Joueur d'échecs, Le (1927)

Director:

Raymond Bernard

Writers:

Raymond Bernard (writer)
Henry Dupuis-Mazuel (novel)
(more)

Release Date:

17 May 1930 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

Pierre Blanchar	...	Boleslas Vorowski
Charles Dullin	...	Baron von Kempelen
Édith Jéhanne	...	Sophie Novinska
Camille Bert	...	Maj. Nicolaieff
Pierre Batcheff	...	Prince Serge Oblomoff
Marcelle Charles Dullin	...	Catherine II (as Marcelle Charles)
Jackie Monnier	...	Wanda (as Jacky Monnier)
Armand Bernard	...	Roubenko
Alexiane	...	Olga
Pierre Hot	...	King Stanislas
Jaime Devesa	...	Prince Orloff
Fridette Fatton	...	Pola
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pierre Mindaist	...	(uncredited)
Albert Préjean	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Raymond Bernard

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Raymond Bernard		writer
Henry Dupuis-Mazuel		novel
Henry Dupuis-Mazuel		screenplay
Jean-José Frappa		writer

Original Music by
Henri Rabaud

Cinematography by
Marc Bujard
Willy Faktorovitch		) (as Willy (I)
Hemard
Joseph-Louis Mundwiller

Art Direction by
Jean Perrier

Set Decoration by
Robert Mallet-Stevens

Costume Design by
Eugène Lourié

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jean Hémard	....	assistant director

Special Effects by
W. Percy Day	....	special effects

Other crew
Lily Jumel	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Société des Films Historiques

Distributors

• Unusual Photoplays Inc. (1930) (USA) (theatrical) (English intertitles)
• Image Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• ARTE (2007) (Germany) (TV)
• Milestone Film & Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

The Chess Player (USA)

Runtime:

135 min

Country:

France

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Société des Films Historiques

Movie Connections:

Featured in Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine (2003)

Dull silent epic with some standout moments

Divided into two parts, the first half is okay, if generally unremarkable. It concerns a group of Polish people rebelling against the Russians, who are dominating them. The second half is mostly painful to sit through. The leader of the Polish rebels, Boleslas (Pierre Blanchar), is disguised as an undefeatable robotic chess player, designed by Baron von Kempelen (Charles Dullin), who is famous for his automatons. When the automaton faces the Empress of Russia, Catherine II, she cheats to see what her opponent will do. He responds by swiping the pieces off the chess board. The Empress finds it amusing, but orders the automaton to be shot. The film is way overlong (imdb lists under 90 minutes, but the Milestone DVD runs 139), and the story and themes are convoluted. Like a lot of overambitious silent films, its far too many characters are easy to confuse. I was quite bored through the film. There were several great moments, though. The battle scenes in the first half are exceptional. Bernard uses some sort of handheld camera to make it seem like the viewer is in the battle. It's a common technique nowadays, but I can't recall seeing it earlier than 1927. This has to be at least one of the first times when this was done. The cinematography is generally good, and often great, especially in the first half. Although the second half is hard to sit through, there is an extended sequence where one character is caught in the middle of a group of Baron von Kempelen's automaton soldiers. I didn't even really know who this character was exactly, but it was a neat scene.