Maxime Desjardins

Maxime Desjardins (1861-1936) was a French stage and screen actor, who peaked in the French silent cinema of the 1920s. From 1912 Desjardins acted in cinema, first in short films at Pathé Frères and at Eclair, later in feature films by such acclaimed directors as Abel Gance, Julien Duvivier and Henri Diamant-Berger. He was a member of the Comédie-Française.


French postcard by Cinémagazine, no. 68. Photo: Pathé Consortium. Maxime Desjardins as the English king Charles I in Vingt ans après/The Return of the Musketeers (Henri Diamant-Berger, 1922).


French postcard in the Nos artistes dans leur loge series, no. 133. Photo: Comoedia.


French postcard in the Les Vedettes de Cinéma series by A.N., Paris, no. 94. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères.

The Three Musketeers

Maxime Desjardins was born in 1861 in Auxerre (Burgundy), France. He started his stage acting career in Paris around 1890 at the Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique, shifting around 1895 to the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, and around 1902 to the Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt. Between 1906 and 1917 he was a regular actor at the Théâtre de l'Odéon, where he often played under the direction of André Antoine.

From 1912 Maxime Desjardins acted in cinema, first in short films at Pathé Frères and at Eclair. For Pathé he appeared in Patrie (Albert Capellani, 1914) after the drama of Victorien Sardou, starring Henry Krauss and Paul Capellani, and for Eclair in L'aiglon/The Eaglet (Emile Chautard, 1913). The latter is an adaptation of the play 'L'Aiglon' by Edmond Rostand, which portrays the life of Napoleon II with Emile Chautard as Napoleon Bonaparte.

In 1916 Desjardins acted in four films at Pathé, including Coeur de Française (Gaston Leprieur, 1916), a propagandist spy drama in which he had the male lead as inventor Aubry opposite Andrée Pascal as his wife. All the actors in the film were acclaimed stage actors, such as Albert Dieudonné.

Desjardins' film career really set off after the First World War. He was Maria Lazare in Abel Gance's J'accuse (1919) with Séverin-Mars and Romuald Joubé. He played Tréville in the silent adventure serial Les trois mousquetaires/The Three Musketeer (Henri Diamant-Berger, 1921) with Aimé Simon-Girard, and Commander Doguereau and General petit in the historical film L'agonie des aigles/The Agony of the Eagles (Dominique Bernard-Deschamps, Julien Duvivier, 1922) with Gaby Morlay and Séverin-Mars.

In 1922, he also appeared as the count Marnay in Mimi-Trottin (Henri Andréani, 1922) with Louise Lagarange in the title role, the protagonist François Roquevillard in Les Roquevillard (Julien Duvivier, 1922), the Grandduke in the serial Les mystères de Paris/The Mysteries of Paris (Charles Burguet, 1922) based on the novel 'The Mysteries of Paris' by Eugène Sue, and as King Charles I in the serial Vingt ans après (Henri Diamant-Berger 1922), the sequel to Les trois mousquetaires.


French postcard. Photo: Paul Boyer. Maxime Desjardins in Théodora (Victorien Sardou, 1884), performed in 1902 at the Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt. Caption: M. Déjardin [sic] in the part of Justinian.


French postcard. Photo: Paul Boyer. Sarah Bernhardt in Théodora (Victorien Sardou, 1884), performed in 1902 at the Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt. Caption: Emperor Justinian has the Empress (Sarah Bernhardt) strangled. This is the final scene of the play. The emperor was played by Maxime Desjardins, while on the right on the sofa, we see the dead Andreas, played by Pierre Magnier. The man left of the emperor may be Édouard Céalis, who played General Belisarius.


French postcard by Edition Pathé Frères. Photo: Henri Manuel.

The Titanic disaster

In 1924, Maxim Desjardins was the Abbot D'Areynes in La mendiante de Sainte-Sulpice (Charles Burguet, 1924), starring Gaby Morlay and Charles Vanel, and he played Pierre Millot in the murder mystery La double existence de Lord Samsey (Maurice Kéroul, Georges Monca, 1924), starring Geneviève Félix.

In 1925 he was baron D'anvilliers in Nantas (Donatien, 1925), avoiding the suicide of the main character (Donatien) by offering him to marry the baron's daughter Flavie (Lucienne Legrand) who expects an illegitimate child. Afterwards, Desjardins was the Regent in the historical adventure film Le bossu/The Hunchback (Jean Kemm, 1925), starring Gaston Jacquet, and Jean Sérès in Le coeur des gueux (Alfred Machin, Henri Wulschleger, 1925), starring Ginette Maddie.

In 1926-1927 Desjardins acted again under the direction of Donatien in Simone (1926) based on a play by Eugène Brieux, and Florine, la fleur du Valois (1927). His last silent film was La grande épreuve (1928), directed by André Dugès-Delzescauts and Alexandre Ryder.

Desjardins did make the passage to sound cinema in Marcel L'Herbier's Le mystère de la chambre jaune/The Mystery of the Yellow Room (1930), starring Roland Toutain and Huguette Duflos, and the French version of E.A. Dupont's Atlantic, called Atlantis (1930), co-directed by Jean Kemm. He actually had one of the leads in this film based on the Titanic disaster, which co-starred Alice Field and Constant Rémy.

