Heads... and the Women Who Use Them

Plot

A complete plot synopsis for "Heads... and the Women Who Use Them" is not readily available in surviving reference sources. The film is a 1916 French comedy directed by Jacques Feyder, but detailed story descriptions have not survived in widely accessible catalogs or modern scholarship. What can be stated with confidence is that it belongs to Feyder's early silent-period output and likely drew on contemporary comic situations involving gender, behavior, and social observation, in keeping with the title's suggestive contrast between men and women. Because the film predates many of the director's later, better-documented works and may survive only in fragmentary documentation, any fuller narrative reconstruction should be treated with caution.

Historical Background

The film was made in 1916, in the middle of World War I, a time when European film production was under strain from wartime disruption, material shortages, and the loss of personnel. French cinema continued to produce comedies, dramas, and short subjects despite the upheaval, and filmmakers often worked within constrained conditions while audiences sought entertainment and escapism. Jacques Feyder's early career unfolded in this transitional era, when silent cinema was rapidly refining its visual language and expanding from short comedies into more ambitious dramatic forms. The film matters historically because it belongs to the relatively under-documented phase of French screen comedy before and during the war, helping illustrate the continuity of popular filmmaking despite extreme social disruption.

Making Of

Very little behind-the-scenes documentation survives for this title, which is typical of many French silent films made during the mid-1910s. Jacques Feyder was still early in his career, and this production likely served as part of the apprenticeship period in which he refined his approach to staging, blocking, and visual storytelling. The surviving record is largely bibliographic rather than anecdotal, so there are no widely confirmed stories about the shoot, the script development, or the director's working methods on this particular film. Its existence nonetheless helps chart Feyder's movement from early short-form comedy work toward the more elaborate and psychologically nuanced cinema for which he later became known.

Visual Style

Specific cinematographic credits and technical descriptions are not securely documented in accessible sources. As a 1916 silent French comedy, the film would almost certainly have used static or lightly mobile cameras, carefully composed tableaux, and expressive actor movement to convey humor without synchronized sound. Visual storytelling in this period often relied on clear staging, medium and long shots, and readable facial expressions rather than elaborate camera movement. Because the film is obscure and possibly poorly preserved, no distinctive visual signatures can be confidently attributed beyond the conventions of early silent comedy.

Innovations

No specific technical innovations are documented for this film. Its value lies more in its place within the evolution of silent-era comic filmmaking than in any known formal breakthrough. The production likely demonstrates standard but effective techniques of the period, including pantomime-driven humor, intertitle-supported dialogue, and visually legible staging. If any version survives, further technical analysis would depend on access to the print or archival elements.

Music

As a silent film, it had no synchronized recorded soundtrack. Original exhibition would have been accompanied by live music, often improvised by a pianist or played from cue sheets depending on the venue and the print's distribution context. No specific original score is known to survive for this title. Modern screenings, if any, would typically use a newly compiled accompaniment created by a curator, pianist, or restoration project.

Memorable Scenes

• No specific scenes are reliably documented in surviving accessible sources for this film.

What Critics Said

Contemporary critical reception is not well documented in easily accessible surviving sources, and there do not appear to be widely preserved reviews that are routinely cited in modern reference works. As a result, the film's immediate reception remains largely unknown, which is not unusual for short silent comedies of the era. Modern critical attention tends to focus less on this specific title and more on Jacques Feyder's later, better-preserved films. Today it is primarily of interest to scholars and archivists researching Feyder's early career and the broader landscape of French silent cinema.

What Audiences Thought

Audience response is not well recorded, and no reliable box-office or attendance data is readily available. Like many short French comedies of the 1910s, it was likely consumed as part of a broader program rather than as a standalone prestige release. Any popular success it may have had would have been localized and ephemeral, leaving limited trace in surviving records. Its present-day audience reception is mainly academic or cinephile interest rather than broad public viewership.