmer. The farmer turns into a rich man, but his wealth is short-lived. The thieves steal an egg, but a bat flies out of it. Another egg contains a devil spitting gold, and it explodes. At night, the thieves witness how the farmer takes an egg to a secret cellar where he cherishes all his gold, despite nightmare visions of staring eyes and grabbing arms. After the thieves have stolen the money, the creditors appear. Desperately, and inspired by a devil, the man slaughters the chicken. He finds a last egg, but an evil witch comes out of it, who sends him to a fairyland. There, the man is led away, after which an apotheosis follows with a dance of chicken girls and fairies, emptying eggs with gold coins.
French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3662. Photo: Film Pathé. Scene from Le Petit Poucet / Hop o'my Thumb (1905). Caption: Here's a game that comes in handy.
Le Petit Poucet / Hop o'my Thumb (1905) was an adaptation of Charles Perrault's famous story of 1697. The film by Pathé was worldwide released, in Spanish-speaking countries as Pulgarito, and in the US as Hop o'my Thumb. The director and actors are unknown. The Spanish film scholar Juan-Gabriel Tharrats claimed the Spanish trick filmmaker Segundo De Chomón (1871-1929), who worked for Pathé in those years, made Le Petit Poucet. French Wikipedia claims the director was Vincent Lorant-Heilbronn. The Fondation Jerôme Seydoux-Pathé, keeper of the Pathé heritage, lists no director at all. The doubt about De Chomón as director is confirmed in the recent volume 'Les mille et un visages de Segundo De Chomón' (2019).
French postcard by Croissant, Paris. Photo: Film Pathé. Scene from Au pays noir / Tragedy in a Coal Mine (Ferdinand Zecca or Lucien Nonguet, 1905). Caption: In the mine galleries. This refers to the 5th scene of the film.
Au pays noir / Tragedy in a Coal Mine (Ferdinand Zecca or Lucien Nonguet, 1905) narrates the life of the miner: his life at home, going to work, gathering at the pit and descending, having a break. But then an explosion takes place and water crushes the beams that uphold the galleries, killing the miners. A few manage to escape and withdraw to a higher gallery where the water can reach them only to their middle. They hear their liberators, who finally free them. Outside, gendarmes try to hold the crowd, who, frightened, see the rescuers bringing dead bodies one by one to the ground. When the foreman's dead son is brought to earth, his father explodes with grief and clenches his fist against the murderous mine. The film was partly inspired by Emile Zola's novel, the popular workman's drama 'Germinal' (1885). Ferdinand Zecca had already filmed Germinal in 1903. It is unclear whether Zecca or Lucien Nonguet directed Au pays noir. In 1906, a year after the film, the worst mine disaster of Europe occurred in Courrières, France, when on 10 May 1906, a coal dust explosion killed almost 1100 mine workers.
French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3664. Photo: Film Pathé. Scene from Le chemineau / The Tramp (Albert Capellani, 1905). Caption: Give me some charity.
Le chemineau / The Tramp (Albert Capellani, 1905) is based on the first part of Victor Hugo's novel 'Les misérables'. An exhausted tramp in vain asks for alimony from passers-by. He presents himself at the presbyterium and is hosted by the pastor, who lets him dine at his table and sleep in his bed, sleeping himself in his chair. At night, the tramp sees golden objects that serve as a mass in a cupboard in the bedroom. He sticks them in his bag and secretly sneaks away, trying not to awaken the pastor. Arrested at a jeweller, to whom he tries to sell his loot, the gendarmes bring him back to the pastor. Despite all, the pastor wants to exonerate the miserable man's soul and tells a lie to the gendarmes: I gave the objects myself to him. The thief repents. Unclear is who the actors are, but the sets were designed by Hugues Laurent. The film appeared in the 'Scènes dramatiques et réalistes (8ème Série)' by Pathé.
French postcard by Croissant, Paris, no. 3680. Photo: Gaumont. Scene from Faust (Alice Guy, ca. 1905). Caption: Remember the past.
Postcard for the phonoscène Gaumont Faust by Alice Guy. The earliest proof of a showing of the film dates from 1905, so the film was produced that year or just before. The captions on the cards refer to lines from the opera libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré for the opera 'Faust' (1859) by Charles Gounod. This card refers to no. 21 of the Fourth Act. The film is not to be confused with Faust et Méphistophéles (1903), also made by Alice Guy, which is another film.
French postcard by Pathé Frères for Théâtre Pathé Grolée, Lyon. Photo: Film Pathé. Scene from Rêve des marmitons / The Dream of the Kitchen Staff (Segundo de Chomón, 1905).
In the kitchen of a medieval castle, cooks and kitchen hands fall asleep. In Rêve des marmitons / The Dream of the Kitchen Staff (Segundo de Chomón, 1905), we see mysterious hands which, with the help of big knives, are separated from arms, start to cut the cabbages, carrots and other vegetables. Other hands chalk the menu on a blackboard. Director Segundo de Chomón also created the special effects in this short fantasy.
French postcard by Pathé Frères for Eden Cinema Pathé, Nice. Photo: Film Pathé. Scene from Les petits vagabonds / Young Tramps (Lucien Nonguet, 1905).
