The Cigarette (1919) User Reviews

Jealousy and Innocence

[marilyng-08110 · 7/10 · 2 December 2020]

This film was aired on TCM in December 2020 as part of the Women Make Film lineup, as the director is a woman. I mostly enjoyed the film, but was distracted by the amount of damage that obscured the action, and the title cards, which were extensive and long, as well as all in French. I got the general idea of the plot, but missed out on the finer details, such as what the Egyptian mummy he brings home and puts in the bedroom has to do with anything. The variety of tinting was very nice, the parts of the film that were not damaged were very fine.

The story is engrossing, what I could gather from the action, not being able to read the title cards. The older husband is very busy with his Egyptian relics, and doesn't find time to spend with his younger wife, though the scenes with them together tend to show great affection between the two. We see her wandering around the house and grounds after being rebuffed by her distracted husband, which leads her to amuse herself outside of the house. She is flirted with by a young and handsome golf pro, but it never goes any further. However, her husband does find enough time to follow her around and he sees something that he mistook as what appeared to be a clandestine meeting between his wife and the golfer. Deciding to kill himself by mixing a poisoned cigarette in his full box to make death random, we see a servant sneak a smoke, and various other people, including his wife, try to take a cigarette out of the box which he vigorously prevents. All works out in an unusual way in the end. If you can read French, I would recommend this movie, otherwise, it may be tedious for some to figure out what's going on.

Enjoyable and well done, if unremarkable

[I_Ailurophile · 7/10 · 25 May 2023]

Like no few other surviving silent films, this one isn't without its wear and tear; there's extreme, very unfortunate deterioration seen throughout of the print that was ultimately digitally preserved. I'm of the mind that this only adds to the charm of such fare, however, and moreover this isn't the only commonality 'La cigarette' shares with its kin, for despite its age it looks pretty fantastic - the costume design, hair, makeup, sets, and filming locations are all gorgeous. Louis Chaix's cinematography tends toward the simpler side of what we saw in these early years of cinema, but his work is admirable nonetheless, and instances of close-ups or tightly focused shots are most welcome. The editing is more than suitable, and filmmaker Germaine Dulac had a keen eye for orchestrating shots and scenes with recognition of the very visual nature of storytelling in film. I rather believe this movie is also a fine credit to the cast, whose acting tends to be more nuanced and natural than what we often saw in contemporary titles (e.g., exaggerated facial expressions and body language in compensation for lack of sound, and ported from the stage). Even among a small assemblage Andrée Brabant and Gabriel Signoret stand out most in the chief roles, but the same goes for everyone in front of the camera. Despite the ravages of time, this feature quite has all the makings of another silent classic, including some artfully rendered intertitles.

Truly, in every aspect of its craftsmanship this is marked by obvious skill and intelligence. I'm a smidgen more divided on Jacques de Baroncelli's screenplay - not because it's bad, but just because it's highly demonstrative of the more simple and straightforward side of the silent era. This, too, is no abject fault per se, but it does mean that from a narrative standpoint 'La cigarette' is arguably less distinguished. Exemplifying the point, the thrust of the plot is repeated again and again even from earliest scenes as a facet of Pierre's work, and the whole comes off as a tad heavy-handed as a result. Still, there's just enough detail in the writing to offset that plainspokenness: smartly rendered dialogue, as related through intertitles; well-rounded scene writing that adds a degree of tension to the proceedings, and keeps us locked in; slight variables in plot development to add to the drama. There are even notable themes on hand, from love, jealousy, and suspicion, to dynamics between men and women, difficulties that come with age gaps in any social interaction, and more. There's no singular stroke of brilliance anywhere herein, but despite subjective forthright gawkiness in the melodrama and how it's accentuated from the start, there are also no substantial flaws. This is really pretty well done all around.

I don't think there's anything so special about this picture as to fully demand viewership. There's no major beat of drama - this actively declines any, in fact - and it may not even particularly stand out in a crowd among other works of the same period. Recognizing that cigarettes are viewed differently around the world, there's nevertheless also something to be said for how well the fundamental premise has aged over time (or rather, how poorly), let alone the ending. Still, the overall vibe is one of lovely warmth and pleasantness, and 'La cigarette' is more than enjoyable enough for something to watch on a quiet day. Don't necessarily go out of your way for it, but if you do have the opportunity to watch, this is a tiny slice of cinema history worth revisiting.

Men Are Stupid

[boblipton · 6/10 · 21 December 2020]

Germaine Dulac's earliest surviving feature -- albeit in an erratically chipped copy -- is a story about the old man Gabriel Signoret (41, albeit in a white wig) married to a young woman, Andrée Brabant. He's an archeologist working on a new display of the mummy of a young Egyptian princess whose elderly husband grew jealous and had her killed with a poisoned seedcake. Signoret grows suspicious that Mlle Brabant is carrying on with Jules Raucourt, whose twin professions are dancing and golf. Determined to kill himself, he poisons a cigarette, puts it in his case, and writes a note to be discovered after he uses it at random. Immediately people start bumming smokes off him, including the innocent missus.

