Pierre Batcheff and Stardom in 1920s French Cinema

Phil Powrie is Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences at the University of Surrey. Éric Rebillard is a member of the Association Française de Recherche sur l'Histoire du Cinéma.

• Preface; 1. A short life; 1.1 Origins and childhood (1907-1922); 1.2 The rise of the star (1923-1926); 1.3 From the mainstream to the avant-garde (1927-1929); 1.4 The lacoudems (1930-1932); 1.5 An early death (1932); 2. Stardom in the 1920s; 2.1 Batcheff, the jeune premier, and the past; 2.2 Batcheff and transitional masculinity; 2.3 Batcheff and fan culture: the unwilling star; 2.4 Batcheff, Valentino and 'otherness'; 2.5 Batcheff as pin-up; 2.6 Batcheff as a surrealist star; 3. Beginnings; 3.1 Claudine et le poussin, ou Le Temps d'aimer (January 1924); 3.2 Le Double amour (June 1925); 3.3 Feu Mathias Pascal (July 1925); 4. Historical reconstructions; 4.1 Destinée (December 1925); 4.2 Napoléon vu par Abel Gance (April 1927); 4.3 Le Joueur d'échecs (July 1927); 4.4 Monte-Cristo (May 1929); 5. The Lover; 5.1 Le Secret d'une mère (July 1926); 5.2 Éducation de prince (June 1927); 5.3 Le Bonheur du jour (July 1927); 5.4 La Sirène des tropiques (December 1927); 5.5 L'Île d'amour (February 1928) ; 5.6 Vivre (July 1928); 5.7 Le Perroquet vert (October 1928); 6. Comedy: Les Deux timides (December 1928); 6.1 Contemporary reception; 6.2 Adaptation and structure; 6.3 The trial; 6.4 Courtship; 6.5 The battle; 7. The Avant-garde: Un chien andalou (June 1929); 7.1 Contemporary reception; 7.2 Later academic commentary; 7.3 Parody of previous films; 7.4 Simonne Mareuil; 8. Un chien andalou: Parodying stardom; 8.1 The slit eye; 8.2 Dismemberment of the star: seeing behind the surface; 8.3 Hysteria, ethnicity, costume; 8.4 The gaze of the woman and masochism; 8.5 Anamorphosis; 9. Looking back; 9.1 Illusions (January 1930); 9.2 Le Roi de Paris (August 1930) ; 9.3 Les Amours de minuit (January 1931)/Mitternachtsliebe (September 1931); 9.4 Le Rebelle (August 1931); 9.5 Baroud (English version September 1932/French version February 1933); 10. Conclusion: uncanny bodies; 10.1 The lost object; 10.2 The automaton, the mannequin and the doll; 10.3 'Explosante-fixe'; Appendices; Summary biography ; Interviews and star portraits; Filmscript (unfinished) from Knut Hamsun's Sult; Filmography; Bibliography.

Phil Powrie and Eric Rebillard's examination of the actor Pierre Batcheff opens up unique pathways into terrains embracing both the woefully overlooked - stars in the silent and early sound era of French cinema - and the justifiably well worn - the surrealist cinematic landmark Un chien andalou (1929)… Powrie and Rebillard have done important groundwork in establishing key issues with regard to stars, performance, and masculinity in the silent/early sound era, and their efforts should serve to provoke further explorations in this area.