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Colette at the movies: Criticism and screenplays
Not many know that Colette, the renowned French Novelist, was also a film critic and screenwriter. Who wouldn't be intrigued by what she had to say about Charles Boyer, Marlene Dietrich, Mickey Rooney―and Mae West? Her comments are only covered articles and screenplays by one of the twentieth century's major writers.
Fascinated by "the marvel of this age, cinema," Colette began writing for and about the movies in 1914. She was an innovative critic, among the first to recognize the artistic and educational potential of film, as well as the achievements of Abel Gance, Thomas Ince, Max reinhardt and Cecil B. DeMille.
In 1917 Colette launched a column in Le Film, a pioneer journal of serious movie criticism. That same year she wrote the scenario for the Italian version of her novel La Vagabonde. For Colette it was a bitter experience, reflected in the hilariously incisive "A Short Manual for the Aspiring Scenario Writer" and "Backstage at the Studio," both included here.
Colette's contribution to film criticism was long overlooked because, out of literary snobbery, she eliminated her writings on the movies from the 1948 edition of her complete works. Now, Thanks to Alain and Odette Virmaux, two french film historians, this material is once again available and set in an overall context.
Colette at the Movies includes scripts that Colette wrote for Marc Allegret's lac-Aux-Dames(1934) and Max Ophüls Divine(1935), which was drawn from her own L'envers du Music-Hall. They will be of interest to students of both film and literature.
Some fascinating and rare photographs are also featured in this volume, and there is a filmography.
Fascinated by "the marvel of this age, cinema," Colette began writing for and about the movies in 1914. She was an innovative critic, among the first to recognize the artistic and educational potential of film, as well as the achievements of Abel Gance, Thomas Ince, Max reinhardt and Cecil B. DeMille.
In 1917 Colette launched a column in Le Film, a pioneer journal of serious movie criticism. That same year she wrote the scenario for the Italian version of her novel La Vagabonde. For Colette it was a bitter experience, reflected in the hilariously incisive "A Short Manual for the Aspiring Scenario Writer" and "Backstage at the Studio," both included here.
Colette's contribution to film criticism was long overlooked because, out of literary snobbery, she eliminated her writings on the movies from the 1948 edition of her complete works. Now, Thanks to Alain and Odette Virmaux, two french film historians, this material is once again available and set in an overall context.
Colette at the Movies includes scripts that Colette wrote for Marc Allegret's lac-Aux-Dames(1934) and Max Ophüls Divine(1935), which was drawn from her own L'envers du Music-Hall. They will be of interest to students of both film and literature.
Some fascinating and rare photographs are also featured in this volume, and there is a filmography.
213 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1980
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About the author
Colette
917 books1,745 followersColette was the pen name of the French novelist and actress Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. She is best known, at least in the English-speaking world, for her novella Gigi, which provided the plot for a famous Lerner & Loewe musical film and stage musical. She started her writing career penning the influential Claudine novels of books. The novel Chéri is often cited as her masterpiece.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 29, 2022
A mixed bag. about forty percent of the book consists of Colette's reviews or impressions of the movies. The rest are scripts she wrote. This reader only focused on the reviews, finding the earliest ones the most insightful. Probably only really for movie historians or serious Colette fans.
December 5, 2018
Colette is one of my favourite French authors, so reading about her fascination with the Cinema - which was just in its infancy when she discovered it - was an absolute must-read for me.
She had a friendship with another writer and huge film enthusiast and supporter, the great Jean Cocteau. Of course he also became a filmmaker, and even one of the very best. There exists three film-related books of his that I've read, about his love of and work in film: The Art of Cinema, Cocteau on the Film, and Beauty and the Beast: Diary of a Film. What was interesting to me was seeing the parallels between them. They both saw the Cinema grow into the art form it eventually became. They both saw the potentials, the faults and the constraints of the technology of that time. I would argue that they both foresaw some of the possibilities that eventually came to happen for the cinema. The fact that they both lived through a time when Cinema was looked down upon and not seen as a worthy art form, yet spoke up for its merits, goes to show their great belief and fascination with this great format for telling stories. My favourite bit was reading how they both saw the merits of a film called The Cheat (1915), starring Sessue Hayakawa. Today we notice the racist elements of the film, but what Colette and Jean Cocteau both saw was the need for ethnic/diverse characters to be represented in films.
Colette wrote for a short time film reviews. It was interesting to read her thoughts on the propaganda films she saw during WWI, because films would be edited when they got into France, to make the films acceptable for the war cause. She was assigned the films that she would see and review, and it colours her reviews. I wish she could have had more freedom, but she had to earn the money, and that was one way to do it. It's obvious that one of her favourite things to write was the dialogue sketch. It's also what she does best. She has such a great sense of wit and irony, and it comes through in these. For example in The Friend of Film, she argues the need to cast an actual Japanese for the stage production of The Cheat. It's wonderful!
One thing that I enjoy reading about, is the then contemporary reaction to films during the early years of cinema. Things we take for granted now was a marvel then. I think you get a bit of that in Colette at the Movies. For example her joy of seeing the natural world and its animals from different countries. This was something people only saw in photographs, or when they travelled themselves. They often only had the accounts and tales from books and people they knew.
