Bandits En Automobile - Episode 1: The Gray Car Gang
About Bandits En Automobile - Episode 1: The Gray Car Gang
A gang robs and leaves in a gray automobile before the police arrive. Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset made the episode, La bande de l’auto grise, after the 28 April 1912 siege of the Bonnot gang at Choisy-le-Roi. On screen the leader is called Bruno, not Bonnot. Josette Andriot and Camille Bardou are billed. Audiences recognized the real gang. The film was barred in many cities.
Cast & crew
More about Bandits En Automobile - Episode 1: The Gray Car Gang
Jasset wrote and directed it for Éclair. Henri Gouget and Karlmos are on the catalog cast list. A SensCritique listing times the short at 29 minutes. An IMDb note says the minister of Justice called for the picture to be suppressed because it showed how criminals worked. A Commons file uses Jasset’s name and the French title. Jasset died in 1913 at 51.
Themes
Background
The Bonnot gang used cars in robberies in France and Belgium. This episode reached theaters the same year as the Choisy siege.
Making
Jasset, already known for Nick Carter and Zigomar, turned the Bonnot case into a crime episode while the case was still in the papers.
Preservation
A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- The gray car is the gang’s getaway, the detail the title puts first.
- Bruno is the name used for the Bonnot figure.
- The siege that prompted the film was at Choisy-le-Roi on 28 April 1912.
- Later episodes in the same series include Hors la loi.
Scenes
- The gang leaves a robbery in the gray car.
- Viewers in 1912 could match Bruno to the Bonnot case still in the papers.
Influenced by
- The Bonnot gang and the 28 April 1912 siege at Choisy-le-Roi
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (1912-victorin jasset-bandits en automobile.webm)
