L'Argent: The Masters of Cinema Series

9 / 10
1 vote cast
Rate this item
Inline Image

A Film by Marcel L'Herbier
Certificate: PG
Running Time: 164
Retail Price: £22.99
Release Date:
Content Type: Movie

Synopsis:
Adapted from Émile Zola's novel of the same name, Marcel L'Herbier's L'Argent [Money] is an opulent classic of late-silent era cinema. Filmed in part on location at the Paris stock exchange, it reveals a world of intrigue, greed, decadence, and ultimately corruption and scandal when business dealings and amorous deceit combine.

Business tycoons Saccard and Gunderman lock horns when the former attempts to raise capital for his faltering bank. To inflate the price of his stock, Saccard concocts a duplicitous publicity stunt involving the unwitting aviator Hamelin and a flight across the Atlantic to drill for oil, much to the dismay of his wife Line. While Hamelin is away, the lascivious Saccard attempts to seduce Line, whose own temptation by the allure of money puts herself and her husband in danger - pawns in a high-stakes chess game played out by unscrupulous speculators.

With an all-star cast (Brigitte Helm and Alfred Abel, fresh from Fritz Lang's Metropolis, alongside Pierre Alcover, Yvette Guilbert, and luminary of the French avant-garde Antonin Artaud) and a mammoth budget, L'Argent is comparable in period and scale with other celebrated epics of the silent era, such as Abel Gance's Napoléon. With its use of portable cameras that literally descend into the Bourse and revolve around its lavish contours, L'Argent represents a type of cinematic Impressionism distinctive to the "silent art" - a poetry that would change forever with the coming of sound. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present - for the very first time on home video in the UK - this crowning moment of silent cinema.

Special Features:
• About L'Argent (1928)
• Marcel L'Herbier: Poet of the Silent Art (2007)
• Brigitte Helm's arrival in Paris (1928)
• L'Argent screen-tests (1928)
• Accompanying Silent Cinema (2008)
• Sound Demonstration: Stock Exchange Scene (2008)
• 80-page booklet

Video Tracks:
Standard 1.33:1

Audio Tracks:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Music Only
Dolby Digital 2.0 Music Only

Subtitle Tracks:
English

Directed By:
Marcel L'Herbier

Written By:



Starring:
Brigitte Helm
Marie Glory
Yvette Guilbert
Pierre Alcover
Alfred Abel
Henry Victor
Pierre Juvenet
Antonin Artaud
Jules Berry
Raymond Rouleau
Roger Karl

Soundtrack By:
Jean-François Zygel

Director of Photography:
Louis Berte
Jules Kruger
Jean Letort

Costume Designer:
Jacques Manuel

Producer:
Jean Sapene

Distributor:
Eureka!

Your Opinions and Comments

Be the first to post a comment!