The Three Masks, the first French talking picture.

The Jazz singer was presented in Paris on January 24, 1929, more than one year after its huge success in the USA. It took another 10 months for a French-speaking film to hit the screens (RCA sound-on-film system), presented at the Marivaux theater on October 31, 1929 and released to the audience the next day (there was even a release in Quebec).

1929 The Three Masks

The choice of subject for the first talking picture in France may surprise some as it did me when I found out that the film was called The Three Masks. The film does not exactly enjoy the cult status that The Jazz Singer has in the USA (and indeed the world) where it was recently re-released on Blu-ray or Blackmail for Great Britain.

1921 The Three Masks

As a matter of fact, the film was shot in London, at the BIP studio, the only place in Europe where you could make a talky at the time. The studio had unwisely been built right next to a railway track. So a man was hired solely to warn the crew of incoming trains thanks to an electric device which activated a light inside the studio everytime he pushed a button.Other foreign productions were shot there, like Atlantic, the first talkie inspired by the sinking of the Titanic. But a French sound studio was soon built in Joinville by Pathé and the short film Chiqué was shot there later that year.

1921 Henry Krauss & Charlotte Barbier-Krauss

As for The Three Masks, the choice of subject becomes clearer when you realize that this film is, not only a stage adaptation (an easy solution adopted by many filmmakers during this difficult period), but more importantly a remake of a great 1921 success. That version was even re-released in 1924, a very rare instance during the silent era where most films were released only once, never to be seen again (one of the reasons why so many films are lost today).

1929 Jean Toulout & Clotilde Person

As a matter of fact, in retrospect, the choice may seem bold, as the first film had a very limited number of intertitles and did not rely on dialog, unlike most subjects chosen for early talkies. One critic even wrote then that "the text is reduced to a bare minimum, almost nothing".



Here is a short clip of the 1929 film:

1921 The dead son under a mask

In Corsica, the rich Paolo della Corba loves the pretty Viola (Speranza in the silent version) in secret, because his father won't accept a poor daughter-in-law. Soon Viola gets pregnant and the couple decides to elope, but her three brothers vow to avenge her honor. During the carnival, wearing masks, they stab Paolo and bring him back in costume to his father who thinks the boy is just a drunk schoolteacher. When he removes the mask in the morning, the old man realizes his sorrow, and eventually cares for the baby.

1929 The dead son under a mask

The first version, although it did not enjoy the novelty of sound yet, was immensely successful. Critics called it admirable. It was directed by then-famous Henry Krauss who also starred in the film. One of the masks was played by Georges Wague, a celebrated mime. This version offered what the hastily shot sound film could not offer in a London studio: realism. The director went to Corsica and looked for a mansion that could be used for the father. According to Ciné Pour Tous magazine from April 8, 1921, Corsica was a poor region with very little industry or commerce and such mansions were actually very rare there. The owners of the ones he could find did not want to let the crew inside for fear of alerting the police on the origin of their wealth.

1921 "Let us in"

Henry Krauss (1921)

Jean Toulout (1929)

In spite of that, Krauss shot beautiful scenes in Corto, Corgese, Piana, Bastia etc. He ended up in the Castle of Feliceto near Muro, between Calvi and Belgodere, owned by a Mr. Salvetti who welcomed him and the crew. Krauss waited until late in filming to tell the story to Mr. Salvetti, for fear of upsetting the man on the dramatic depiction of a vendetta among Corsicans. The man told him that a similar story had happened only three years earlier in a nearby village.

1929 Renée Héribel (Viola) & François Rozet (Paolo)

When it was re-released in 1924, Cinémagazine (July 18, 1924) acknowledged the (very rare) event and wished that the film be always available. Unfortunately, as of today, their wish is not granted and neither the original nor the sound remake is available on DVD or any other format. Yet these films are still extant: the 1921 masterpiece was projected in Corsica as late as 2009.

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