LE MARIAGE DE MLLE BEULEMANS

Julien Duvivier

Sog.: dall’omonima commedia di Jean François [Frantz] Fonson e Fernand Wicheler; Scen.: Julien Duvivier; F.: René Guychard, Armand Thirard; Scgf.: Fernand Delattre; Int.: Andrée Brabant (Suzanne Beulemans), Jean Dehelly (Albert Delpierre), Gustave Libeau (Beulemans), Suzanne Christy (Anna), Barencey (M. Meulemeester), Hubert Daix (Morinax), Gaston Déri- gal (M. Delpierre), René Lefèvre (Séraphin Meulemeester), Jean Diéner, Léon Malavier, Dina Valence (Mme Beulemans), Mme Maryanne (Isabelle), Jane Pierson, Esther Delterre, Maud de la Vault; Prod.: Marcel Vandal e Charles Delac per Film d’Art 35mm. L.: 1934 m. D.: 91’ a 20 f/s. Bn.

info_outline
T. it.: Italian title. T. int.: International title. T. alt.: Alternative title. Sog.: Story. Scen.: Screenplay. F.: Cinematography. M.: Editing. Scgf.: Set Design. Mus.: Music. Int.: Cast. Prod.: Production Company. L.: Length. D.: Running Time. f/s: Frames per second. Bn.: Black e White. Col.: Color. Da: Print source

Film Notes

The cinematic version of Le mariage de Mlle Beulemans was a gamble because the theatre play was entirely based on different accents and this is a priori untranslatable in a silent film. Julien Duvivier found the solution: he transferred part of the differences into the character’s behaviour and even used captions with different fonts. Those that reproduced the authentically Belgian loquaciousness were drawn with naive infantile strokes whilst the others had traditional characters. The unwelcome dandy from Paris ends up marrying the beer-house keeper’s daughter and, obviously, speaks Belgian too.

Hubert Niogret, Julien Duvivier, Il Castoro, 1996

Even though it is a purely French production, this first adaptation of Fonson and Wicheler’s play borrows quite a few elements from Belgium: the story, obviously, but also the majority of actors and the landscapes of Brussels (even if the interiors were shot in Paris as, since Machelen closed down, there was a lack of studios in the country). Duvivier, the director, placed a great deal of importance on local colour. Of course – in 1927 – the famous “Brussels ac- cent” was missing. “Not at all – replied one of the producers to the journalist that pointed this out – the accent vibrates in Duvivier’s images”.

Francis Bolen, Histoire authentique du cinéma belge, Memo & Codec, 1978

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Print restored in 1988