Original subtitles

USA

Paris, 1895

December 28, 1895 in the dark hall of the Parisian “Grand Café”

the Lumiere brothers presented public your new invention -

cinematograph.

This session became historic and is considered the birthday of cinema.

March 22, nine months earlier, in the Society for the Support of National Industry,

Auguste and Louis Lumières demonstrated your cinematograph to a narrow circle of friends and colleagues.

Among the guests is an engineer and inventor Leon Gaumont and his 22-year-old secretary Alice Guy.

It was something extraordinary! I was delighted!

Cinema was born.

BE YOURSELF: THE UNKNOWN STORY OF ALICE GUY-BLACHET

TEXT READS JODIE FOSTER

Emile and Marie Guy, a French couple, living in Chile, had four children:

Louis, Julie, Henriette and Marguerite.

On the first of July in the city of Saint-Mandé, near Paris, Alice Ida Antoinette Guy was born.

1873, Saint-Mandé, France

Soon after birth, her father returns to Chile on business.

1873, Carouge, Switzerland

Alice is raising her ear. With love, care, songs and fairy tales.

Marie comes to pick up her daughter and takes her with him to Chile.

1876, Valparaiso, Chile

In Valparaiso, Emil takes care of business your bookstore and publishing house.

Marie helps him and does charity work

and Alice is learning to read French and speak Spanish.

1879, Veyrier, Switzerland

When Alice turned 6 years old, she was sent to the sisters at the monastery boarding school.

Emil and Marie's eldest child gets sick and dies.

Soon after this, the family moved to Paris. 1885, Paris

Alice's sisters leave their father's house.

But soon a new tragedy occurs.

Emil dies, leaving Marie and Alice are left to their own devices.

1893, Paris, France

Alice finds out that the production company photographic equipment, secretary required.

The owner of the company, Monsieur Richard, invites her for an interview.

Felix-Max Richard

When I came for the interview, I was told that Monsieur Richard was not there.

But seeing my disappointment, I was asked to meet with Monsieur Gaumont.

He was not yet a director of the company at that time.

I went to Monsieur Gaumont and he told me,

that I have excellent recommendations, but the place is responsible, and I’m still too young.

To which I answered him that it will pass.

And he agreed with me...

Alice gets a job and provides for himself and his mother.

Richard proposes to Gaumont buy his company and he agrees.

Among Gaumont's investors is astronomer Joseph Vallot and the world famous engineer Gustave Eiffel.

Inventors and manufacturers in Europe and the USA compete with each other

trying to figure out a way to record and projections of moving pictures,

and create a commercially viable system.

With the invention of the 16mm camera Georges Demeny, Gaumont came close to the goal.

But the Lumiere brothers win the race and become the fathers of cinema.

Inspired, Alice believes more can be done than documenting everyday life.

Why not tell on film history?

Alice writes, directs and produces. one of the first feature films in cinema history.

"The Cabbage Fairy", 1896 (video remake of 1899 or 1900)

Alice was one of the first uses such film techniques

like a close-up, manual colorization of the film and the use of synchronous audio.

1907, Paris. Alice Guy.

Guy resigns from Gaumont and goes with her husband to the USA.

Herbert Blaché, Alice Blaché 1907, Ellis Island, New York

Alice continues to make films and creates his own company.

"Solax"

She films herself and completely produces the filming process.

Then twenty years will follow careers on two continents,

during which she wrote, filmed and produced about a thousand films,

to disappear without a trace from the cinema...

Hollywood was still a city where they wrote on the doors: “Dogs and filmmakers are not allowed.”

HOLLYWOOD

My name is Pamela Green and I work in show business.

Some time ago I saw on TV report about women who stood at the origins of cinema.

One of these women was Alice Guy-Blaché.

I was surprised, that I had never heard of her.

How can such an important figure in the history of cinema to be unknown to anyone?

I decided to change this.

But first, I needed find out more about her.

Pamela Green, director

Have you ever heard of Alice Guy-Blaché?

I'm also a director but I've never heard of her.

CATHERINE HARDWICK

No.

No idea.

Never.

Yes, I've heard about her. GAYLE ANN HURD, PRODUCER

I've never heard of her. JOHN CHU

I didn't even hear her name.

No.

Yes, I heard. AVA DUVERNAY

Never! JULIE DELPY

PETER BOGDANOVICH I have written and read many books about cinema,

but never heard her name.

I heard about her when...I... No, I've never heard of her.

Just unbelieveble, that the director is my age...

JULIE TAYMOR, DIRECTOR

...and also a woman, and I've never heard of her!

I'm shocked that no one knows about her.

GINA DAVIS

STEPHANIE ALLEN People will think you made it up...

I've never heard of Alice Guy-Blaché.

- I don’t know anything about her! - Absolutely nothing!

- I don't remember this name. - I've never heard of this...

“I haven’t heard of a woman who did something like that.” - No never...

I don't think today at the French Film Institutes

study the work of Alice Guy-Blaché,

CLAIRE CLOUSOT, EDITOR OF THE MEMOIRS OF A. GUY-BLACHET

...even though she's French.

She is the first “director” in the history of cinema.

MARK WANMAKER, CINEMA HISTORIAN

By the amount of footage shot she is ahead of Edison, Lumières, Méliès.

I teach at New York University and my students always ask the same thing:

DRAKE STATESMAN, PROFESSOR “Why haven’t we heard about her? She's amazing!"

All information about her is extremely important,

because history is beginning to be forgotten.

KEVIN BROWNLOW, FILM HISTORIAN, DIRECTOR

More than a hundred years have passed.

Columbia University, New York

We can say that Alice -

an important figure in film history for obvious reasons.

JANE GAINS, PROFESSOR

she founded her own company, filmed herself,

I wrote the scripts myself and produced her own films.

Oh, that's not the main reason.

Alice Guy-Blaché proved to everyone that how often people make mistakes.

After all, everyone said that women can't make films!

AGNÉS VARDA, DIRECTOR People need to know about her

because it's been too long her name was easier to forget.

JOHN WIKMAN, DIRECTOR Why did they forget about her? How did she get lost?

These are open questions to which answers need to be found.

JOAN SIMON, CURATOR In every new document

contains a tiny piece of information, which could lead to new leads.

GIGI PRITZKER, PRODUCER She has relatives left with a question

Los Angeles - Paris

My name is Tatiana Page-Relo.

Alice had two children: Simone and Reginald.

Reginald had two daughters: Regina and Adrienne.

Regina Blaché-Bolton is my grandmother.

And Alice Guy is my great-great-grandmother.

I knew that she worked at Gaumont but I had no idea

that she lived in America.

Your call has been forwarded to voicemail... Hint: Bob Channing, widower, alive.

Hello, this message for Bob Channing.

My name is Pamela Green and I photograph documentary about Alice Guy-Blaché.

Your wife, Adrienne Channing, may have been her granddaughter.

Where are her papers, books, scripts? PATRICIA RIGGEN, DIRECTOR

Her personal belongings were with her daughter-in-law Robert Blachet in Millrift, Pennsylvania.

Documents are not very good preserved due to humidity.

I contacted one generous donor, who, together with her daughter, donated funds

to purchase documents for the collection Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Museum of Modern Art, New York

Alice's papers

Bob Channing

Hello Pamela. This is Bob Channing from Arizona.

Sorry I missed your call, I rode my motorcycle to Sunday school.

My first book was called "Early American Cinema".

ANTHONY SLIDE, WRITER

After which I was offered a job at the American Institute cinematic arts for the preparation of their catalogue.

US film catalog

That's when I started to find out about American women directors,

because I was scanning old magazines and noticed on the number of films directed by women.

There was nothing special in the magazines mentions, it was commonplace.

There was nothing special about it.

I then thought that, probably, in those days there were many women directors.

Then I found out about Alice Guy.

During my research I met Simone, Alice Guy's daughter.

She wrote to us at the American Film Institute, trying to track down his mother's films.

And I was able to tell her that one or two films are in the US Library of Congress.

She intrigued me and I asked her for a meeting.

She lived in a small town in the state of New Jersey.

Simone was very generous and gave me some photos.

She also gave me a wonderful kinora, which contained many photographs,

scrolling through which created the impression of a moving picture.

They depict a woman who may have is her mother, but we don't know for sure.

Phoenix, Arizona - Show Low, Arizona

I went through all my books and Adrienne's things,

but I didn't find any diaries...

BOB CHANNING, HUSBAND OF GRANDDAUGHTER ALICE

Anything that has anything to do with Alice

was collected in one place and there was nothing more left.

- I believe that more things have been preserved. “Perhaps it just didn’t come to me.”

- Do not worry... - Be happy!

Remains of family treasures.

Can I.... - Yes, sure!

Wow! This is the Cross of the Legion of Honor!

I don't know if it's a trinket or some valuable relic.

This pen belonged to her.

I think she wrote a lot with it, because it was all erased.

And these are her opera glasses. Her eyes looked into these lenses.

This award is also hers.

If it weren't for people like you, she would have remained in the ground forever.

- ABOUT! It's Alice! - Yeah...

I still have 4-5 boxes left, I didn't see anything else.

- Just one box? - One box and you can go home.

