The Card Game
About The Card Game
On the patio of a house in La Ciotat, three men in hats smoke cigars. Two play écarté while the third watches. A younger waiter crosses with a tray, a bottle, and glasses. One of the players pours, and the waiter stays to look at the cards. The shot runs about 43 seconds.
Cast & crew
More about The Card Game
Louis Lumière directed and produced the French short, also called Partie de cartes, The Messrs. Lumière at Cards, and A Quiet Game of Écarté. It was filmed at the family villa in La Ciotat. Antoine Lumière, Félicien Trewey, and Alphonse Winckler are the card players. Antoine Féraud is credited with them. French showings date from 1895; a Finnish listing is 1896, the year on this catalog record.
Themes
Making
Lumière sets the camera on one patio view and lets the deal, the cigars, and the wine tray play out. There is no second setup.
Look
One fixed frame at the Villa du Clos des Plages takes in the table, the three men, and the waiter’s path across the patio.
Music
Silent.
Preservation
The 43-second Lumière negative survives and circulates.
Notes
- Écarté is the game on the table, named in the English title A Quiet Game of Écarté.
- The American release title was The Messrs. Lumière at Cards.
- Antoine Lumière, Louis’s father, sits in the game.
- Félicien Trewey, a music-hall performer the Lumières filmed more than once, is the player on the right.
- The waiter’s entrance is the only movement that is not the card game itself.
Scenes
- Two men play while a third smokes and watches.
- The waiter crosses with the bottle, and a player pours.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (1895-lumiere-une-partie-de-cartes.webm)