However, Desjardins's sound film career was brief. His last role was in the Agatha Christie adaptation Le coffret de laque/The Lacquered Box (1932), starring Danielle Darrieux, and based on Christie's play 'Black Coffee'. From 1921 to 1930 Desjardins was also 'sociétaire' at the Comédie-Française, playing in the classic repertory of plays by Molière and Shakespeare, but also more recent authors such as Mérimée and Maeterlinck. Maxime Desjardins died in 1936 in Vence, Alpes-Maritimes, France.


French postcard by Editions Cinématographiques Jacques Haïk, no. 1. Caption: Scene in the Salon of the Regent. Maxime Desjardins as The Regent in Le Bossu ou le Petit Parisien (Jean Kemm, 1925). The story deals with Chevalier Lagardère (Gaston Jacquet), who wants to avenge the death of his friend, killed by the Prince of Gonzaga many years ago. The film was based on the homonymous novel by Paul Féval, who was co-scenarist for the film as well. Jealous of the other man's riches, Gonzaga (Marcel Vibert) kills Nevers (Jean Lorette) in a treacherous duel and marries his widow, Aurore (Claude France). But Lagardère steals Irène, the child of Nevers and Aurore. Several years after, he returns pretending to be the hunchback of the Rue Quincampoix. He unmasks Gonzaga and holds Irène's (Nilde Duplessy) hand in return. Le Bossu was probably the first production of cinema owner Jacques Haïk, who would become an active French film producer and film distributor in the early sound era.


French postcard by Editions Cinématographiques Jacques Haïk, no. 9. Publicity still for Le Bossu ou le Petit Parisien (Jean Kemm, 1925) with Maxime Desjardins as Le Régent. Caption: "Le luxe n'est rien sans le goût et la mesure. 'Le Bossu' est monté avec goût et la mesure: voici un film Français." (Luxury is nothing without taste and measure. 'The Bossu' is mounted with taste and measurement: here is a French film.)

Sources: Wikipedia (French and English), and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 30 December 2023.

Le Bossu (1925)

Today's film special is about Le Bossu/The Hunchback (1925), a French 'swashbuckler' directed by Jean Kemm. This silent film was the third of at least twelve screen adaptations of the popular novel Le Bossu by author Paul Féval.


Gaston Jacquet in Le Bossu (1925). French postcard by Films Jacques Haïk. Photo: Combier Mâcon.

Swashbuckler Novel

Paul Féval's historical adventure novel Le Bossu was first published in serial parts in Paris in 1858.

The novel is one of a number of works such as Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers (1844) which helped define the genre of ‘swashbuckler’ novel, known in French as a ‘roman de cape et d'épée’.

Féval’s son, Paul Féval Fils borrowed his father's hero Chevalier Henri de Lagardère for his own series of Lagardère novels. For the film, he also co-wrote the scenario.

The story deals with the wealthy aristocrat De Lagardère (played by Gaston Jacquet), who wants to avenge the death of his friend the Duc de Nevers (Jean Lorette).

The Duke was killed in a treacherous duel by the Prince of Gonzague (Marcel Vibert) many years ago. The Prince was jealous of the other man's riches, and after killing him, Gonzague also married de Nevers’ widow, Aurore (Claude France).

De Lagardère steals Irène, the child of Nevers and Aurore, and several years after, he returns pretending to be the deformed hunchback of the Rue Quincampoix. He unmasks Gonzague and holds Irène's (Nilda Duplessy) hand in return.


French postcard by Films Jacques Haïk. Photo: Combier Mâcon. Caption: 'Une fête au Palais-Royal'. (A party at the Royal Palace)


Gaston Jacquet as Lagardère and Nilda Duplessy as Irène de Nevers in Le Bossu (1925). French postcard by Films Jacques Haïk, no. 120. Photo: Combier Mâcon.


French postcard by Editions Cinématographiques Jacques Haïk, no. 1. Photo: publicity still for Le Bossu ou le Petit Parisien (Jean Kemm, 1925). Caption: "Une scène dans le salon du regent" (Scene in the Salon of the Regent).


French postcard by Editions Cinématographiques Jacques Haïk, no. 10. Photo: publicity still for Le Bossu ou le Petit Parisien (Jean Kemm, 1925). Caption: "The Rotisserie du Soleil d'Or" (The Grill of the Golden Sun).


French postcard by Films Jacques Haïk. Photo: Combier Mâcon. Publicity still for Le Bossu ou le Petit Parisien (Jean Kemm, 1925) with Jacques Arna aka Arna and Louis Pré fils as the comic sidekicks Cocardasse and Passepoil. Louis Pré fils (1884-1970) was a French actor, who acted mainly in supporting parts in French cinema, during the 1920s and 1930s. He peaked in the early 1920s in such films als Les trois mousquetaires/The Three Musketeers (Henri Diamant-Berger, 1921), Vingt ans après/Twenty Years Later (Henri Diamant-Berger, 1922) and Le Bossu (1925). Jacques Arna only acted in a handful of French silent films, including Vingt ans après/Twenty Years Later (Henri Diamant-Berger, 1922) , Le Bossu (1925) and La passion de Jeanne d'Arc/The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928). Arna was also an historian, a graphologist and an opera singer.