These are her negatives.

I'm glad we found them.

You can pick them up and not return them. Nobody will object.

Honestly, no one needs them.

JOAN SIMON, CURATOR

Some people have already tried to write about her.

Anthony Slide, book by Vitor Basha and Alison McMahan,

who was looking for films Alice Guy-Blaché in Europe and the USA.

Why doesn't anyone know about her?

Because it was preserved too few of her films

to appreciate her contribution to cinema. FILMOTECA, MADRID

The problem is that in order to collect more films,

need to find those who will look for them in the archives...

MUNICH FILM ARCHIVE

...and how these films will be restored.

I decided to focus on film preservation.

FILM ARCHIVE, LOS ANGELES

It says: "Animated portrait, filmed by L. and O. Lumières.”

Are we talking about Louis and Auguste Lumières?

Even if the woman on the film is not Alice, This handwriting is definitely hers.

- There are opinions that there is someone else on the tape. -Yes.

But who, if not her.

Local law enforcement

They nicknamed me “face control”.

I have recognized over two million faces.

STEVE WILKINS, SPEC. BY FACE RECOGNITION

You asked me to study this material and determine who is depicted on it.

This is my first time working with such old images.

I applied complex and morphological approaches.

I managed to identify certain features of her face.

Her upper eyelid seems to droop above the bottom one and is practically invisible.

When she smiles, her cheekbones stick out slightly and this is also a distinctive feature.

Thanks to urine analysis, I was able to determine the shape of her ear.

And all these characteristic features, inherent in it are also present in the video.

Bulges under the eyes that appear when she smiles

pronounced cheeks... All this coincides one to one!

As a specialist, I can say

that the video shows Alice.

I really wanted to be an actress I had many friends in the theater.

But my father said: “No, never!”

“Actress! Only over my dead body!".

You yourself know what the bourgeoisie was like then.

I needed to earn a living.

I had a friend who was a nephew architect of the Sacré-Coeur Basilica. ETIENNE PAUL BARA

He was my first love.

But he was 75 years old.

- How old were you? - 18.

I would love to marry him. I idolized him.

He told my mother that I should study to be a stenographer.

This is a new profession and I could get a job as a secretary in some company.

So I did. I quickly mastered shorthand.

NY

Museum at the Fashion Institute

Secretaries, stenographers...

VALERIE STEEL, MUSEUM DIRECTOR

These were the first women's professions of those times.

The fact that they were able to work in offices was a big breakthrough for women.

Thanks to the bike women have already become freer,

but with the advent of photography and cinema, New opportunities opened up for them.

Working as a secretary was a sign of success for a middle class woman.

- Is she wearing a corset? - Certainly!

Women climbed mountains in corsets.

They could definitely make a movie in a corset.

She looks like an elegant and smart woman.

You should talk to Cecile Star.

She organized an exhibition of films by Alice Guy-Blaché at the Museum of Modern Art in 1985.

Burlington, Vermont

I suggested that the museum organize an exhibition.

CECILLE STAR, DIRECTOR, PROFESSOR

This idea interested them.

MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, 1987

With their support, I easily got the films from the Library of Congress and the George Eastman Museum.

I don't think the museum knew about Simone Blaché.

I called her with firm intention do everything possible to persuade her,

because that's how I could get close as close as possible to Alice Guy-Blaché herself.

September 12, 1985 Simone had no ego at all.

She was ready to do anything for her mother.

Mother who throughout life was an outstanding artist, even when she stopped making films.

She just wanted people to know about her mother.

Because that's what she wanted, to be appreciated according to her merits.

I had a student named Maxine Halef.

She has materials from that era, which no one else has.

She went to New Jersey and interviewed my daughter.

I think Maxine is still alive and living in Santa Monica on the West Coast.

Santa Monica, California

Have you ever met with Alice's daughter, Simone Blachet?

I tried to contact her...

MAXINE KHALEF, DIRECTOR

I think I even talked to her...

The story of how she started filming very interesting.

LAKE BELL, ACTRESS, DIRECTOR

How did she even know what a camera was...

I didn't understand anything about photography.

Absolutely nothing. I didn't know what it was.

I only knew that there were negatives and solutions...

But I didn't know anything about the process. I had to learn everything.

The Gomon company produces and sells cameras, photographic materials and equipment,

as well as kinora produced by friends and Gaumont's colleagues, the Lumière brothers.

Alice shares an office with Leon Gaumont and meets with scientists, inventors and businessmen,

and also sells equipment professional and amateur photographers.

When does the movie start? TASITADIN, DIRECTOR

When it becomes experimental.

The first directors were punks. DINO EVERETT, ARCHIVIST

The rules haven't been written yet and they did whatever they wanted.

Scientists have already developed technologies

that would allow people to travel.

Film companies have already sent operators around the world.

Most films were simple entertainment.

And only later these entertainments began to turn into stories.

And Alice Guy stood at the very origins.

This was a real revolution!

Not only technological, but also entertaining.

Everything new could be found in Paris.

VANESSA SCHWARTZ, PROFESSOR

Construction of the Eiffel Tower...

JEAN-MICHEL FRODON, JOURNALIST

...this is not only a technical event, but also cinematic.

The history of cinema is closely connected with people not only creative ones, but also with real businessmen.

Such Steve Jobs of his era.

- Hello, Maxine. - I remembered everything! Let's meet.

I wanted to find out as much as possible about that era.

And have you found Simone Blachet?

I called her and said that I study that era,

and since her mother was important director of the time

I would like to interview her.

I have saved many records, but not all.

Cassettes, for example, do not play because they have been idle for a long time.

I would advise you take them to the laboratory.

- Great idea! - And when will you take them?

Tell me can you copy U-matic cassettes?

How quickly can they do it?

DIGITAL JUNGLE LABORATORY, HOLLYWOOD

How old!

-Can you copy them? - I don’t want to, I can tear the film.

At the Point 360 laboratory, It seems there is an archives specialist.

No one has seen these tapes I want to copy them as quickly as possible.

LABORATORY "POINT 360" Will we see the recording on the monitor?

My God!

Simone Blaché, daughter of Alice Guy-Blaché

- I can't rewind. - The program gives an error. Sorry.

Hello, are you copying U-matic cassettes?

TV CENTER, HOLLYWOOD

Many companies do this because they have a lot...

Now the image will disappear...

That's all.

It's so awful. It's only worth it see the picture as it disappears...

We can't copy. You should contact DC Video.

DC Video, California

The tape is coated and will not play.

DAVID CROSSWAITE, PRESIDENT, DC VIDEO

Do you hear how it creaks?

Yes, you'll have to put it in the oven.

HOW TO BAKE A CASSETTE Put the cassette in the oven.

Then we'll be back on Saturday Take it out of the oven and let it cool.

And on Monday we’ll put it in another car and let's try to digitize on a Mac.

Sometimes cassettes have to be baked twice.

HOW TO BAKE A CASSETTE

Baking

How did she know about the movie? when it didn't exist yet?

MARK ROMANEK, DIRECTOR

Georges Demeny, inventor, colleague of Gaumont

Demeni came to our office, to present your new device.

Gaumon, being a man of science, immediately recognized the value of this invention,

and started its production.

We went to the Support Society national industry.

There we saw the Lumiere brothers, who projected an image onto a sheet

using a small device.

returned from the show delighted, but slightly disappointed

because cinema had already been invented.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Paris.

Have you ever heard of Alice Guy-Blaché?

That's the name of one of the halls of this school,

but I don't know who she is.

Welcome to the Support Society national industry!

I'll show you where cinema was born.

Almost nothing has changed here since 1895.

Cooling...

Digitization...

Did she still have any materials from that era?

She had a folder with newspaper clippings,

but she gave it to the French Cinematheque.

Interview by Maxine Halef with Simone Blanchet

- You wanted to watch her films... - Yes.

But, unfortunately, we could not find the device,

who could lose them.

At first she was Leon Gaumont's secretary.

GAIL ANN HURD, PRODUCER, SCREENWRITER

And I started my career with working as an assistant to Roger Corman.

I immediately saw a kindred spirit in her.

And I've always wondered how she started making films.

I suggested to Monsieur Gaumont shoot some movie scenes.

To which he replied that this is - fun of young girls.

He said I could try but with one condition:

that this will not affect my work in any way.

We found a small area with a paved terrace.

We had a simple tripod on which we They set up a camera and it was spinning in different directions.

We filmed by hand.

And with my cameraman we filmed my first film is “The Cabbage Fairy”.

"CABBAGE FAIRY", 1896 "The Cabbage Fairy" is a fairy tale

where newborns are found in cabbage.

There were no scripts then, just little stories that I made up myself.

She gathered some friends

they filmed against the backdrop of the garden.

She had one friend who beautifully painted fans.

They asked him to draw a cabbage.

And that was all the props.

Rene Seran, brother of Alice Guy's friends

look at the films that were made then:

the train arrives, waves on the beach...

Who cares... It's boring.

Cinema might then disappear and no one would notice.

People like Alice Guy were simply necessary

to show people

that cinema is not just a picture.

"The Adventures of Pierrette", 1900

The Cabbage Fairy was a great success and Alice returned to this theme in her later films.

