Les Vampires
Encyclopedia
Les Vampires is a 1915
/1916
ten-part silent film
serial
. It was written and directed by Louis Feuillade
and stars Musidora
as "Irma Vep" a femme fatale whose name is a suspicious anagram
of "vampire." The serial is set in Paris
and follows the exploits of a gang of master criminals (known in the period as an "Apache gang") who call themselves "Les Vampires."
Olivier Assayas
1996 movie Irma Vep
, with a story line of a director's attempt to remake Les Vampires, is both an homage to the innovative nature of the original film and a critique of the then current state of French cinema.
on two discs. In France, Gaumont
has released a special restored edition in 4 discs. Artificial Eye
in the UK has used this restoration for their release on three discs, which includes several Feuillade shorts.
1915 in film
The year 1915 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 8 : D.W Griffith's The Birth of a Nation premieres at Clune's Auditorium Los Angeles and breaks box office and film length records, running at a total length of 3 hrs 10 minutes.* June 18 : The Motion Picture Directors...
/1916
1916 in film
The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 17 - release of A Daughter of the Gods, the first US production with a million dollar budget, with the first nude scene by a major star....
ten-part silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
serial
Serial (film)
Serials, more specifically known as Movie serials, Film serials or Chapter plays, were short subjects originally shown in theaters in conjunction with a feature film. They were related to pulp magazine serialized fiction...
. It was written and directed by Louis Feuillade
Louis Feuillade
Louis Feuillade was a prolific and prominent French film director from the silent era. Between 1906 and 1924 he directed over 630 films...
and stars Musidora
Musidora
Musidora was the stage name of Jeanne Roques, a popular French silent film actress. She became famous for her vamp roles in such film serials as Les Vampires and Judex, in which she developed a persona comparable to that of Theda Bara...
as "Irma Vep" a femme fatale whose name is a suspicious anagram
Anagram
An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...
of "vampire." The serial is set in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and follows the exploits of a gang of master criminals (known in the period as an "Apache gang") who call themselves "Les Vampires."
Olivier Assayas
Olivier Assayas
Olivier Assayas is a French film director and screenwriter.He made his debut in 1986, after directing some short films and writing for the influential film magazine Cahiers du cinéma.-Career:...
1996 movie Irma Vep
Irma Vep
Irma Vep is a 1996 film directed by the French director Olivier Assayas, starring Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung in a story about the disasters that ensue as a middle-aged French film director attempts to remake Louis Feuillade's classic silent film serial Les vampires...
, with a story line of a director's attempt to remake Les Vampires, is both an homage to the innovative nature of the original film and a critique of the then current state of French cinema.
Chapters
| # | Title | Released | Runtime | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Severed Head La tête coupée |
13 November 1915 | 33 mins. | Journalist Phillipe Guèrande and his friend Mazamette investigate a mysterious criminal organisation calling themselves Les Vampires. A police inspector is beheaded, and Phillipe spend the night in Dr. Nox's mysterious castle, full of secret passageways. The leader of the gang, the "Great Vampire", is unmasked, but manages to escape. |
| 2 | The Killer Ring / The Ring That Kills La bague qui tue |
13 November 1915 | 15 mins. | Marta Koutiloff performs on stage as a vampire bat Vampire bat Vampire bats are bats whose food source is blood, a dietary trait called hematophagy. There are three bat species that feed solely on blood: the Common Vampire Bat , the Hairy-legged Vampire Bat , and the White-winged Vampire Bat .All three species are native to the Americas, ranging from Mexico to... and tells Phillipe that she will reveal the Vampires' secrets, but is killed by a poisoned ring. |
| 3 | The Red Codebook Le cryptogramme rouge |
4 December 1915 | 42 mins. | Phillipe learns to decode the Vampires' messages, while cabaret singer and Vampire strategist Irma Vep enters the Guèrande house disguised as a maid, and Phillipe's mother is kidnapped. |
| 4 | The Spectre Le spectre |
7 January 1916 | 32 mins. | The Vampires fight another criminal, Moreno, who tries to steal their loot, but Guerande engineers Moreno's arrest. |
| 5 | Dead Man's Escape L'évasion du mort |
28 January 1916 | 37 mins. | Moreno fakes his death and escapes from prison. Phillipe is taken prisoner by the "Vampires", but escapes as well. The Great Vampire organizes a ball to steal his guest's valuables, but is outwitted by Moreno. |
| 6 | Hypnotic Eyes / The Hypnotic Gaze Les yeux qui fascinent |
24 March 1916 | 58 mins. | The Vampires seek a treasure in the Forest of Fontainebleau Forest of Fontainebleau The forest of Fontainebleau is a mixed deciduous forest lying sixty kilometres southeast of Paris, France. It is located primarily in the arrondissement of Fontainebleau in the southwestern part of the department of Seine-et-Marne... . Moreno hypnotizes Irma Vep into murdering the "Great Vampire", and takes over the gang. |
| 7 | Satanas Satanas |
15 April 1916 | 46 mins. | The Lord of the Vampires, Satanas, reveals his existence. He kills Moreno by bombarding the restaurant where he was eating and tries to steal the fortune of American millionaire George Baldwin, but is thwarted by Phillipe and Mazamette. |
| 8 | The Thunder Master Le maître de la foudre |
12 May 1916 | 55 mins. | Irma Vep is captured by the police, but Satanas arranges her escape; however he, too, is caught. He commits suicide in his cell. |
| 9 | The Poisoner L'homme des poisons |
2 June 1916 | 53 mins. | The new "Lord of the Vampires," Venomous, is introduced. He tries to poison Guérande, but his plot fails. |
| 10 | The Terrible Wedding Les noces sanglantes |
30 June 1916 | 60 mins. | Guerande finally marries Jeanne. The Vampires plot against the couple, but are thwarted by Mazamette. All of the Vampires are killed or captured. |
Release
In November 1915, the walls of Paris were plastered with street posters that depicted three masked faces with a question mark as a noose, and the questions "Qui? Quoi? Quand? Ou…?" ("Who? What? When? Where…?"). The morning newspapers printed the following poem:Cast
- MusidoraMusidoraMusidora was the stage name of Jeanne Roques, a popular French silent film actress. She became famous for her vamp roles in such film serials as Les Vampires and Judex, in which she developed a persona comparable to that of Theda Bara...
