The Disappearance of Onésime
About The Disappearance of Onésime
Onésime and his wife fight, starting with a pastry battle. On a friend’s advice he pretends to drown. The wife, expecting to be a widow, hires the detective Charles Haucome. With a dog, Haucome finds Onésime in cheerful company at a house of assignation, and the household settles back. Ernest Bourbon plays Onésime. Gaston Modot plays Haucome. Jean Durand directed. Other titles are L’enlèvement d’Onésime and Onésime a été assassiné.
Cast & crew
More about The Disappearance of Onésime
Paul Castanet photographed it. Robert-Jules Garnier designed the sets. A French filmography dates the release 11 July 1913, gives the length as 187 meters, and times a DVD copy at 8 minutes 50 seconds. Wikidata lists 9 minutes. Édouard Grisollet plays the friend Truche. Berthe Dagmar is billed. A Commons file uses the French title.
Themes
Making
Durand shot the series as rough slapstick with trick exits, here a faked drowning and a detective who will not stay fooled.
Look
Paul Castanet shot the pastry fight and the search that ends at the house of assignation.
Preservation
The short survives. A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- He is not dead. The drowning is the trick he uses to leave the house.
- The detective’s dog is what locates him.
- Bourbon played Onésime through a Gaumont series Durand directed.
- The widow’s black clothes are part of the joke.
Scenes
- The short opens with a pastry fight.
- Onésime’s clothes are found and he is treated as drowned.
- Haucome and the dog find him alive and entertained.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (La disparition d'Onésime (1913).webm)