French postcard by Pathé Frères for Théâtre Pathé Grolée, Lyon. Photo: Film Pathé. Scene from L'inspection du capitaine / The Captain's Inspection (N.N., 1905).
After inspection, the soldiers lie down for a well-earned nap. A drunkard enters the room and disturbs the soldiers, who throw him out. He keeps coming back, and they finally decide to throw water on him, but the captain gets the shower.
5 stage postcards from 1905
French postcard by P. Helmlinger & Co., Nancy, for Théâtre Moncey in Paris, where the stage production 'L'Assommoir' was presented from 24 February - 3 March 1905. Photo: Nadar. Caption: The death of Gervaise (Hélène Petit).
In 1879, two years after its publication, Emile Zola's novel 'L'Assommoir'(The Assumption) was adapted for the stage by William Busnach and Octave Gastineau, with the help of Zola. The premiere took place on 18 January 1879 and was a great success. Afterwards, the play was often re-staged, in and outside of France. From 24 February 1905, the play was staged at the Parisian Théâtre Moncey, 50, Avenue de Clichy. The journal La Presse of 26 February 1905 lauded the play and the performances, in the first place by M. Pouctal as Coupeau and Gabrielle Fleury as Gervaise. Yet, this card and all the other ones in the Helmlinger series show a photo from the original 1879 stage adaptation, starring Hélène Petit as Gervaise and Gil Naza as Coupeau. The original photos were made by Nadar.
Danish postcard by Alex. Vincent's Kunstforlag, Neret, no. 1022. Ellen Aggerholm as Käthi in the stage play 'Hans Højhed / His Highness', mailed Flensburg, 10-11-1905. Her partner in the play, playing the Highness of the title, was her husband Svend Aggerholm.
Ellen Aggerholm (1882-1963) was a Danish stage and screen actress, who had many leading parts at the Danish film company Nordisk in the 1910s.
French postcard by Ed Etoile, Paris (G. Piprot), Series N. 867 - Th. 119. Posted 1905.
French dancer and actress Gaby Deslys (1881-1920) was an internationally celebrated - and notorious - star of the early 20th Century. She was famous for her extravagant clothes, jewels and millinery. She had many admirers, most notably King Manuel II of Portugal, and during World War I she reportedly worked as a spy for the French government. Before her tragic early death she also made a series of silent films.
French postcard by S.I.P., no. 854-14. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris. Caption: (Théâtre de l') Athénée. Sent by mail in Besançon in 1905.
Marthe Marie Aglaé Wary, known as Marcelle Yrven or simply Yrven (1877-1954), was a French stage and screen actress and operetta singer.
French postcard by S.I.P., no. 910, series 8. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris. The card was mailed in 1905.
Amélie Diéterle (1871-1941) was one the most beloved actresses and singers of the Belle Epoque, who inspired poets and painters such as Mallarmé and Rodin. Between 1909 and 1913 she acted in some 25 shorts films at Pathé Frères, mostly Rigadin comedies directed by Georges Monca.
Exposition Universelle Liege (1905)
Finally, Ivo selected 3 cards from the 1905 Liege World Fair in Belgium, which took place between 27 April and 6 November 1905. On one of the cards, you can see Wagons-Lits wagons. Film pioneer Jean Desmet is said to have exhibited his fancy new saloon car at the Liege Exhibition at the time. On another card, you can see the Panorama Building, where, among other things, a panorama of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 was displayed. Very topical, then. Pathé and other firms re-enacted the war in their films. The Liège World Fair occupied a territory of 70 square meters, offered room for 29 countries, and had 7 million visitors. People could travel with a specially arranged railway along the pavilions and stands. Typical for its time, part of the French pavilion was a reconstructed Senegalese village, where Africans would dive for pennies thrown in by visitors. As was common at these fairs in the early 20th century, part of the old city centre of Liège was rebuilt, with the cathedral and a model of a coal mine. The Palais des Beaux-Arts, built in the Parc de Boverie for the art exhibition at the World Fair, became an art museum after the Fair, and reopened in 2016 as La Boverie. The Fair also marked the 75 years of Belgium's independence and the 40-year reign of King Leopold II.
Belgian postcard for the Exposition Universelle (World Fair) at Liège/Luik, no. 27. Caption: Intérieur du Palais de la Femme. Local women dressed in folkloristic costumes show old handicrafts like lacemaking. The exhibition of humans at World Fairs was quite common in the early 1900s.
Belgian postcard for the Exposition Universelle (World Fair) at Liège/Luik, no 37. Vaption: Les aéroplanes Maxim. Fairs often had fairground attractions too, such as the airplanes here. To the right, the large Panorama building is visible, as well as the Moresque minaret. The name Wijnand / Wynand Fockink refers to one of the oldest - and still running - Amsterdam jenever distillers. The Liège World Fair also had a water chute, an attraction often included in World Fairs.
Belgian postcard for the Exposition Universelle (World Fair) at Liège/Luik, no. 59a. Stand of the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits et des Grands Express Européens. The coaches also include so-called Wagons-Salons. To receive all the international and national visitors, a new train station was built in Liège, la Gare du Palais, which was destroyed in 1979 to make way for a new underground train station.
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