The Art of Abel Gance (1924) 🇬🇧

Each in his own class reigns supreme to-day, and each in his own personal way has encountered that magic, elusive, unknown quantity: Fame. For in the film industry, infinitely more so than in any other industry, unknown quantities are more potent than realities and it is in dealing with the former that producers achieve either notoriety or fame, and in many cases it is the former.

by Oscar M. Sheridan

Abel Gance in France is considered the foundation stone of the Continental industry. Those who know and appreciate his work are tempted to place his abilities before those of the three other great masters mentioned above. Whereas D. W. G. [D. W. Griffith] has produced countless pictures, Chaplin has only made one production, though this is undoubtedly one of the finest photoplays we have yet had from across the Atlantic. But of all these masters of the silent stage, Abel Gance. to my mind stands out conspicuously. For not one of Abel Gance’s pictures has been a failure, and with all respect to Griffith and Ingram, I do not think this is the case with them.

Yesterday I interviewed Abel Gance in his exquisite apartment in the Avenue Kléber. A two-minute conversation with the great French producer is in itself a most delightful experience, and as mine lasted well over two hours, and I might mention it was only one of many, you can imagine that these two hours were one hundred and twenty of the most agreeable minutes I have yet spent.

Abel Gance received me while in the midst of his new scenario for Napoleon. answering telephone rings, and telling the pretty servant what to get for dinner. His study is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. Battle shields line tapestry-laid walls, and the ceilings are of oaken beams and sky-blue designed with armorial bearings. The apartment is reminiscent of an old German cathedral, and the hall of some mediaeval castle. A divan heaped with soft, furry, cushions, however, relieves the ancient note. A portable type-writer and a telephone directory are tragically out of place in this abode of intellectual inspiration.

Abel Gance is a charming personality. Extremely courteous he gives the impression that he is ever ready to help others. Once one begins talking with him it is hard to leave off, but he is an extremely busy man. He has been preparing his Napoleon scenario for the last six years, and yet nothing is completed. The end of March, however, will see a definite start being made on the picture.

Abel Gance is an exceptionally brilliant musician and plays the cello, piano and violin with a master touch. Among his numerous remarkable possessions Abel Gance prices most what is known as a viole d'amour, which is really a violin of the middle age, but is much more difficult to play because it has double the number of strings of an ordinary violin.

Of the films this celebrated metteur en scene has given us, Gance places La roue at the top of his list as his best. This is followed by J’accuse !, “Mater Dolorosa,” “The Tenth Symphony,” and lastly “The Death Zone.” Another production, “The Right to Live,” he considers one of his best.

His knowledge of the American side of the industry is as extensive as his knowledge of film matters on this side of the Atlantic. He is one of the few French producers who take a great deal of interest in American stars and productions.

“I think I must confess that I have profound admiration for Mae Murray,” he told me with that smile which everyone finds particularly captivating and so dangerously infectious. “I think she is altogether delightful and all her films give me great enjoyment.”

M. Abel Gance then gave me his opinions of other American stars. “I think that taken all round, my favourite is Lillian Gish. It is difficult to resist her charms. Nazimova I think would be good given suitable direction, but I feel that behind each of her productions there is something lacking. That indefinable something, which is often attributed, in most cases rightly, to bad direction, results in the downfall of many a good picture , but sometimes for quite long it goes unperceived till someone finally discovers it, and then the production instead of being an artistic success is an artistic failure. Such is the case with some of the big American pictures. Fanny Ward I like, also Betty Compson.

“Tell me, have you ever met Betty Compson,” he asked. “Hardly any of her pictures are seen here and generally they are good, and amongst producers D. W. Griffith is the greatest.”

Abel Gance who is now only 34, produced his first film at the age of 26, and from 1916 onwards, when he made his first photoplay, this comparatively young producer scored an uninterrupted series of brilliant successes. But as I said, he is a patient man and thinks nothing of working for years on the slightest details in a scenario. He is a hard taskmaster when it comes to detail and realism must be realism.

Six years ago he made Mater Dolorosa which was inspired by the famous painting in the Louvre. It was while visiting this famous art museum that Abel Gance was struck with the idea, and the completed photoplay created a sensation. After six years, The Call of Motherhood, as it will be called in London, has been purchased by Stoll and will be seen at about the same time as this article appears.

Emmy Lynn, who is one of Abel Gance’s “discoveries” in “The Call of Motherhood.”

Right: The late Séverin-Mars and Romuald Joubé in “J’Accuse”

Gabriel de Gravone and Ivy Close in an early Gance production.

Below: Filming a night scene in La roue (The Wheel).

Collection: Pictures and the Picturegoer, April 1924