The Swallow and the Titmouse
About The Swallow and the Titmouse
Pierre van Groot runs two barges, L'Hirondelle and La Mésange, hauling building materials through Belgium and northern France for towns wrecked in the First World War. His wife Griet and her younger sister Marthe live aboard. He also smuggles, and he hides diamonds. In Antwerp he hires a mate, Michel. Michel courts Marthe while he looks for the stones. Pierre catches him stealing them and punishes him in a way that keeps the smuggling quiet. Georges Denola plays the diamond merchant.
Cast & crew
More about The Swallow and the Titmouse
André Antoine directed from a screenplay by Gustave Grillet. S.C.A.G.L. produced it. Pathé was the distributor and, by the French account, Charles Pathé decided not to release it. René Guychard and Léonce-Henri Burel photographed it. Louis Ravet plays Pierre. Jane Maylianes plays Griet. Maguy Deliac plays Marthe. Pierre Alcover plays Michel. An edited version was shown once, on 5 June 1924, at the Colisée in Paris. That cut is listed at 80 minutes.
Themes
Background
The barges carry building materials into areas the war had wrecked. The smuggling is a second trade across the French border.
Making
Antoine filmed the barges on the canals and then lost the release. Pathé shelved the negative. Colpi's 1984 cut is the version that finally played.
Look
René Guychard and Léonce-Henri Burel shot the two barges on the canals of Belgium and the north of France.
Music
Silent, with French intertitles.
Preservation
Charles Pathé withheld a public release. A private screening of an 80-minute cut was held at the Colisée in Paris on 5 June 1924. In 1982 the Cinémathèque française found about six hours of negative. Henri Colpi's reconstruction premiered there on 12 March 1984.
Notes
- The barges are named for a swallow and a titmouse.
- The cargo is reconstruction material for districts damaged in the 1914–1918 war.
- One account places the diamonds in the barge's rudder.
- About six hours of uncut negative turned up at the Cinémathèque française in 1982.
- Henri Colpi cut a new version from Grillet's screenplay and Antoine's working notes. The Cinémathèque screened it on 12 March 1984. English Wikipedia times that cut at 79 minutes.
- The 1920 shoot was not shown to the public.
Scenes
- Pierre hires Michel in Antwerp.
- Michel courts Marthe while he searches the barge for the diamonds.
- Pierre catches him with the stones.