"First-class midwife", 1902 "Madame's Desires", 1906

She was the first to understand that it was possible tell different stories.

CATHERINE HARDWICK, DIRECTOR

Gaumont appoints Alice head of the production department.

She manages the production of videos, with the help of which Gomon sells its cameras.

ALAN WILLIAMS, CINEMA HISTORIAN There were only two companies back then

who were seriously engaged industrialization of cinema in France:

"Pate" and "Gaumont".

It was all so new...

GINA DAVIS, ACTRESS

...which shocked no one, What is a woman doing?

Many believed that the movie will be a momentary amusement.

and then disappears forever.

Perhaps it is for this reason

Guy was appointed to such a responsible post.

California Film Institute

She wasn't exactly an American director,

and not quite French...

Besides, a woman... They simply forgot about her.

We have written an incomplete history of cinema

and have been teaching it for the last fifty years.

But now, having learned more about such people like Alice and other forgotten figures of cinema,

instead of focusing on them, We are restoring Metropolis for the 20th time.

Archivists, restorers and historians

studying all these forgotten materials.

And thanks to modern digital technologies,

we got a chance to see

how artful those films were.

And Alice Guy's films were especially

magical and emotional.

And although these films have been restored,

you can't just watch them on Netflix.

Watching them is something mesmerizing.

It's like you're in the frame yourself

so watch something

what was filmed in one shot in real time.

I really want it myself get a handheld camera.

JOHN BAILEY, COPPERATOR

Being a director and the main producer of "Gomon",

Alis creates the company's corporate identity.

"Gomon" shows its black and white and

color films in France and abroad.

"The Adventures of Pierrette", 1900

First videos on Youtube were very similar in style

to the early films of Alice and the Lumière brothers.

They are not much more professional or sophisticated. KEVIN MACDONALD, DIRECTOR

The digital age is characterized in part by

a return to amateur creativity.

Something similar already observed at the beginning of the 20th century.

Tricks, trained animals, travels around the world, filmed performances...

All of this is core content. Youtube and early cinema.

People have always learned on existing examples.

If you look back, it was the last revolution of this magnitude.

I couldn't believe it

how long has this idea been on film?

ANDY SAMBERG, ACTOR, COMEDIAN

The plot of "The Irresistible Piano"

very reminiscent of “When the Bass Starts.”

People go crazy for music.

This is a real sketch!

In our first films there was always several episodes with a climax.

- They still shoot like that now. - Yes, that's right. But still less often...

Over time we have improved this.

At the 1900 World's Fair, the main attraction there was a moving walkway and movies.

Among those shown at the exhibition films there are also films "Gaumon".

Alice receives her first award for contribution to production.

The same year in Brussels, "Gaumont" showing the cinematograph to the public

and shows a selection the company's most successful films.

Alice's "Cabbage Fairy" is applauded by the entire audience.

Alice competes with people like Georges Méliès, Fernand Zecca, director of Pathé,

and Edwin Porter, director of the Edison Company.

I'm really interested in those cameras.

NEAL HUNT I would like to know more about that technology.

It hurts me to listen when people criticize early films

because if they saw in what conditions did we film them...

They had problems with the camera films and their development...

There were no film schools back then. SIMONE BLACHET, DAUGHTER

We'd really like to find that camera which was filmed by Alice Guy.

CALIFORNIA FILM INSTITUTE ARCHIVES

This is the Pathé camera.

DINO EVERETT, ARCHIVE STAFF

We'll have to look at it tiny window.

Everything is so small and upside down.

JOHN BAILEY, COPPERATOR

I've only shot on film a few times,

but you get it completely It’s a different feeling when working with the carrier.

It seems the shutter is a little loose...

I can't even imagine

how hard it was for Alice Guy work with those cameras.

FRENCH CINEMATHEQUE

As we can see from this exhibition,

first attempts at image projection on the screen were attempted several hundred years ago.

Henri Langlois, who founded French Cinematheque,

collected these objects,

among which was a wall-sized photograph,

which shows Alice on set.

This photograph has not survived.

But in the annotation to the exhibition about Gaumont and Pathé, she is cited as the first female director.

Alice Guy becomes the first female director...

French Cinematheque. Research department.

These documents directly relate to her. We've never seen them.

This is a correspondence between Alice, Leon Gaumont and his son Louis.

I knew about the Gaumont apparatus, the chronophone.

WALTER MARCH, EDITOR, SOUND ENGINEER

But I didn't know that Alice took part in this.

"Indecent Questions", 1905

In 1902, Leon Gaumont and Georges Laudet patented their new invention - the chronophone.

It allowed to show films with synchronized sound.

"Tea at Five O'Clock", 1905

The sound was recorded on a wax disk,

which later turned into into a gramophone record.

Then this record was played to the actors,

who sang and danced in sync

to the music while the camera filmed them.

"Singing Pictures"

These elms were called “singing paintings.”

Clips have been around since the beginning.

HENRY JENKINS, PROFESSOR

And Alice Guy, of course, was part of this process.

Alice Guy and Thomas Edison both made sound films.

But Edison started earlier.

Dixon's sound film, 1894

But the difference is that Edison wrote down

sound right on the set.

The actors shouted into a bullhorn and the sound was recorded.

Alice Guy recorded the sound before filming.

The first talking mechanism which we used in the studio,

consisted of two devices: phonograph and cinematograph,

which were connected to each other an electrical device that provides synchronization.

Seeing her take pictures...

LIZ GOLDWYN, DIRECTOR It's incredible to see a female director in that era.

She didn't just operate the camera, she had a script, music,

synchronization of sound using a chronophone...

MARK WANMAKER, CINEMA HISTORIAN

and she mastered all these skills to perfection.

We can say that Alice was a pioneer in the creation of musicals.

Alice works with the biggest opera stars and the best dancers.

New “singing pictures” are being filmed in Madrid, Grenada and Barcelona,

where is Alice with his cameraman, Anatole Tiberville,

makes documentaries

about different attractions.

Spain, 1905

A trip around Spain in those days

was a dangerous occupation for a single woman.

But her cameraman was with her,

so she wasn't completely alone.

I wouldn't say she was fearless

but it was difficult to scare her.

The success of the company allowed Gomon expand film production

and build a new film studio next to the Buttes-Chaumont park.

The Gomon film studio was completely unique and the largest in the world.

This studio had its own system organization.

BRIAN JACOBSON, PROFESSOR

Filming took place on the second floor.

On the floor below there was a hatch through which the scenery rose and fell.

This is how the decorations were made regardless of the filming location.

This architectural model of the film process gave rise to classic Hollywood film system.

Alice produced and directed the first film, filmed in a new studio - "Esmeralda"

based on the novel by Victor Hugo "Notre Dame Cathedral"

Alice is hiring writers and organizes weekly meetings.

She hires and trains Etienne Arnault and Louis Feuillade,

and also finds production designer Henri Menesier.

Alice continues to write and film

own films about fashion, children, education,

even a film about child abuse,

love comedies and chase films.

"Twisted Story", 1906

Some films contain techniques

which she learned from his master, Frederic Diele.

He explained to me how to photograph people so that they were closer or further, more or less.

We also came up with a way shoot the film backwards.

I don't think her way of filming children

was something special

but those roles that she wrote for them.

No one but her did this.

In "The Forester's Son"

one of my favorite films of hers, there were so many pistols and knives,

that I was all worried while watching it. I was afraid for the boy.

Father dies, tragic ending.

And what she could tell such a story in five minutes,

and keep you on your toes -this is simply incredible!

She was the first great comedy director.

Most of her comedies feature

just a perfect sense of humor.

"Madame's Wishes" is such an unusual film,

because we rarely see films about pregnant women.

DEBORAH NADULMAN LANDIS, COSTUMER

She steals fish from a homeless man and eats it.

She stole a glass of absinthe from a cafe visitor!

She's such a wretch!

She had a great sense of humor and she knew how to make it funny.

The humor in "Drunken Mattress" is simply great!

ALAN WILLIAMS, CINEMA HISTORIAN

Her sense of rhythm the immobility of this mattress...

JULIE TAYMOR, DIRECTOR

and then his excessive mobility -

all this is very important for the plot.

"Drunk Mattress", 1906

To the actor who carried this mattress, should be given an Oscar.

I've never seen people fall so often.

PETER BOGDANOVICH

This woman went to church school

and she made such daring films.

"Clingy Woman", 1906

In "The Sticky Woman" the maid licks the stamps.

Her mouth becomes very sticky.

this man is looking at her and becomes more and more inspired.

He's so excited because this woman licks stamps.

Having watched only a few of Alice's films, I can to say that she had a great sense of humor.

"The Fruits of Feminism" is a very witty film.

This is such a satirical sketch about men's fear of feminism.

I've never seen anything like it before.

Her women are dressed in women's clothing,

and men - to the men's room,

but men behave like women,

and women are like men.

This is so revolutionary!

TASITADIN, DIRECTOR She seems to be saying: “Imagine what it’s like for us.”

But there is also some self-irony in the film.

It's timeless. MICHEL HAZANAVICUS, DIRECTOR

Such a great idea and she was the first to come up with it.

