Le Pied de mouton - 1907
ABOUT THE FILM : Le Pied de mouton
Filmarchiv AustriaThe Sheep's Foot
Year: 1907
Léonora cannot wed Gusman, her beloved, because her godfather has promised her to Lord Nigaudinos. Gusman receives from a fairy a sheep's foot as a talisman, which enables him to find, then rescue his princess, locked up in a tower of the château. Coming to a cave, the couple falls asleep and Nigaudinos snatches Léonora in turn, as well as the talisman. Fortunately, the fairy casts a spell on him: he will fall victim to a terrible bout of bulimia on the day of his wedding. Worse yet! The dishes prepared for the occasion evaporate under his very nose. To assuage his hunger, he throws himself on his sheep's foot… but beware of the consequences!
Adapted from a stage play, this film was the fruit of the collaboration of two motion-picture pioneers: Albert Capellani and Segundo de Chomón.
Nationality: French
Length: 14' 27"
Genre: fantasy,trick film
Sound: silent with soundtrack
Original elements: colour
Producer: Pathé Frères
Composer: Pierre Oberkampf
Original language: German
A BRIEF HISTORY : Le Pied de mouton
The Talisman is the screen adaptation the eponymous stage play, presented for the first time on December 6, 1806 at the Théâtre de la Gaîté in Paris. Written by Alphonse Martainville (1776-1830) and César Ribié (1758 - 1830), this work belongs to dramatic genre of the fairy tale: broken down into scenes, the spectacle is based on the magic of the sets, machinery, and fantasy of the characters.
A century later, this genre was adopted by the burgeoning cinema, as testified by the many imaginative films by Georges Méliès (1861-1938), using astucious special effects. It was Albert Capellani (1870-1931) who made The Talisman in 1908 for the company Pathé Frères. The filmmaker began in the world of the theatre, first as an actor, then stage manager, and finally director at the Alhambra. In 1905, he entered Pathé. His theatrical experience clearly shows through in The Talisman.
Segundo de Chomón (1871-1929) was in charge of the film's cinematography and special effects. Being a talented filmmaker himself, Chomón was responsible for special-effects films at Pathé as of 1905. The year of this film was particularly prolific for Chomón, whose creativity and ingenuity proved strong competition for Méliès. One can admire in The Talisman effects of appearance and disappearance, hand-applied colouration, as well as the astonishing machinery of the sets.
The original music for this film was composed by Pierre Oberkampf in 2011 in the context of the call for proposals launched in partnership with the Sacem (Société des auteurs compositeurs et éditeurs de musique – Society of authors, composers and music editors).