French Resistance

Le Bossu (1925) was probably the first production of French film pioneer Jacques Haïk (1883–1950).

Haïk had been an active French film distributor during the early sound era. He had introduced the Charlie Chaplin films in France and was the inventor of his French name Charlot.

He later created the famous Paris venue Olympia, and built film studios in the Paris suburbs of Courbevoie and La Garenne. He also opened several prestige cinemas in France, including Le Grand Rex (1932) in Paris, the biggest cinema of Europe.

The postcards that were produced to promote Le Bossu show that the film was presented in Haïk's Olympia ('in exclusivity'), but also in the Ciné Max Linder and the Mozart-Palace, both in Paris.

Ciné Max Linder opened in 1912 as Kosmorama. In 1914 actor-director Max Linder bought the cinema and renamed it after himself. Today, the cinema still exists, though it has been completely modernized.

The Mozart-Palace existed between 1913 and 1954. It is now a supermarket.
After Le Bossu, Jacques Haïk would continue to produce dozens of French films until the Second World War.

During the war, the Jewish and anti-Nazi Haïk joined the Forces Françaises Libres (French resistance) and became its representative in the Arab world. After the war he returned to France and tried to recover his property and films that had all been confiscated by the Germans. Five years later he died.


French postcard by Editions Cinématographiques Jacques Haïk, no. 5. Photo: publicity still for Le Bossu ou le Petit Parisien (Jean Kemm, 1925). Caption: "Lagardère {à L'Enfant" ((Young) Lagardère).


French postcard by Editions Cinématographiques Jacques Haïk, no. 6. Photo: publicity still of Marcel Vibert as the Prince de Gonzague. Caption: 'Gonzague a trahi de Nevers... Le Bossu ne trahira vos espérances'. (Gonzague has betrayed de Nevers, but Le Bossu will not betray your expectations.)


French postcard by Editions Cinématographiques Jacques Haïk, no. 8. Photo: publicity still of Marcel Vibert as the Prince de Gonzague and Hypolyte Paulet as de Peyrolles. Caption: 'Monsieur de Peyrolles est l'homme des mauvais conseils ne l'écoutez pas et ... un bon conseil: voyez Le Bossu'. (Mr. de Peyrolles is the man of bad advice. Don't listen to him and ... a good advice: see Le Bossu.)


French postcard by Editions Cinématographiques Jacques Haïkm no. 9. Le Bossu ou le Petit Parisien (Jean Kemm, 1925) with Maxime Desjardins as Le Régent. Caption: "Le luxe n'est rien sans le goût et la mesure. 'Le Bossu' est monté avec goût et la mesure: voici un film Français." (Luxury is nothing without the taste and measure. Le Bossu is mounted with taste and measurement: this is a French film.)


French postcard by Editions Cinématographiques Jacques Haïk, no. 13. Photo: publicity still of Lagardère (Gaston Jacquet). Caption: 'Les Etablissements Jacques Haïk ont fait tourner pour vous Le Bossu... et Lagardère fera tourner toutes les têtes.' (Les Etablissements Jacques Haïk will 'turn' (film) Le Bossu for you... and Lagardère will turn everybody's head.)

Film Versions

Le Bossu/The Hunchback (1925) was not the first screen adaptation of Féval’s adventure novel, and not the last. The novel was filmed more than 10 times.

The original film version was the silent short Le Bossu (André Heuzé, 1912) starring Henry Krauss and Yvette Andréyor.

Krauss repeated his interpretation in Le Bossu (1923) opposite Claude Mérelle and Edouard de Max. Ten years after the original silent version, René Sti made the first sound version Le Bossu (1935) with Robert Vidalin as Henri de Lagardère, Josseline Gaël as Aurore de Caylus and Samson Fainsilber as Monsieur de Peyrolles.

In 1943 followed a Mexican version El jorobado (Jaime Salvador, 1943) and a year later a new French version Le Bossu (Jean Delannoy, 1944) starring Pierre Blanchard as Henri de Lagardère.

In 1955 came another Latin-American version, the Argentine production El juramento de Lagardere (León Klimovsky, 1955).

Probably the best known version is Le Bossu (André Hunebelle, 1959) starring Jean Marais and Bourvil.

The mini-series Lagardère (Jean-Pierre Decourt, 1967) featured Jean Piat, Sacha Pitoëff and Jacques Dufilho.

Thirty years later Lagardère returned to the cinema in the lush Le Bossu/On Guard (1997, Philippe de Broca). Among the cast were such French stars as Daniel Auteuil as Lagardère, Fabrice Luchini as Gonzague, and Vincent Perez as De Nevers.

The most recent adaptation was the TV film Lagardère (Henri Helman, 2004) with Bruno Wolkowitch.


Trailer of Le Bossu ( Philippe de Broca, 1997). Source: Cinemaetcie (YouTube).

Sources: Les indépendants du premier siècle (French), Wikipedia and IMDb.