I'm sure she influenced a lot of people.

Los Angeles - Moscow

Sergei Eisenstein was one of the pioneers of cinema.

NAUM KLEIMAN, CINEMA HISTORIAN

"Battleship Potemkin" glorified him throughout the world.

When you sent me this film, I immediately remembered an excerpt from his memoirs:

“Women rebelled and started visiting cafes, discuss politics and smoke cigars,

while their husbands stayed at home and took care of the housekeeping."

Eisenstein was then 8 years old and It is forbidden to watch such films.

This film became very important for him.

This is the film he mentions most often.

"October", 1928

In the film "October" by Eisenstein

The style and influence of Alice Guy can be seen.

This is especially clearly seen in the example one of the heroes, a kind of man-woman...

And, thanks to you, we now know director's name and film title,

and the impact her film had on his life and upbringing,

his development as a director.

Alice Guy's influence on Sergei Eisenstein

Paris, France

ROLAND-FRANCOIS LAC, WRITER

Today we will visit several places,

where Alice filmed her films,

not far from the studio where she worked,

in the vicinity of the Buttes-Chaumont park.

Today they will help me: one descendant Leona Gomona, great-great-granddaughter of Alice Guy, and...

YVES GOMONT, GREAT GRANDSON TATIANA PAGE-RELEAU, GREAT-GREAT-GRAND-GRANDSON OF A. GI

- And a passerby. - And a passerby... (GLENN MIREN, HISTORIAN)

First we will visit Compan Street,

Where was Alis Guy filmed? called "Bed on Wheels".

First the bed rolls down this hill and then we see her up the street,

also rolling down.

And now we are in place filming of the film "Drunk Mattress"

on the bridge over Rue des Crimes, GLENN MIREN, HISTORIAN

where the scene was filmed, when the mattress falls down onto the road.

Scenes for both films were filmed here. Great-great-granddaughter of ALICE GEE

At one of the entrances to the park was filmed film "The Four-Year-Old Heroine"

Great-great-great-granddaughter of ALICE GEE The heroine climbs these stairs

and catches two thieves robbing a man. She prevents them from committing a crime,

for which the police thank her.

"The Four-Year-Old Heroine", 1907

I filmed my “Passion”, which became the biggest film in France.

James Tissot, "Life of Christ"

Alice uses Tissot's Bible as a basis for creating your biggest film yet -

"Passion".

She hires Victor Jasse as her assistant.

and shoots 25 episodes with the help of about 300 extras.

James Tissot created a series of watercolors,

dedicated to the life of Christ.

They were published and called the "Tissot Bible".

JUDITH DOLE CARTE, CURATOR OF THE TISSOT EXHIBITION

This cycle has become very popular.

Alice Guy-Blaché was one of the first who was inspired by these drawings.

Her elm turned out absolutely incredible.

It even has the first special effects.

"The Birth, Life and Death of Christ", 1906

On the set of the film "Superman Returns" we used a similar trick.

We also lowered the camera next to the heroine.

MARK STETSON, SPECIAL EFFECTS

These techniques are still used today.

The only difference is that now we have equipment that allows you to remove seams.

During filming, one of the crew members destroys part of the scenery.

Construction of new scenery requires additional budget

and endangers Alice's position in the company.

A member stands up for her Board of Directors, Gustav Eiffel.

Leon Gomon organizes a film screening at the House of Photography and introduces Alice as director.

The audience applauds enthusiastically after every scene.

Her films continue to be successful

and she is becoming more and more famous.

Alice hires her colleague Henri Menesier, production designer Ben Kare.

I would like her to know

more people in the film industry.

To get people talking about her. MARGAN SATRAPI, DIRECTOR

JOAN SIMON, CURATOR I accidentally found a quote on Google Books,

that Hitchcock admired films by Alice Guy-Blaché.

It says: “I was delighted with works of the Frenchman Georges Méliès,

but I was even more amazed by the films of D. W. Griffith and the early French director Alice Guy."

Charlotte Chandler "It's Only in the Movies"

MARK ABRAHAM, PRODUCER It is not surprising that any director

who watched Alice Guy's films,

I decided to borrow something from her.

Different film companies use the same and the same materials for their films.

To indicate who owns what, they insert their logo into the frame.

Gomon company logo - This is a flower with the letters "ELGE".

Initials of Leon Gaumont.

According to the production designer Ben Kare, scripts were often stolen.

Once Alice invited to the director's office

and gave him the script to read.

To which he answered her, that this is a movie script,

which he watched last night.

Everyone stole from each other.

It was enough "by chance" meet someone

who works at Gaumont, invite them to dinner,

drink and offer earn some money.

And the actresses ran from the same studio to another and said:

“Competitors made such and such a film and I played in it.”

Alice treats scripts with powder for taking fingerprints,

and starts locking them in his desk drawer.

When they start to disappear

Alice investigates and finds the culprit.

It turns out that he is a young man

who works as a night watchman at a studio.

"Glue", 1906

"Gomon" were always the first, and “Pata” was imitated.

I was surprised to find that she The scripts were similar in form to modern ones.

"The Consequences of Feminism", 1906 "Juno", 2007

It's so cool! DIABLO CODY, DIRECTOR

I'm glad I was finally able to film something.

We don't know what will come of it. Neither did Alice.

In 1906, Guy met an Englishman named Herbert Blachet Bolton.

n came from the London ilial "Gaumont", to study the camera design.

Paris, 1906

Cameraman Alice, Tiberville, falls ill.

Instead, Gaumont sends to the south of France Herbert to film the film "Mireille"

written by Louis Feuillade and with Alice Guy as director.

They begin an affair while filming.

After filming ended, Alice returns to Paris

and Erber is appointed manager Berlin branch of Gaumont.

1906, Nimes, France

Material shot by Erber, cameraman the film turns out to be unsuitable.

Leon Gaumont sends Alice to Berlin, so that she could show how the chronophone works.

Berlin, 1906

Our clients had difficulties using the device.

Gaumont could not go himself and sent me.

To which I answered him that I don’t tell him in German and I don’t know anything about Germany.

Herbert accompanies her to as a translator in Germany

where she teaches the company's clients use a chronophone.

We didn't get married right away, although he already then he proposed to me.

I told him that I needed to think about it. And I didn’t really want to leave France.

But most of all I didn't want marry an Englishman.

The British are not the nicest people.

But by Christmas they announced their engagement.

This news greatly surprised Leon Gaumont,

because he was going to send Erber to Cleveland, in Ohio to promote Chronophone.

Just before leaving, Gomon told me, that my departure makes him very sad,

that he will have to look for a replacement for me at Pat.

and what I answered was that he already has wonderful director, Louis Feuillade.

LOUIS FEUYADH, DIRECTOR

As told by Ben Kare, a grateful director wrote a farewell speech for Mademoiselle Alice:

“Thanks to you it bloomed Daisy by Leon Gaumont.

Your departure has made the company...sad.”

The Blache-Bolton couple arrives in New York.

According to the papers, Erbert is 28 years old, and Alice is 30.

But in reality, she is 33 years old and he is 24.

Erber, being a representative of the chronophone,

cooperates with American entrepreneurs from Ohio within 9 months,

but this enterprise fails.

Gomon arrived and bought a small studio in Flushing, Long Island.

I wanted to make a sound film with singing.

He entrusted this task to my husband.

The Blaches live in Flushing. Simone is born to them there.

In the synchronized films "Gaumon" there are popular American songs

and numbers from vaudeville.

Erber hires Lois Weber, famous as Mrs. Smalley, as an actress.

And although Madame Blaché no longer works for Gaumont, she directs several of the company's films.

Later, under the leadership of Madame Blaché, Mrs. Smalley will begin writing scripts and making films.

Lois Weber will be the first America's female director.

Former production designer Alice, Henri Menesier comes to visit her.

Alice tells him what she advised Gaumont to follow the example of "Pate"

and shoot elms in America, but he was not interested in this idea.

“I can't sit idle. I want to work and I know where I can make money.

If I start doing something, you will join me.”

I rented part of that studio in Flushing. and started making films there.

Alice founded Solax and became the president of her company.

Among the comedies of Madame Blaché

films such as "Mixed Animals"

"Cupid and the Comet"

and “When Marianne was little.”

People like Alice were savvy businessmen and artists.

They did it make a small fortune.

STEVE ROSS, WRITER

My assistant was a former officer, who knew the army well.

At first we filmed a lot movies about cowboys.

It was very fashionable then.

When Solax became successful,

they went from one movie a week to three.

She had to hire assistant directors.

one of them was Melville, who I had a military career behind me.

He had access to ships pistols and cavalry.

From Menesier's memoirs: “She filmed scenes with Melville.

He was smart but not as dexterous as she is.

"Beyond the Mexican Line", 1911

Her scenes were always better."

I wonder how she combined motherhood and work.

EVAN RACHEL WOOD, ACTRESS

My mother was never home.

SIMONE BLACHET, DAUGHTER OF ALICE GUY-BLACHET

My brother and I often stayed with governesses.

I didn't know it could be different. That mothers stay at home with their children.

Solax films are popular.

To meet demand, Alice hires new directors

and creates a full-time cast of actors, who are called "Solax players".

