Albert Dieudonné as Napoleon which 'amazed audiences and critics alike when it premiered at the Paris Opera on 7 April, 1927' Photo: Photoplay January 1925. First turn of the crank at the Boulogne studio. Abel Gance explains the filming set-up to the young Bonaparte (Vladimir Roudenko), surrounded by the technical crew Photo: © La Cinémathèque française An epic of silent cinema Abel Gance’s Napoleon, which has been seen over the years in various restored versions presented by the likes of film historian Kevin Brownlow and director Francis Ford Coppola, with live scores by Carl Davis and Coppola’s father Carmine, has been resurrected in a new guise for a premiere in the Classics section of the Cannes Film Festival.
The first part of the “new” film will be unveiled on May 14 with Napoléon (1st period), in a version resulting from what is described as "a colossal, passionate effort by the Cinémathèque française,...
The first part of the “new” film will be unveiled on May 14 with Napoléon (1st period), in a version resulting from what is described as "a colossal, passionate effort by the Cinémathèque française,...
- 4/19/2024
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
“We didn’t need dialogue. We had faces,” proclaimed former silent film queen Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) in Billy Wilder’s 1950 masterwork “Sunset Boulevard.” One of the greatest faces of the era belonged to French actor Albert Dieudonne who starred in Abel Gance’s breathtaking 1927 epic “Napoleon.” With this dark eyes, distinct nose and rock star style hair, Dieudonne channels the infamous French military leader and emperor who conquered most of Europe in the early 19th century until his disastrous 1812 invasion of Russia. Exiled to Elba in 1814, he emerged once again and suffered a massive defeat at Waterloo in 1815. He died in exile six years later at the age of 51.
Dieudonne commands the 5 ½ hour film restored by Kevin Brownlow which features the jaw-dropping triptych finale that is as exciting now as it was 96 years ago. BFI states that the film is “monumental and visionary, the story’s chapters play out...
Dieudonne commands the 5 ½ hour film restored by Kevin Brownlow which features the jaw-dropping triptych finale that is as exciting now as it was 96 years ago. BFI states that the film is “monumental and visionary, the story’s chapters play out...
- 12/1/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Top: Napoleon (Gaumont), Middle: Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure (Orion Pictures), Bottom: Napoleon Bunny-Part (Warner Bros. Pictures)Graphic: The A.V. Club
Napoleon Bonaparte died on May 21, 1821, but the iconic French emperor has lived on (and on and on) in numerous movies and television shows. Esteemed director Ridley Scott, who...
Napoleon Bonaparte died on May 21, 1821, but the iconic French emperor has lived on (and on and on) in numerous movies and television shows. Esteemed director Ridley Scott, who...
- 11/24/2023
- by Ian Spelling
- avclub.com
"The cinema event of a lifetime," promises that trailer up there. No doubt. It's an event we've been banging the drum for the past couple of weeks — see, first and foremost, Adrian Curry's marvelous collection of posters.
Today and tomorrow, and then again next Saturday and Sunday, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival will present the latest restoration of Abel Gance's epic Napoleon (1927) at the grand Paramount Theater in Oakland. Historian Kevin Brownlow, who's devoted much of his life to reconstructing the original version, has overseen this newest 330-minute version. The original original is believed to have run for nine hours when it first screened in Paris over two days before it was cut down to varying lengths for domestic and international distribution. As Manohla Dargis notes in her must-read piece for the New York Times, MGM cut one of the shortest for the Us: 70 minutes, "a butchering that...
Today and tomorrow, and then again next Saturday and Sunday, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival will present the latest restoration of Abel Gance's epic Napoleon (1927) at the grand Paramount Theater in Oakland. Historian Kevin Brownlow, who's devoted much of his life to reconstructing the original version, has overseen this newest 330-minute version. The original original is believed to have run for nine hours when it first screened in Paris over two days before it was cut down to varying lengths for domestic and international distribution. As Manohla Dargis notes in her must-read piece for the New York Times, MGM cut one of the shortest for the Us: 70 minutes, "a butchering that...
- 3/27/2012
- MUBI
After the first screening of the restored Napoleon, Abel Gance’s beleaguered 1927 masterwork, at the Empire Leicester Square, London, on November 30th, 1980, the director of the British Film Institute Anthony Smith was quoted as saying “After Sunday the world will be divided into those who have seen Napoleon and those who haven’t.” The world of the haves over the have-nots expanded to the Us the following year when Francis Ford Coppola famously brought Napoleon to Radio City Music Hall to be performed with his father’s score, but in the intervening three decades the film has not been seen again in the Us. Come March 24th, however, thanks to the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, the world will once again be divided between those who have and those who haven’t when the film returns to the Us for four screenings of Kevin Brownlow’s complete restoration—accompanied by...
- 3/10/2012
- MUBI
There are silent films, there are epics, and then there is Napoleon. After thirty years, the unique French production is primed to make a comeback on this side of the Atlantic, in the longest version ever screened since its premiere at the Paris Opéra in 1927. The announcement was made on opening night of this weekend’s San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Albert Dieudonné as Napoleon (all photos courtesy of Photoplay Productions)The news: Kevin Brownlow will present his five-and-a-half hour restoration, produced with Patrick Stanbury, his partner in Photoplay Productions, and the British Film Institute (BFI), at the enormous Paramount Theatre…...
- 7/15/2011
- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy
Francis Ford Coppola Oscar 2011: Jean-Luc Godard, Eli Wallach Honorary Oscar Recipients Kevin Brownlow (right), 72, is the most renowned silent-film historian and preservationist. Among his various restoration projects are Abel Gance’s epic Napoleon (1927), with Albert Dieudonné; Rex Ingram’s blockbuster The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), starring Rudolph Valentino and Alice Terry; and Raoul Walsh‘s fantasy The Thief of Bagdad (1924), starring Douglas Fairbanks. Among the documentaries Brownlow co-directed with David Gill are Unknown Chaplin, Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow, Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius, D.W. Griffith: Father of Film, and the outstanding Hollywood. Brownlow also directed Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic and, with Christopher Bird, Garbo. Additionally, Brownlow has authored numerous film books, including The Parade’s Gone By; The War, the West, and the Wilderness; Hollywood: The Pioneers; Behind the Mask of Innocence; David Lean; and Mary Pickford Rediscovered. Well, Brownlow should feel right...
- 8/25/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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