Coeur-Ardent (1912) User Reviews

A tale of the American West....set in France!

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 5 May 2013]

In the 1910s, Europeans seemed fascinated with the American West. Not surprisingly, they made quite a few westerns. "Coeur-Ardent" is one of these movies--filmed in France with French actors all dressed as American Indians.

The film begins with Burning Heart and Sunbeam (Berthe Dagmar--the director's wife) falling in love and deciding to marry. However, Burning Heart is poor and her father won't allow a man without a herd to marry his daughter. So, Burning Heart goes out and steals a neighboring tribe's cattle--nearly touching off a war. The fahter convinces Burning Heart to return them, but the tribe doesn't care--they are going to kill Burning Heart for his stupidity! How all this ends seemed pretty strange to me, but I won't give away the finale--you'll have to see it for yourself. And, if you do want see this Jean Durand film, you'll find it in "Gaumont Treasures Volume Two".

So is this one worth your time? Well, perhaps. The story is a bit silly but Durand and the actors manage to make it look pretty good--even though none of them are actual Native Americans. Worth seeing if you are a huge silent buff. Otherwise, probably not.

There Once Was An Indian Maid

[boblipton · 6/10 · 29 July 2018]

Out in the Wild West of the Camargues, Indian Joe Hamman wants to marry Indian maiden Berthe Dagmar. Because he doesn't have enough cattle for the bride-price, her father refuses him. He rustles some from a neighboring tribe, triggering a war.

Director Jean Durand is best remembered -- if he is remembered at all -- for his short slapstick comedies about Onésime and Zigoto. Occasionally, however, he liked to take his company out to the countryside and shoot a short western for Gaumont. Here, he offers his audience one about the Noble Savage, a subject the French had been mad about since Rousseau had praised them in the 18th Century, ascribing to them all the virtues he felt his own nation lacked, particularly their lack of sufficient admiration of Rousseau.

Durand's filming of the landscape is lovely, but his direction of the actors seems to consist of telling them to pose like cigar-store Indians, to show no emotion at all, and to answer all speeches very slowly.

Burning Heart: An Indian Tale review

[JoeytheBrit · 4/10 · 25 June 2020]

Indian brave Joe Hamman wants to marry the squaw Berthe Dagmar but her father refuses because he doesn't have the required bride price. Joe decides to put that right by rustling cattle from a neighbouring tribe. Another Western from French director Jean Durand. He made a few of these, and most of them are pretty good, but this one is very difficult to follow due to an absence of intertitles. The Camargues stand in for the American West, and Durand captures the landscape beautifully.