Lucien Bataille
Obsessed with a general's woman, a clergyman has strange visions of death and lust, struggling against his own eroticism.
The story is about a superstitious village, where the mayor has sold a tower to an unknown, who is soon suspected of being the devil.
An ape, turned near human by Dr. Coriolis and given the name 'Balaoo', is smitten by the beauty of Coriolis' niece, Madeleine. Being inquisitive, though, he runs off, getting into mischief, and falls in with a poacher who saves his life. Acting now as his slave Balaoo kills a man for the poacher, but balks on his orders to kidnap Madeleine, deciding instead to set a trap for the poacher.
Protéa is the last film directed by Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset, one of the early film pioneers in France. The hero of this film is a female spy, an acrobatic Mata-Hari, played by his favorite actress, Josette Andriot, who wore a characteristic costume of a close-fitting black jersey, two years before Musidora achieved cult status with her similar appearance as Irma Vep. This final masterpiece reflects Jasset's popular style: rhythmic action, fantastic realism, rich visuals, an anarchistic philosophy, a disdain for psychology, and an attention to lighting that earned him the nickname “the Rembrandt of the cinema". Although Jasset died shortly after completion, the film had considerable success and Andriot went on to make four more films in the series with other directors.
Over-stimulated by boxing lessons, Gavroche brings a lion home to spar with, triggering an all-out assault on public order.
When the train workers go on strike, Zigoto terrorizes the town in a hijacked locomotive.
For some time now, Sosthène, clerk at the Grand Laundromat of Papillon-sous-Bois, has been in love with Alphonsine, the girl who brings the laundry. One evening, he decides to win the heart of his beloved, who until now has been cruel and deaf to his fiery declarations, and if necessary, he'll kidnap her. Hidden at the edge of the woods, when Alphonsine goes by, Sosthène rolls through the grass until he lands at the beauty's feet, proclaiming his love in a deranged voice: "Be mine, or die!", "You idiot!". Blood rushes to Sosthène's head. His breath becomes so ragged that it can be heard a mile away, catching the attention of the famous detective Zigoto who was walking Bouboule, his no less famous police dog.
The short by Jean Durand begins with his frequent character, Zigoto (Lucien Bataille) reading a boring book. So, instead he goes on an outing in his new car with his friends. The captioning says it's a new '101 horsepower car'--this, during an age when the horsepower of cars actually was between 4-30 horsepower! So, in other words, it's supposed to be a super-fast car.
In the grip of passionate foreplay, Zigoto and his lover are oblivious to an escalating series of interruptions and catastrophes going on around them. (MoMA)
A mine owner discovers a vein of gold but unfortunately dies. His wife doesn't want to sell the mine and so the forman decides to lock her up in a cottage with a dangerous and hungry leopard.
The film begins with the Count giving an actress a necklace. However, after her performance, the valuable necklace is missing and so the actress goes to hire some detectives to find it. I loved the strange detective agency in the film. The place had a sliding door, chains on the wall and detectives seem to magically appear out of the floor. It was very kooky but fun.
Just as the streets to hell, to hear it from the travelers, are paved with good intentions, the illustrious police officer Zigoto's brain is full of the most commendable initiatives. While passing before a door, he sees a piece of rope underneath and thinks it his duty to bend down and pick it up. But he's amazed to see that the more he pulls, the longer the cord becomes: "For a thousand prefects - that was his favorite exclamation - do they take me for a pulley?" Upon the arrival of two officers, the men open the door, when all of a sudden a black, horned mass crashes into them.
