In the days of yesteryear (hier) young girls did as they pleased: wasted time dancing and flirting, or much worse, read books and forced philosophical discussions upon worthy suitors. Musidora, wearing a fetchingly masculine shirt and tie, appears in the role of a female student who tries to have a serious conversation with a man as if she were his equal. These days (aujourd’hui) war has done away with such whimsies and has called for the fulfillment of the young lady’s true purpose in life – womanhood. This manifests itself in her falling on her knees to pray for the man who goes to war and being in thrall to the superior male endeavour.
During the war years, Musidora, who in real life was an active penpal of soldiers in the trenches, appeared in several patriotic films produced by Gaumont and directed by Feuillade and Ravel. In Le Grand Souffle (not in the programme) a young man escapes from the life of petty crime and becomes a responsible citizen by choosing to heed the call to arms and enlist in the army. The film ends with Musidora’s uplifting performance of La Marseillaise.

Mariann Lewinsky