Gomon distributes films Solax outside the USA.

Fort Lee, New Jersey

You've reached the Seymours. Leave a message after the signal.

Hello, I don't know if these are the same Seymours.

I'm looking for Michelle Seymour.

- This is Michelle. - Hello, Michelle.

-Are you a relative of the Pinces? -Yes.

- This call will seem strange to you... - Don't worry, I've seen worse.

We are making a documentary about the first female director.

- It's clear. - Her name was Alice Guy-Blaché.

- In her notebook I found the name Charles... - Pina?

- And also Robert... - Ivy?

- Yes, Ivy. - That was the name of my parents and grandfather.

My grandfather was a cinematographer.

- Was he a cameraman? - Yes. That's probably how they met.

Do you still have any documents?

My grandfather was from France.

I can check on the website by searching for a pedigree.

My cousin Katie should know everything about this.

- Let's call her? - She lives in Missouri.

Katie, this is Michelle Seymour.

Pamela, who is on the line with us, is filming documentary about Alice Guy-Blaché.

As it turned out, she knew our grandfather. I hope you can answer her questions.

Maybe there is some other one cousin.

Yes, her sister. But Katie knows more than anyone.

- Let's call her anyway? - Her name is Jackie.

Hello Jackie. I'm in touch with Pamela who's making a one-woman movie,

who, as it turned out, worked with her grandfather.

They are looking for any useful information.

Jackie and Katie are a little older than me.

Their sister is like my own, we grew up together.

- God, how many of you are there!? - If you call one, then you have to call everyone.

Most likely, he was its operator.

We're not entirely sure about this but we are checking.

We found a poster for one of her films and it has your grandfather's name on it.

My God!

Cinematographer Charles Pin

FotoKem Lab Burbank, California

JOHN BAILEY, COPPERATOR The entire recording is out of focus.

I think we need to change the camera. FAILED TEST

Camera test failed

Chicago, Illinois. Keri Williams owner of the Pathé camera 1908

I have two handles for the tripod and one for the camera.

two more lenses and some magazines.

And all this will be very useful to him.

Los Angeles, California

California Film Institute

Now that we have this camera,

we want to repeat one of Alice's films,

which she filmed in one take.

SUCCESSFUL TEST #2

Fort Lee is located near New York.

RICHARD KOZARSKI, PROFESSOR

It is located on a large rock cliff.

It was full of farms and fields.

Herbert and Alice buy plot of land in Fort Lee

and announce that Solax moves to a new place.

We had to build everything from scratch.

And it took some time.

While the studio was being built, Alice was carrying her second child

and continued to make films at the studio

in Flushing on provocative topics.

"A man is a man"

"The Making of an American Citizen"

and "Strike", these films deal with themes

anti-Semitism, immigration and immigration.

Simone Blachet

Did you see how she filmed?

Yes, I saw it.

And what was she like on set?

She liked to control everything.

She was that kind of person and the same director.

She didn't speak very well in English, and this made her work more difficult.

She tried to understand people with whom I worked,

and listen to them, to achieve good results.

You said she was bad spoke English.

She tried to somehow show them what she wanted. - Definitely!

They often laughed at her.

But she wasn't offended.

At 38, Alice gives birth to Reginald.

Fort Lee, New Jersey

Route 1-95, George Washington Bridge...

All of today's Hollywood studios were born in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

which was version 1.0 of current Hollywood.

Such companies were located there

like "Eclair", "World", "Fox".

Here was the Universal studio, and here was Alice Guy's Solax. TOM MYERS, MUSEUM DIRECTOR

This is also where Paramount Studios was born. whose business quickly went uphill.

And next to these giants - Alice Guy with her studio.

Early years of Fort Lee were an incredible period.

CAREY BEAUCHAMP, WRITER, DIRECTOR

New directors are arriving from Europe. The film industry is developing rapidly.

In the evenings, funeral homes are refurbished under the cinemas, they put chairs and hang a sheet.

New cinemas are being built. JOHN WIKMAN, DIRECTOR

Cinema is turning into a business.

St. Louis, Missouri

These tapes say "Solax" on them.

and they see some woman, nurse and my grandfather.

- This woman is Alice, isn't she? I can't see.

Yes, it's her!

Is this your grandfather? Now we know who it is!

This is Alice's mother.

And these are children, there are so many of them and they are all different ages.

God, where did he get all these photos from?

JACKIE CASNER, DESCENDANT OF CHARLES PINE

They must have had close relations. How are they connected?

He was definitely some kind of relative of hers.

She had sisters Julie, Henriette, Marguerite...

I think it's my grandmother's mother name was Margaret or Marguerite...

Marguerite! That's her! You are also a relative of Alice!

You are a descendant of the first female director!

Wow!

When can we come visit?

Alice Blaché, a key figure in cinema.

New York's leading theatrical newspaper wrote: "She is the main person in the film studio,

which she herself founded and built.

Her annual income is from 50 to 60 thousand dollars.”

"Wastefulness has always been for me a terrible word and a great crime.

I had experience in film production, I knew the process well.

It would be a shame not to use my knowledge for its intended purpose, when there was so much that could be done.”

The article concludes:

"One day it will be written biography of Madame Blaché,

so everyone can read it about her simple, happy life."

"Strike", 1912

As the scenarios The blashes are getting better

her filmmaking techniques are getting stronger too.

She starts using double exposure,

split screen and special effects.

Her films also feature

exotic animals and live rats.

I enjoyed watching her films.

JOHN CHU, DIRECTOR

They show her rebellious nature and a creative approach.

It takes a long time to study to reach her level.

The way she uses space and movement...

When I see this, I I also want to repeat this.

Her films have not aged at all.

Former production designer Alice, Menesier, recalled that Alice herself trained the editors.

In the evening, when everyone had gone home, she edited the films and did the subtitles herself.

"Marriage restrictions" - excellent example of installation.

TERILYN SHROPSHIRE, EDITOR

GIGI PRITZKER, PRODUCER

His aunt is dying and bequeaths him a lot of money,

if he gets married before noon on the 18th.

He thinks about his beloved but, looking at her photograph,

suddenly realizes that he has little time left.

From the general shot she moves to a close-up, showing it near the clock.

So she wants to tell us something.

As her style and technique change, her camera starts moving more,

getting bigger close-ups and different angles.

These are no longer simple short films, told in one place in one shot.

St. Louis, Missouri

Jackie Kesner's house

They always called her "Tant Alis".

CLAIRE WICKELL That's why I thought that was her name, Tant Alis.

I didn’t know that “tant” - This is "aunt" in French.

July 8, 1920

My grandfather lost his mother

and he was sent to boarding school.

His father visited him at Christmas with a lot of gifts,

but left an hour later.

My grandfather was very worried.

He just wanted to feel loved.

I think that's why they became so close. She meant a lot to him.

Grandfather kept everything.

This woman is beginning to take on flesh.

I'd like to see her studio.

MARK STETSON, SPEC. BY SPECIAL EFFECTS

In a New York theater newspaper was written:

“On the ground floor there is an office Madame Blaché, sales and advertising departments,

script and mail departments, as well as viewing room and laboratory.

the bottom half of the second floor is occupied by a studio, and the second - the stage and storage rooms.

There's enough room for five regular film sets, or three large ones.

There is also a platform for filming stunts.

Dressing rooms are located on the third floor, directors' offices, dressing rooms and art department.

Hangs above the entrance to the studio a sign that says:

"Be natural."

I hung signs all over the studio with the words: “Be natural.”

That's all I asked of them.

Being natural is the most important thing for an actor.

JULIE DELPY, ACTRESS, DIRECTOR

this is felt in all her films.

DRAKE STATSMAN, PROFESSOR

It's like she opens doors for us,

invites you to get to know these people better.

She loves people.

Loves the world in which he lives.

“Ray of Sunshine”, 1912

She wanted everything to look natural.

CATHERINE HARDWICK, DIRECTOR

There is one element of truth

"Hymn to His Mother", 1911

around which she talks fictional story.

I think it's much more difficult achieve this naturalness.

"Two Little Gunmen", 1912

In many Westerns and war films, Alice

The main and strong roles are played by women.

"Sue Parson", 1912

The subjects and scale of its filming

very reminiscent of modern cinema.

What beautiful, artistic shots.

what talented actresses.

All the tricks they performed with such confidence...

She realized the problem of inequality

between men and women

and showed it in my films,

trying to fight like this with sexual prejudices.

"Misogynist", 1912

"Falling Leaves", 1912

Little Trixie hears that her sister will die,

when the last leaves fall from the trees,

and decides to save his sister,

hanging fallen leaves on the trees.

We see this little girl and we sympathize with her,

because this is a pure, sincere story.

BEN KINGSLEY, ACTOR

Alice can tell stories filming snippets of life.

when you watch her films, you realize how little cinema has changed.

I was asked to work with a company who did publicity for the first film

with an all-black cast.

I would say that the film was a product of its era, nothing progressive,

but in those days it was for sure was perceived differently.

Regardless of the message which it contained

this film can be considered historical,

because it's the first time in it black actors appeared on the screen.

"Weirdo with Money" is a very interesting film.