In 1917 her novel The Vagabond was made into a film in Italy. It was a mixed experience for her, but a bright point was the fact that it starred her friend Musidora. Her memories of that film is included in this work; see A Short Manual for the Aspiring Scenario Writer and Backstage at the Studio.
"Musidora was both Colette's close friend ("my little Musi") and her first screen interpreter; she is better known for having been, before her Roman period, the famous actress of Louis Feuillade's Vampires (1915) and Judex (1916). The Surrealists avowed great admiration for her because of her work for Feuillade (see their play written for her, Le Trésor des Jesuites, in the special Surrealist number of Variétés, June 1929). The celebrated silhouette in the black leotard, source of so much scandal and so many dreams, was born Jeanne Roques in 1889, took her pseudonym from a poem by Théophile Gautier, directed films, and after leaving film in 1926 was a journalist and, from 1944 onwards, a historical researcher for the Cinémathèque Française; she died in 1959."
Some of Colette's written works, like Gigi and Chéri, later became films. But she also did an original screenplay for Max Ophüls' Divine (1935) and adapted Vicky Baum's book, Hell in Frauensee, chosen by producer Philippe de Rothschild. It would later be called Lac Aux Dames (1934) and directed by Marc Allégret. The experiences were not the most inspiring to her but she did love film and it gave her a good salary. The scripts for these two films were both included in this book. I ended up watching both films in conjunction with reading the scripts.
Would I recommend this film book? Yes and no. It really depends on your film interests. If you want to dig into French literature and French Cinema, and have an interest in early Cinema, a la 1900s to 1930s, I think this one would be of interest; I really do think you need to be familiar with Colette to enjoy Colette at the Movies.
She had a friendship with another writer and huge film enthusiast and supporter, the great Jean Cocteau. Of course he also became a filmmaker, and even one of the very best. There exists three film-related books of his that I've read, about his love of and work in film: The Art of Cinema, Cocteau on the Film, and Beauty and the Beast: Diary of a Film. What was interesting to me was seeing the parallels between them. They both saw the Cinema grow into the art form it eventually became. They both saw the potentials, the faults and the constraints of the technology of that time. I would argue that they both foresaw some of the possibilities that eventually came to happen for the cinema. The fact that they both lived through a time when Cinema was looked down upon and not seen as a worthy art form, yet spoke up for its merits, goes to show their great belief and fascination with this great format for telling stories. My favourite bit was reading how they both saw the merits of a film called The Cheat (1915), starring Sessue Hayakawa. Today we notice the racist elements of the film, but what Colette and Jean Cocteau both saw was the need for ethnic/diverse characters to be represented in films.
Colette wrote for a short time film reviews. It was interesting to read her thoughts on the propaganda films she saw during WWI, because films would be edited when they got into France, to make the films acceptable for the war cause. She was assigned the films that she would see and review, and it colours her reviews. I wish she could have had more freedom, but she had to earn the money, and that was one way to do it. It's obvious that one of her favourite things to write was the dialogue sketch. It's also what she does best. She has such a great sense of wit and irony, and it comes through in these. For example in The Friend of Film, she argues the need to cast an actual Japanese for the stage production of The Cheat. It's wonderful!
One thing that I enjoy reading about, is the then contemporary reaction to films during the early years of cinema. Things we take for granted now was a marvel then. I think you get a bit of that in Colette at the Movies. For example her joy of seeing the natural world and its animals from different countries. This was something people only saw in photographs, or when they travelled themselves. They often only had the accounts and tales from books and people they knew.
In 1917 her novel The Vagabond was made into a film in Italy. It was a mixed experience for her, but a bright point was the fact that it starred her friend Musidora. Her memories of that film is included in this work; see A Short Manual for the Aspiring Scenario Writer and Backstage at the Studio.
"Musidora was both Colette's close friend ("my little Musi") and her first screen interpreter; she is better known for having been, before her Roman period, the famous actress of Louis Feuillade's Vampires (1915) and Judex (1916). The Surrealists avowed great admiration for her because of her work for Feuillade (see their play written for her, Le Trésor des Jesuites, in the special Surrealist number of Variétés, June 1929). The celebrated silhouette in the black leotard, source of so much scandal and so many dreams, was born Jeanne Roques in 1889, took her pseudonym from a poem by Théophile Gautier, directed films, and after leaving film in 1926 was a journalist and, from 1944 onwards, a historical researcher for the Cinémathèque Française; she died in 1959."
Some of Colette's written works, like Gigi and Chéri, later became films. But she also did an original screenplay for Max Ophüls' Divine (1935) and adapted Vicky Baum's book, Hell in Frauensee, chosen by producer Philippe de Rothschild. It would later be called Lac Aux Dames (1934) and directed by Marc Allégret. The experiences were not the most inspiring to her but she did love film and it gave her a good salary. The scripts for these two films were both included in this book. I ended up watching both films in conjunction with reading the scripts.
Would I recommend this film book? Yes and no. It really depends on your film interests. If you want to dig into French literature and French Cinema, and have an interest in early Cinema, a la 1900s to 1930s, I think this one would be of interest; I really do think you need to be familiar with Colette to enjoy Colette at the Movies.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews