Vénus aveugle (Blind Venus) is a 1941 French film melodrama, directed by Abel Gance, and one of the first films to be undertaken in France during the German occupation. Although the film is not set in any specified period, Gance wanted it to be seen as relevant to the contemporary situation in France. He wrote, "...La Vénus aveugle is at the crossroads of reality and legend... The heroine ... gradually sinks deeper and deeper into despair. Only when she has reached the bottom of the abyss does she encounter the smile of Providence that life reserves for those who have faith in it, and she can then go serenely back up the slope towards happiness. If I have been able to show in this film that elevated feelings are the only force that can triumph over Fate, then my efforts will not have been in vain."
English-language version. 'A sergeant in the Foreign Legion falls in love with Zinah, the daughter of a Berber chief.' (British Film Institute)
Thomas Gasparin / Jean François Ricord
A biopic of Napoleon Bonaparte, tracing the Corsican's career from his schooldays (where a snowball fight is staged like a military campaign) to his flight from Corsica, through the French Revolution (where a real storm is intercut with a political storm) and the Terror, culminating in his triumphant invasion of Italy in 1797. Originally intended to be the first of six films, director Abel Gance realized the full project would be nigh impossible, and never raised the money to complete the other five. The film's legendary reputation is due to the astonishing range of techniques that Gance uses to tell his story, culminating in the final twenty-minute triptych sequence, which alternates widescreen panoramas with complex multiple- image montages projected simultaneously on three screens.
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Early film version of the famous play.
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Early adaptation of a Sherlock Holmes story
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An adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes story about a father trying to gain control of his daughter's inheritance does not include Watson.
John Jones has a bald head and a jealous wife, which, to say the least, is a very bad combination. Also John has a long thirst and is very fond of the society of pretty young ladies. This leads to many unhappy occurrences in his home, and finally to a catastrophe.