I first encountered Mme. Dulac's movies in the winter of 2003-2004, when a program of them played at New York's Museum of Modern Art. Each film was preceded by a lecture by an earnest young woman. Reading from notes, at each showing she informed the audience that Dulac was a Lesbian and a woman, and that was why she was an important film maker. I preferred to look at the movies instead of being told they were important. I discovered she was a highly competent film maker whose male characters behaved stupidly, often selfishly, occasionally villainously. Viewed as a corrective to the vamp movie, it might be considered turnabout in fair play. However, she had a propensity for dragging out the big scene past my patience. In short, I found her movies tiresome.

Perhaps it is bumptious of me, but this one strikes me as more of the same. Dulac fills the screen with images of Mlle Brabant's innocence. She kisses white doves around the house's fountain. She plays with a white dog. She is vivacious and flirty, but she's fond of the old fellow, little though he deserves it. Just like all men.

Entertaining Drama With a Very Good Story

[Michael_Elliott · 26 May 2018]

La cigarette (1919)

*** (out of 4)

Pierre (Gabriel Signoret) is an older man who works as a museum director and is also married to the much younger Denise (Andree Brabant). Before long Pierre starts to believe that she's having an affair with a famous tennis player so he's influenced by the story connected to a mummy at his museum. Pierre plans to poison one of his cigarettes and then add it to a bunch where he never knows when he will die.

This film was directed by Germaine Dulac, a French woman who worked as a critic, a poet and she also made a handful of films. I had never heard of this film until it turned up in a box set of movies directed by females and I must say that while the movie had some flaws it also had a pretty interesting idea and it made for a very entertaining movie and one that deserves to be better known than it is.

What I liked most about this film was the story itself. I thought the whole angle with the mummy and its story was interesting and I liked the story around a man wanting to kill himself but not know when. Adding one poisonous cigarette to dozens of them and then just smoking them at will was a good concept. Of course, I think the film would have been even better had they tried to bring some tension out of this scenario.

With that said, the film was extremely well-made and I like the touches that Dulac brought to it and especially how the old man story was told. Both Signoret and Brabant were very good in their roles and the film was fast-paced for its 51-minutes. Fans of silent cinema will certainly want to check this one out.

Only for those interested in Dulac

[lodger1313-782-58547 · 5/10 · 7 December 2020]

Let's be honest - those interested in the work of Germaine Dulac have probably only seen 1928's surrealist masterpiece La Coquille et le Clergyman (The Seashell and the Clergyman). I have only been fortunate enough to see 3 of her films and The Cigarette, while being her earliest surviving film, really does not have much to recommend it other than that trivial designation. Like many early silents, the pace is slow, the story slight and the picture quality is extremely poor. I'd say a good 20% of this film is so damaged and eroded that it is almost impossible to see what is going on. But it hardly matters as the story is fairly easy to follow even with occasion degraded images. If you're really interested in Dulac for her feminist stance, see 1923's La Souriante Madame Beudet (The Smiling Madame Beudet). Or if you want to see her true surrealist masterpiece see La Coquille et le Clergyman. But this film is really for completists only. Oh - and if you happen to see this and are befuddled by the French title cards, try turning on Closed Captioning; the version I saw had the title cards translated into English with CC on.

Tedious

[evening1 · 3/10 · 6 December 2020]

Oh, who cares?!

Here we have the story of a mismatched, May-December couple -- fiftyish museum scholar Gerard (Gabriel Signoret) and his vapid wife, Denise (Andree Brabant). When a dandy named Herbert starts to flirt with Denise, Gerard plans a highly dramatic suicide -- inspired by a legend linked to a mummy he nerdily displays in their bedroom.

Gerard's histrionics become tiresome. I kept thinking, "Grow up, man, and talk to your wife!" Instead, we have to watch this self-involved egghead's reverse-Othello machinations -- in this version, the supposed cuckold plans his own demise, and not his wife's.

The spectacularly attired Denise's characterization is also poor. With little to do but complain that Gerard works too much -- "On ne peut jamais s'amuser aupres de toi" -- and play with doves in their yard, she seriously lacks substance. This is surprising, given that the director, Germaine Dulac, was an early feminist.

I caught this oddity on TCM. It's in very poor condition, with tornado-like scribbles marring the picture quality and title cards only in French. (The story and dialogue are easy enough to follow, though, and anyone with college-level French should be able to get by with only a couple stops at Google translate.)

One thing I will say for "La cigarette" is that it does a decent job of showing the nature of addiction. Every little thing that upsets Gerard sends him reaching for a smoke.