The Gallery of Monsters
About The Gallery of Monsters
In Castile, a young man living among gypsies and the orphan Ofélia run off after her grandfather forbids the marriage. Years later he is the clown Riquett and she is the dancer Ralda, traveling with their child in a circus that reaches Toledo. The director, Buffalo, wants Ralda; when she refuses, he lets a lion onto the stage during her dance and she is mauled. His wife, Madame Violette, gets the family away and then denounces him.
Cast & crew
More about The Gallery of Monsters
Jaque Catelain wrote and directed it for Marcel L'Herbier's company Cinégraphic, and Les Grandes Productions Cinématographiques distributed it in France and Spain. Animals, a large troupe, and crowds made the shoot hard enough that Catelain afterward concentrated on acting.
Themes
In film history
Japanese critics placed it first in the 1925 Kinema Junpo poll. The lion attack is cut as a rapid montage.
Making
Part of the Spanish shooting, in Toledo, Pedraza, and Segovia, was done in snow. The rest of the picture was finished at the Éclair studios in Épinay.
Look
Georges Specht shot the Spanish exteriors and the circus scenes.
Preservation
The Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée made a 4K restoration from the original negative in 2019.
Notes
- Lois Moran, then 15, makes her film debut as Ralda, also called Ofélia. Catelain plays Riquett. Jean Murat, in an early role, is Sveti. Yvonneck is Buffalo, Claire Prélia is Madame Violette, and Florence Martin is the American dancer Flossie.
- Kiki de Montparnasse appears briefly as a bayadère. The troupe also includes a giantess, played by Philippe Hériat, a dwarf, and a bearded lady.
- Lili Samuel plays Pirouette and Jean-Paul Le Tarare plays Stryx. Buffalo tells the company that the lion got out by accident.
Scenes
- Buffalo opens the lion's cage while Ralda is dancing.
- Madame Violette smuggles Riquett, Ralda, and the child out, then accuses her husband.
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-la-galerie-des-monstres)
