Comedian Paulus Singing
| Paulus chantant | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Georges Méliès |
| Starring | Paulus |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | Five films of 20 meters (66 feet) each[1] |
| Country | France |
| Language | Silent |
Paulus
Méliès
Comedian Paulus Singing (
café-concert singer Paulus (real name Jean-Paul Habans, 1845–1908). The films were designed for a café-concert stunt in which Paulus would sing behind the screen as the films were projected, giving the illusion of a sound film.[2] All five films are currently presumed lost.[3]
Summary
The English and French release titles, as well as the Star Film Company catalog numbers, for the films were as follows:[3]
- Comedian Paulus Singing "Derrière l'Omnibus" (Paulus chantant: Derrière l'Omnibus, 88)
- Comedian Paulus Singing "Coquin de Printemps" (Paulus chantant: Coquin de Printemps, 89)
- Comedian Paulus Singing "Duelliste Marsellais" (Paulus chantant: Duelliste marseillais, 90)
- Paulus chantant: Père la Victoire (no English title or catalogue number)
- Paulus chantant: En revenant d'la revue (no English title or catalogue number)
Production and release
Paulus, then nearing the end of his long and celebrated career as a pro-
artificial light in a motion picture.[4]
Three of the films (Derrière l'Omnibus, Coquin de Printemps, and Duelliste Marsellais) were sold through the catalogs of Méliès's studio, the Star Film Company, for both French and American film markets.[3] The other two, which featured Paulus singing hymns of praise to the controversial political figure Georges Ernest Boulanger, were filmed for the café-concert performance but not included in the Star Film catalogs,[2] as Méliès himself was a fervent anti-Boulangist.[5]
References
- ISBN 0900406380.
- ^ a b c Sadoul, Georges (1970). Georges Méliès. Paris: Éditions Seghers. p. 137.
- ^ ISBN 0816183686.
- ^ a b Frazer 1979, p. 37
- ^ Hammond 1974, pp.26–27
External links
- Derrière l'Omnibus at IMDb
- Coquin de Printemps at IMDb
- Duelliste Marsellais at IMDb
- Père la Victoire at IMDb
- En revenant d'la revue at IMDb