as Irma Vep, the Vampires' strategist who carries out many of the ring's plans. - Édouard MathéÉdouard MathéÉdouard Mathé was an Australian born French silent film actor.He starred in some 51 films between 1914 and 1924.He appeared Barabbas in 1920...
as Philippe Guérande, a crack newspaper writer, investigating the Vampires. - Marcel Lévesque as Oscar Mazamette, Guérande's friend and coworker, who is working undercover for the Vampires.
- Jean Aymé as the Great Vampire, the mysterious head of the Vampires.
- Fernand HerrmannFernand HerrmannFernand Herrmann was a French silent film actor.He starred in some 26 films between 1914 and 1925.He appeared in films such as the Louis Feuillade-directed Les Vampires serials that ran in installments from 1915 to 1916 and Barabbas in 1920.- External links :...
as Juan-José Moréno / Brichonnet, head of a ring of crooks rival to the Vampires. Moréno possesses a hypnotic gaze that he uses to control people. - Stacia NapierkowskaStacia NapierkowskaStacia Napierkowska was a French actress and dancer, who worked during the silent film era. She appeared in 86 films between 1908 and 1926.-Biography:...
as Marfa Koutiloff, a dancer - Renée Carl as the AndalusianAndalusian peopleThe Andalusians are the people of the southern region in Spain approximated by what is now called Andalusia. They are generally not considered an ethnically distinct people because they lack two of the most important markers of distinctiveness: their own language and an awareness of a presumed...
- Suzanne Delvé as Fleur-de-Lys
- Miss Édith as Comtesse de Kerlor
- Georgette Faraboni as the Vampire Dancer
- Jacques FeyderJacques FeyderJacques Feyder was a Belgian actor, screenwriter and film director who worked principally in France, but also in the USA, Britain and Germany. He was a leading director of silent films during the 1920s, and in the 1930s he became associated with the style of poetic realism in French cinema...
- Rita Herlor as Mrs. Simpson
- Émile Keppens as Géo Baldwin
- Louise Lagrange as Jeanne Guérande
- Suzanne Le Bret as Hortense
- Louis Leubas as Satanus / Father Silence
- Maurice Luguet as De Villemant
- Jeanne Marie-Laurent as Madame Brémontier
- Jean-François Martial
- Mademoiselle Maxa as Laure
- Gaston MichelGaston MichelGaston Michel was a French silent film actor. He starred in some 40 films between 1913 and his death in 1921.He died in November 1921, in Lisbon, Portugal.-Selected filmography:* Judex * Parisette * Barabbas...
as Benjamin - Frederik Moriss as Vénénos
- Laurent Morléas as Grand Army Officer
- René Poyen as Eustache Mazamette
- Delphine Renot as Mme Guérande (Phillipe's mother)
- Françoise RosayFrançoise RosayFrançoise Rosay was a French opera singer, diseuse, and actress who enjoyed a film career of over sixty years and who became a legendary figure in French cinema...
- Germaine Rouer as Augustine
- Thelès as the Judge
DVD releases
The film is distributed in the United States in the DVD format by Image EntertainmentImage Entertainment
Image Entertainment, Inc. is an independent licensee, producer and distributor of home entertainment programming and film & television productions in North America, with approximately 3,000 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 250 exclusive CD titles in domestic release, and approximately 450...
on two discs. In France, Gaumont
Gaumont Film Company
Gaumont Film Company is a French film production company founded in 1895 by the engineer-turned-inventor, Léon Gaumont . Gaumont is the oldest continously operating film company in the world....
has released a special restored edition in 4 discs. Artificial Eye
Artificial eye
Artificial eye may refer to:* Visual prosthesis, functioning implant designed to restore sight* Ocular prosthesis, non-functioning cosmetic replacement for a lost eye...
in the UK has used this restoration for their release on three discs, which includes several Feuillade shorts.
See also
- FantômasFantômas (1913 serial)Fantômas is a French silent crime film serial directed by Louis Feuillade, based on the novel of the same name. The five episodes were released in 1913 – 1914....
- Judex
- Apache (gang)
- List of longest films by running time
External links
- Review by James Travers