For your friends and acquaintances, he's just a weirdo.

But one day he finds a wallet full of money.

He buys an expensive car and drives past the house.

then again.

And everyone wants to be friends with him, because he has money

which he then loses and becomes of no use to anyone.

This story was close to her but we don't know why.

The French Newsreel wrote:

"The main role in the film Madame Blaché "The Oddball with the Money"

performed by James Russell, the king of cakewalk, with his troupe.

When Blaché told her white actors, that they will play together with blacks,

they refused to film, believing It’s disgraceful to work with actors of color.”

The conclusion reads: “This is how strong racial prejudice in a free America."

That's why all the actors in the film are black.

I've always been fascinated by people

who manage to make films now.

about doing it in defiance of everyone... ANN FLETCHER, DIRECTOR

...so far ahead of his contemporaries... This is simply incredible!

Erber's contract with Gaumont ends and Alice appoints him director of Solax,

so that he manages finances and transactions.

A few months later, Erber creates the film company "Blache Films"

Blaché directs and produces films using Solax resources.

Erber's behavior is very interesting.

MARK WANMAKER, HISTORIAN

Why did he suddenly decide too make movies and be a director?

While she

does the same in the next studio.

Two production companies and he is now a director.

Film studio "Solaks" and its directors

"A Matter of Honor" is my favorite film of hers.

In "A Matter of Honor", husband and wife separated,

but they live under the same roof and communicate using notes.

All the heroines of the film so arrogant and impudent:

impudent secretary and cook control everyone around them.

And it seems to me that they are very similar to Alice Guy-Blaché.

She needed to make this film.

CECILLE STARR, DIRECTOR

The place of women in cinema.

Madame Blaché wrote an article for a magazine about cinema about the place of women in filmmaking.

“There is nothing like that in the film process, in what ways are women inferior to men?

there is nothing that can stop a woman master this skill perfectly.”

Germany declares war; Europe is arming itself"

Economic crisis in the USA and the beginning of the First World War

create a number of financial problems for Blachet and they have to work for other companies.

Old filmmaking methods no longer work.

There is a clearer division of labor, you need to run several parallel projects.

Cinema is increasingly turning into a business.

Nobody needs artists and craftsmen anymore.

STEVE ROSS, WRITER, PROFESSOR

And add to this the Edison trust.

CARIE BEAUCHAMP, WRITER

Thomas Edison united Kodak and eight film companies,

and said that only those companies that consist in the trust, they can buy Edison cameras and film.

Alice with her Solax together with Universal, Fox

and other studios, who wanted to make films,

should have joined the trust or make payments to Edison.

Payment: $3000

That is, they needed or pay for a license,

or become independent,

which left little chance of existence.

Edison made life so difficult for the film studio that

that they had to move from the East Coast to the West Coast.

They can't imagine allow you to work legally.

They need to go as far as possible from Edison to shoot cheaper.

And this is possible in California.

"Ocean Stray", film produced by William Randolph Hearst,

with Doris Kenyon and Carlisle Blackwell starring, was directed by Alice Blaché.

What amazes me most is the modernity of this film.

ANNE FONTAINE, DIRECTOR Constant movement

violence in the relationships between characters...

Smart script, precise acting, no one is overacting.

A very sophisticated plot.

Along with activist Rose Pastor Stokes, Madame Blaché writes “Let the parents decide”

play about family planning.

The premiere was supposed to take place at the opening of the Margaret Sanger Clinic,

engaged in control fertility rate, but failed.

It would be so great if the premiere had taken place.

KATHLEEN TURNER, ACTRESS

But Margaret was arrested as soon as she opened the clinic.

We're still fighting for the right to plan your family.

"Empress", 1917

The Empress is very well filmed.

PIERRE-WILLIAM GLENN, COPERATOR

What a composition!

Alice is an excellent director, and it's quite obvious

that she knows about everything

what happens on the set.

She knows about the scenery

artistic production, costumes, acting, lighting...

and she has everything under control.

Madame Blaché gives lectures about cinema and screenwriting.

and shows his films at Columbia University.

1917, Columbia University

When she gave this lecture, she still didn't understand why women couldn't make films.

Men have their own kind of brotherhood...

There was some progress, but nothing important...

And you never had problems in America?

I had problems in America only with French companies.

And even the fact that you were a woman the first female director

didn't make things difficult for you.

Because in those days women rarely engaged in male professions.

No.

On the contrary, there were people who invested in my projects.

And in France?

No never.

The Blaches began to give up your studio to other companies.

Solax Studio rented to Selznick Pictures

My parents' marriage began to fall apart.

Things were very bad.

1918, home of the Blachet family

Erber leaves his family for Hollywood.

He takes Catherine Calvert with him, who worked for him and his wife,

and she becomes his mistress.

Alice moves with her children to New York.

In a letter to Erbert, Alice writes:

"Thank you for your letter. I'm done I'm shooting the film and starting editing.

The children are doing well. Best regards, Alice Blaché."

And at the end he adds:

“I found out that after leaving you lived with Mrs. Smalley, your mistress.

I'm warning you that I'm going to take the necessary measures,

because I want to keep mine good name and protect your children.

She once jokingly asked me, Am I really Madame Blaché?

She'll soon find out for herself who is Madame Blaché?

Herbert Blaché is an inveterate womanizer.

ANTHONY SLIDE, HISTORIAN

Catherine Calvert

Many women would send him far away, but she needed him,

although he had no idea no artistic value.

My father speculated on the stock market, bought aviation shares.

When the war ended, these shares became worthless.

he lost forty thousand dollars, a lot of money in those days.

This hit the company hard.

They couldn't continue working.

Solax, already heavily in debt, loses one from their pavilions as a result of the fire.

Film reviewer Louella Parsons reports that Madame Blaché was entrusted with the shooting of several films,

including "Tarnished Reputation".

During filming, Blaché falls ill with the flu.

Erber sees how his wife's health rapidly deteriorating

New York, 1920

and calls Alice and the children to Los Angeles.

Los Angeles, 1920

They live separately.

Herbert hires Alice as an assistant director for the filming of his two films,

with Alla Nazimova in the title role.

"Stronger than Death"

"Tarnished Reputation" premieres on Broadway Alice's last film in the US.

Erber gets a job director and producer at Universal.

I would like to find out more about her personal life.

STEPHANIE ALLEN, PRODUCER

I'm sure it wasn't easy.

My mother was a real Frenchwoman born in the 19th century.

- I don’t want to talk about it, it’s so terrible. - Turn off the camera.

- I turned off the camera. - Fine.

My father's indifference and his constant running after different women,

led to the breakdown of their relationship. And to work together you need harmony.

The studio went bankrupt.

All Solax property sold at auction.

Divorced Alice returns with children to France.

Los Angeles

Fort Lee, New Jersey

Pamela, we want to show you something.

MICHELLE PIN SEYMOUR, DESCENDANT OF CH. PIN

And you have the perfect manicure for this.

I'm a Jersey girl. We can't go anywhere without a manicure.

All these letters are from Alice!

- Wow! - She signed them “Aunt Alice.”

- Many letters are signed “M. Guy." - Mother Alice!

And this letter is from 1924 and it is signed with Marie's name.

He and your grandfather were very close!

Alice was a busy woman.

We don't know anything about her life after 1922, so these letters are very important.

Nice, 1922

Settling in Nice, she tries to settle down director or manager, but to no avail.

Nice, 1922

Alice writes to her lawyer that she intends sue Erber if he does not pay alimony.

“He has a lot of debt, but so do I.

Nobody wants to hire to work gray-haired women.

After so many years in America they forgot about me."

Marie writes to her grandson, Charles Pin:

Poor Alice! Sometimes they give her work is like a dog's bone.

She finds no, absolutely no work in cinema. Even after thousands of requests.”

Large investment firms want to invest in the movies because they see the potential benefits.

Alice didn't stand a chance. STEVE ROSS, WRITER

Wall Street money comes through the front entrance, and women are kicked out through the back.

From all the women on the set they just get rid of it.

Roaring Twenties

HOLLYWOOD, 1923 Five films by Herbert Blaché are being released.

Marie tells Charles that Simone looking for a job as a stenographer.

“Regis has difficulty speaking French, he is not as smart as his sister.

They live on money from selling jewelry. Furniture will be used soon.”

Luella Parsons writes that cinema is necessary more female directors.

"Paramount is so proud of its one and only female director Dorothy Arzner,

which together with Lois Weber managed to achieve recognition.

Of course, there was also Madame Blaché, but we haven’t heard anything about her for a long time.”

The Great Depression

In the 1920s, the main American the word was "prosperity."

But the 30s began and a new word appeared:

"depression".

No work

1931 Nice, France

Alice writes: “I found out that you are going to shoot sound films in your new studio.

Please, Monsieur Gaumont. Becomes alive It's getting more and more difficult. I need a job".

A historical note has been written about the Gomon company, where the start date of activity is 1906.

Alice's name is not mentioned in it.

Paris, 1932

Alice and Simone move to Paris.

Simone works as a secretary at United Artist and Fox

and provides financial support for the mother.

Simone Blaché at the Fox banquet

The newspaper Le Temps publishes Alice's amendments to the article, where the first women directors

named Germaine Dulac and Dorothy Arzner.

