Alice Guy was not just the first woman director, she directed the first regular series of sound films for Gaumont in 1905 and 1906. This one, starring the French music hall artist Felix performing one of his popular, saucy songs, is also in color! Not a photographic color process, true enough, but one of the stencil methods popular at the time, and very well done.
The result is one of the very important records of performances of the era. We have plenty of disc recordings from the era, certainly of equal or greater quality. But what did these people look like on the stage? Photographs don't tell the whole story.
The result is one of the very important records of performances of the era. We have plenty of disc recordings from the era, certainly of equal or greater quality. But what did these people look like on the stage? Photographs don't tell the whole story.