She calls herself the first female director

and Mrs. Smalley - first American female director.

VANESSA SCHWARTZ, PROFESSOR

It would be very interesting to follow

who and how she was the history of cinema has been written

and what her relationship with these people was like.

Victor Bashi, film historian, 1995

In the 1960s, Victor Bashi was a film historian from Brussels,

whose neighbor turned out to be Alice Guy.

He immediately realized how she was an important figure for the history of cinema,

and that her name should be added

in historical chronicles.

Los Angeles - Brussels

Victor Bashi was my grandfather.

Under his table there is a recording device.

- Do you see him? - Yes.

He records it on tape. Where is she?

DAMYAN BASHY, GRANDSON OF V. BASHY Car?

To hell with the car, I care about cassettes!

"Ghost Town: The Fort Lee Story"

In a documentary by historian Theodore Huff abandoned Fort Lee studios are shown.

But the founder of Solax He only named Herbert Blachet.

Paris, 1939

Alice works at a Paris publishing house, where she writes scripts, film novels,

and also translates magazines.

About thirty of her articles will be published.

1939, Sainte-Maxime, France

LEON GOMONT: “Dear madam, I would like to entrust you with one task, -

tell us about our film endeavors. No one can handle this better than you.”

Alice meets with Gomon.

Later he sends her his notes and movie list,

I was surprised to find that she took so many pictures.

But on your list the director of my films is listed as Louis Feuillade.

I haven't started working on the technical part yet, but I've almost finished the humorous one.

I hope you will enjoy".

Paris, 1939

Sainte-Maxime, 1939

Gomon thanks her for her work and adds:

“Your comments will be taken into account in the second edition."

The fascist threat continues to grow. GERMANY INVADED POLAND

Fearing war, the children are evacuated.

Los Angeles - Brussels

Alice Guy. Interview.

- I told you! - Yes, you were right.

Want to listen?

I returned to Paris penniless.

I lost my husband I had children to raise.

Victor Bashi and Alice Guy-Blaché

Paris, 1940

Simone works at the American Embassy in Paris. SIMONE BLACHET

Later she and the rest of the employees transferred to Vichy.

Vichy, 1940

On this dark day for France Jubilant Nazis entered defeated Paris.

1941, Sainte-Maxime

Leon Gaumont wrote in a letter:

“A journalist and a photographer came to me, I showed them your notes.

Can I give them your address, if they want to meet you?

The article will appear in the magazine “Seven Days”.

All the best to you and your adorable daughter. And most importantly - good health.

Your former boss."

1941, Vichy, France

Alice answers:

“Your journalists can come, but all my documents remained in Paris.

When I talk about my career in France, They look at me with disbelief.

I would really like to see for the first time your name on the list of pioneers "Gomon".

"7 days" "What's left of the USSR"

The issue of the magazine “7 Days” goes on sale

without mentioning Alice's name in the article.

Simone is sent to Switzerland for work.

Alice goes with her.

1941, Bern, Switzerland

I told the students about you yesterday.

I just hope you didn't attribute that terrible movie to me which makes my hair stand on end.

It's called The Calf's Head Atrocity.

It was film critic Georges Sadoul who attributed it to you.

Georges Sadoul, film historian

Georges Sadoul was great man in the history of cinema.

CLAIRE CLOUSEAU, EDITOR OF ALICE GEE'S MEMOIRS

He was French journalist and film critic,

who wrote the first an intellectual book about the history of cinema.

You can blame him for that he didn't interview her,

but historians are not interested in interviews.

They are only interested in written documents.

Official historians she was simply ignored.

Nobody knew those things which are now known.

Yves GAUMONT, GRANDSON OF LEONA GAUMONT

1945 V-E Day

A crowd of people celebrates the end of the war in Europe.

Leon Gaumont writes to Alice:

“I lived a happy life. I am grateful to all my colleagues.

But among them you occupy a special place, and I have always admired you."

Leon Gaumont dies.

A new chapter in the company's history, written by Blachet and Gaumont will never be published.

1946, Sainte-Maxime, France

Berne

Alice lectures on cinema in universities and women's clubs.

A book is being published Georges Sadoul "Pioneers of Cinema".

He writes that Alice was the head of the production department of Gomon, director of feature films,

that she was responsible for purchasing scripts and was the director of The Crime of Calf's Head.

He credits Alice's former assistant, Jasse, films "Passion" and "Esmeralda",

and actor Henri Gallet - “The Cabbage Fairy”.

1947 San Francisco

Reginald, living in the USA, marries Roberta Myers.

Roberta Blache

1947, Geneva, Switzerland

Alice writes:

"Dear Roberta, you are very you are mistaken about me.

I have removed many elms, perhaps several masterpieces or none.

Over my 20-year career, I have collected so many anecdotes and memories,

who could interest and make people laugh.

If only I had the patience I could even write about my life.

But why?

I turned into an old philosopher.

I think that while working at Gomon, I contributed to the success of the company.

But in those days in France, especially being a woman,

I had to fight for my place.”

Do you still have your films? Did you save the tapes?

Unfortunately, everything is lost.

How can you lose your films?

FLORIA SIGISMONDI, DIRECTOR

Alice Guy has made so many films.

SERGE BROMBERG, ARCHIVIST

And since, basically, they were taken before the war,

many of them were lost or damaged.

But there is a small group of collectors

who know the secrets of silent cinema.

Hollywood - Van Nuys

Charlie Tarbox from Los Angeles sold several films.

Among them were the films of Alice Guy-Blaché.

MURRAY GLASS, COLLECTOR

In 1964 I bought "Officer Henderson".

"Officer Henderson", 1913

I paid 13 dollars and 25 cents for the film.

I started collecting her films:

“His Double”, “A Matter of Honor”,

"The Burstop Holmes Case"

"Marriage Restrictions" and "The Girl in the Chair".

You didn't know that Alice looking for your films?

No.

Almost all films went to you from Charlie Tarbox?

-Yes. - Did he leave something for himself?

As far as I understand, you are okay don't know about Charlie Tarbox?

- No. - Then I advise you to find out more about him.

Berne

American Embassy transfers Simone to Washington.

Alice goes with her.

Washington, 1952

Leon Gaumont's son Louis writes to Alice about the book he is writing about his father.

He sends her documents with questions.

"Dear Louis, your father always found solutions to complex problems.

He loved order.

He taught me to be organized.

When the business began to grow, he allowed me focus exclusively on directing.

The documents I am sending you are have value only for me,

but I ask you to return them.

Alice Guy-Blaché."

A book by film scholars by Rene Jean has been published and Charles Ford's "The History of Film."

In it, Alice is listed as the director of “The Cabbage Fairy,” "The Passion" and "The Crimes of the Calf's Head".

He attributed this "Calf's Head" to me which I didn't film.

Yes, I know.

Jean Mitry has just released his chronology. JEAN MITRIE, “UNIVERSAL FILMOGRAPHY”

I have not heard about that.

First mention of you he dates back to 1899.

Not this!

He writes that Henri Galle becomes a director "Gomon" and makes the first film, "The Cabbage Fairy".

HENRI GALLET, ACTOR

- Well, just great. - It's incredible how many mistakes he has!

Yeah! Wow!

1954, Washington

“Dear Louis! All films made before studio construction, were filmed by me.

Photo for the film “The Cabbage Fairy” was taken after filming.

I put on a peasant costume as a joke.

My friends are next to me: Germaine and Yvon Seran.

I'm just asking for my the title of the first female director,

which belonged by right I have been for 17 years."

Alice writes: “I don’t know why the date of filming “The Cabbage Fairy” is listed as 1902,

and why many of my films are not in the catalogue.

The film "The Cabbage Fairy", shot on a 60 mm camera, was filmed on that same terrace in 1896.”

- The film has not been preserved? - Most likely no.

Alice and the Seran sisters. Around 1896-1902

It would be a miracle if it has survived so many years.

There's nothing special about me being first.

But still.

I can only say that in everything, that I stated, I was honest.

I've never tried take credit for someone else's achievements.

I can swear to you on this.

Paris, 1954

Louis explains to Alice why some of her films are not in the catalogue:

“Dear madam, firstly, the format your movies are unusable.

In addition, some of the early negatives were damaged by inexperienced personnel.

She received no royalties only salary?

These films didn't even have her name on them. What copyrights are we talking about?

It doesn't matter what year she started, in 1896 or 1902.

SERGE BROMBERG, ARCHIVIST, DIRECTOR

Alice Guy was an important figure for the development of cinema.

Early French cinematographers: Lumiere, Guy, Méliès

The most important thing is to watch these films.

But it's not that simple.

You need to have access to film archives.

FIAF International Federation of Film Archives

Los Angeles, California

Here she is! "The High Cost of Living" by Alice Guy-Blaché

It still smells good.

This is nitrate film.

Nitrate films last so long

because they contain silver,

which made the picture brighter,

which the directors really liked.

Nitrate - so highly flammable substance

that it can burn even in water,

and its fumes will kill you. NITRATE VAPOR IS TOXIC

Most nitrate films poorly preserved.

They were either rental copies and they were often shown

or were stored incorrectly and began to collapse

and had to cut out whole pieces.

Due to strict fire safety regulations,

these films can be stored only in large archives.

British Film Institute, London

Alice goes to America to find your films.

She lives with Reginald and Roberta with their little daughter Adrienne.

New York, 1956

“Yesterday was a wonderful day!

Roberta and I went to the Museum of Modern Art,

where the director of their film archive received me.

The chief librarian brought them I have a lot of different publications,

and I finally found a lot of mine films in their catalog of authors.

They advised me to go to the Library of Congress.

And so I came to the Library of Congress.

After a long search, the librarian brings me the same catalogs that I saw in New York...”

Brooklyn, 1956

“Yesterday I was working on my memoirs.

Sometimes it seems to me, that no one needs all this.”

- After all, it was you who filmed “Passion”? -Yes I.

It turns out that in the history of cinema a mistake was made.

- Yes, this film was mistakenly attributed to Jasse. - To your assistant?

As one of the last living pioneers of cinema, Film historians and journalists turn to Alice.

She continues to edit their essays, articles and books about yourself and the history of cinema,

and also makes amendments to the article by Rene Jean.

"I read your article about women directors.

I didn't know there were so many of us.

But that didn't stop Daniel Bloom from appropriating Lois Weber is the first female producer.

You ask if I knew each other with movie stars. I knew them all!

Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford which I was offered for the role.

I was in Chaplin's studio on the set of his film "Baby."

Paris, 1957

FIAF invites Alice to the opening its twelfth conference.

Welcome to the FIAF office.

These photos prove

that Alice was present at opening ceremony of the conference.

“The conference was interesting.

Monsieur Lamprecht, Representative German archives and a unique collector,

I found an excerpt from my film “Passion”.

He believes that he has there may be other films of mine.

I was lucky to meet you with Monsieur Sadoul, who attributed my films to others.

He admitted that he received this information is from oral sources,

promised to correct these mistakes and took notes as I spoke.

Monsieur Langlois thanked me for the honor, which I gave them with my presence.”

Inspired by Lamprecht's find, who discovered her film “Passion”,

Alice writes to all conference participants and asks them to look for her films in their archives.

Berlin, 1958

Much to her surprise, Lamprecht finds the films "Stepmom" and "Child of the Barricades".

Alice asks permission to show films at one of your lectures and then keep it for yourself.

He agrees to lend them to her, but refuses the request to keep them for himself.

It really hurts when you've made so many films but you have nothing left.

People are starting to think about saving

of your labor only after reaching old age

and start biting their elbows.

JAN-CHRISTOPHER HORACK, ARCHIVE DIRECTOR

She has so much material

that we will certainly find her other films.

I will definitely find them. I'm sure.

Brussels, 1958

Simone is transferred to Brussels. Alice goes with her.

Unfortunately, no one wants publish my memoirs.

I doubt it. Someday it will happen.

Perhaps some publishers are afraid because you call certain names,

and perhaps they are afraid of the consequences.

Yes, quite likely.

and perhaps this is not entirely true convenient, but it must be written.

Screenwriter Frank Leon Smith writes in response to the article about Alice:

"When I was working in the studio "Pate-Astra" in New Jersey,

my french bosses her name was often mentioned.

They respected her, but did not like her for being a woman,

she had a successful career as a director, screenwriter and producer.

One day I was sent to her Solax studio.

There are giant letters all over the wall Its motto was written:

"Be natural!"

These words were unusual for that time, when acting was called "posing".

This sign helped me understand that cinema should not be artificial. And me too.

I am still grateful to her for those words.”

"Before Hollywood there was Fort Lee, New Jersey"

A documentary film is being released entitled "Before Hollywood There Was Fort Lee."

Studio Solax was founded by Herbert Blachet in 1913. near the George Washington Bridge.

-Have you thought about writing memoirs? - They have already been written.

- I just need to find... - Publisher?

“I’m sure he’ll be found quickly.” - You think so?

Brussels, 1961

Alice writes to various publishing houses, but no one wants to publish her memoirs.

Alice returns to the US to find his films and live with his daughter in New Jersey.

So far she has found only two films and an excerpt from the third.

Alice dies in New Jersey in 1968.

Eight years after her death, Her memoirs were published in France.

"Autobiography of a Cinema Pioneer" by Alice Guy

I lived with her for 60 years.

I knew her well.

I was asked to write a short text and tell me what my mother meant to me.

Mom was a kind person and energetic, forever young in nature,

interested in all new scientific inventions and literary novelties.

Her enthusiasm was infectious.

She was more than just a mother to me.

She was my friend and I owe her with the happiness that I have left.

Despite all the edits and memoirs, there are still doubts

about the role that Alice Guy-Blaché played in the history of early cinema.

"Who was Alice Guy" interview with Nicole Liz Burnham and Claire Clouseau.

Monsieur Toscan du Plantier, You are the director of the Gomon company.

So who was Alice Guy?

Is this the title of the movie?

Company employee? No, I don't know that one.

Claire Clouseau: "She made all those films which are included in the Gomon gold fund."

Jacques Delande: “If you open books on the history of cinema, then they mention the name Alice Guy.

She is described as beautiful and a business woman."

Charles Ford: "She remained in the shadows, because I didn’t shoot anything outstanding.

Her work was honest, worthy, interesting, but not brilliant."

Henri Langlois: “She was an ordinary woman, and not some Coco Chanel.

Was she really the director? and the producer of all these films?

I can't say that."

Jacques Delande: “This woman immediately I understood the profession of a director.

From the script and filming process to directing the actors."

Francis Lacassin: “Feuillade claimed that this she hired him and pushed him into directing.”

L. de Kermadec: “I have heard conflicting stories. But the main problem is that she was a woman.”

Francis Lacassin: “It’s not that that she was a woman."

Claire Clouseau: "About two hundred her films are in the archives.

What are you going to do with this material?

Toscan du Plantier: “This is a difficult question. These films were shot on old films, they need to be copied,

and this costs several billion francs. What is the profit from this?

Nicole Liz Burnham: “This woman helped open a movie, but no one knows about her.

It's unacceptable and stupid that her films not available for viewing."

This is what we need to talk about.

When this interview was done, in 1975,

Alice films were in limited accessible or not available at all.

Film critics and historians took as a basis documents, interviews and rumors.

It's always like that with history.

JEANINE GAROFALO, ACTRESS, COMEDIAN

And with those who tell this story.

Usually these are people in power.

Who was more and less important to history?

NAUM KLEIMAN, CINEMA HISTORIAN

Who played an important role in history?

Her role was definitely huge.

Let's show how wonderful her films were.

SERGE BROMBERG, ARCHIVIST

And having done this, her memory will live on.

Jeff Films, Pocasset, Massachusetts

We're in Boston.

Mostly 16mm film here.

Entire corridors of films.

A collection of films has been found.

Did you find something?

Everyone forgot about her, and you resurrect her.

Looks like a Solax production.

Her work was sealed.

Gotta open all these boxes and see what's inside.

There's so much material here.

We go into the storage room to find Alice Guy movies.

This film fills in the gaps. in the world history of cinema.

We can't even imagine what will we find there?

How did you find me?

She was not just a successful businesswoman, but also a gifted director

with an extremely poetic vision.

MARTIN SCORSESE, DIRECTOR

You are a real detective!

Are you Christopher? We are making history now!

We went in search of Alice.

I know that more material has survived.

The Solax studio was here.

The industry she helped create I just forgot about her.

And we don't want to another generation lived,

not knowing what a huge contribution she brought to the cinema,

in its development and formation as an industry.

ROBERT VON DASSANOWSKY, PRODUCER

My daughter says I should forget everything throw it away, and let it all go to waste.

Under no circumstances should you quit! That would be a real crime.

Yes, I think so too.

- I'm not doing this for myself... - No, for history!

Yes, for the sake of history.

DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER: PAMELA B. GREEN

SCRIPT BY: PAMELA B. GREEN AND JOAN SIMON

BASED ON RESEARCH RESULTS PAMELA B. GREEN AND THE NATURAL TEAM.

It feels like we're playing on stage.

It's very similar to a sketch on TV.

BASED ON THE BOOK BY ALISON McMAHAN

"ALICE GUY-BLACHET: THE LOST VISIONARY OF CINEMA"

We have accumulated so much anger.

I had to throw it out somewhere.

- And it helped. - That's for sure.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: GERALYN WHITE DREYFUS

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: JODIE FOSTER

It seems to me that we succeeded accurately recreate this scene.

And the fact that we managed to do this EXCERPT FROM THE FILM “AT THE PHOTOGRAPHER”, 1900

was a very valuable experience for me.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: HUGH M. HEFNER

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: ROBERT REDFORD

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: REGINA K. SCULLY

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: JOHN PTEK, JOAN SIMON

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: JAMIE WOLFE

CO-PRODUCERS: GERALD HERMAN, GREG McCLATCHY, DICK ROSENZWEIG, ETC.

AND OTHERS

Long live Madame Alice Guy-Blaché!

And voila!

BE YOURSELF: THE UNKNOWN STORY OF ALICE GUY-BLACHET

Good evening!