Homesickness for the alley

Movie
German title	Homesickness for the alley
Original title	Gribiche
Country of production	France
original language	French
Publishing year	1925
length	2500 meters, at 18 fps 122 minutes
Rod
Director	Jacques Feyder
script	Jacques Feyder, based on a model by Frédéric Boutet
production	Alexandre Kamenka for Les Films Albatros
music	Rami and Bachar Khalifé (2010)
camera	Maurice Desfassiaux , Maurice Forster
occupation
Jean Forest : Gribiche (Antoine Belot) Cécile Guyon : Anna Belot, his mother Rolla Norman: Phillippe Gavary Françoise Rosay : Edith Maranet Maurice Soufflot: Edith's brother Alice Tissot: the head of the institute Charles Barrois: Marcelin Victor Vina: drunkard Andrée Canti: the governess Hubert Daix: Mr. Veudrot Mme. Surgères: Ms. Veudrot Sylviane de Castillo: sophisticated lady Armand Dufour: Chauffeur Major Heitner: Teacher Serge Otto: valet Pioneer: boxing trainer

Homesickness for the alley is the German title of the French silent film drama Gribiche , which Jacques Feyder directed in 1925 with the young Jean Forest in the title role for Alexandre Kamenka's company Les Films Albatros . He wrote the script himself, based on a story by Frédéric Boutet .

action

The worker boy Gribiche, son of the war widow Belot, gives a rich American woman back her handbag full of money that she left in the department store. Moved by so much honesty, she decides to accept him as a child. His mother, who works in a factory, releases him with a heavy heart, believing she can open up a better future for him in this way.

The philanthropic Madame Maranet from America, worried about Gribiche's well-being, imposed on him a fully organized day filled with math and literature lessons, sports and music lessons. Gribiche has to learn fine table manners, is served dishes that he does not know and should eat anyway, is not allowed to go to the fair and otherwise has little free time to play. It is understandable that he tried several times to tear out of the golden cage in which he was locked up.

When he manages to leave the house unnoticed after having written a suicide note and to escape two of Madame Maranet's employees, whom he meets in a bistro, he finds his way home, where his mother, meanwhile, her admirer, the foreman Phillippe Gavary, got married. He's happy about Gribiche's return, and his patroness Madame Maranet also has some understanding. She leaves him with his mother and even continues to pay for his education.

background

The nickname Gribiche , borne by the boy Antoine Belot, is derived from the name of a sour sauce that is prepared in French cuisine from hard-boiled egg yolks, capers, cucumbers, mustard, vinegar and oil and with veal's head or brawn, but also with fish dishes , Crabs or other shellfish.

Lenny Borger wrote about the project: “Feyder conceived the project as a vehicle for Jean Forest, the boy from Montmartre whom he discovered and cast in Crainquebille in 1922 and later in Visages d'enfants - three films of different ambitions, all enlightened by one of the most touching child actors of the silent film era ”.

The set was designed by Lazare Meerson , the recordings were directed by Basile Kourotchkine and Basile Zriatchikoff. Henri Chomette assisted the direction. Maurice Desfassiaux and Maurice Forster took care of the photography.

Gribiche premiered in Paris on March 26, 1926. The film was released in cinemas on April 2, 1926. It was also released in Germany in 1926, here as homesickness for the alley , and in Austria in 1927 under the title Die aus Erste Ehe . On December 22nd, 1928, it had its American premiere as Mother Of Mine .

reception

After its premiere, the film was rated by the critics as "fantaisie charming, faite de menus détails, de riens délicieux, de traits spirituels et émouvants".

It was discussed by:

Alexander Platz: Leading Review / FilmAnthologie 44.

Feyders Gribiche , restored by the Cinémathèque française after years of research , was shown again in 2008 at the 28th Festival Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone together with his film Les Nouveaux Messieurs .

The culture channel Arte broadcast this restored version on German television on Monday, November 18, 2011 at 11.30 p.m. with musical accompaniment and German subtitles.

literature

• Marc Auffret, Pierre Cogny: La France de L'entre Deux Guerres, 1919-1939 ... Histoire de la France. Verlag Culture, art, loisirs, Paris 1972, here p. 218.
• Cinémathèque française (Ed.): Tirages et restaurations de la Cinémathèque française. Volume 3. Cinémathèque française, Paris 1988, ISBN 978-2-900-59608-1 , here pp. 58, 110, 119.
• Günther Dahlke, Günter Karl: German feature films from the beginning to 1933: a film guide. Henschelverlag Art and Society, Berlin 1988, here p. 334.
• Alan Goble: The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1999, here p. 50, 875.
• Philippe d'Hugues, Michel Marmin: Le Cinéma français: le muet. Editions Atlas, Paris 1986, ISBN 978-2-731-20462-9 , here pp. 143, 173.
• Katholische Filmkommission für Deutschland (Ed.): Film-Dienst, Volume 54, Issues 14-19, Catholic Institute for Media Information, Catholic Film Commission for Germany, 2001, here p. 193.
• Georges Sadoul: Histoire du cinéma mondial des origines à nos jours. Edition Flammarion, 1961, here p. 535.
• Georges Sadoul: Dictionary of Film Makers. Translated, edited and updated by Richard Morris, University of California Press, Berkeley 1972, here pp. 83-84 and 172.
• Robert B. Connelly: The Silents: Silent Feature Films, 1910-36. Volume 40, issue 2. Verlag December Press, 1998, here p. 356.

DVD release

• Gribiche is contained in: David Shepard, Jeffrey Masino (Eds.): French Masterworks: Russian Émigrés in Paris 1923-1929. Five Iconic Films Albatros Productions (5-Disc DVD Collection) . Flicker Alley, Los Angeles 2013, ISBN 1-893967-65-4 . (Restored version, music compiled by Rodney Sauer, French subtitles with optional English subtitles, region 0)

Web links

• Nostalgia for the alley in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Gribiche at moviespictures.org (French)
• Gribiche at arte.tv

Illustrations:

• Movie poster for “Gribiche” by Pathé rural [4] and by Boris Bilinsky [5]
• Movie poster for “Gribiche” by Alain Curry [6]

Individual evidence

1. ↑ cf. Platz, lead review August 31, 2011: “The fact that a mother names her son after a sauce can only be understood if you know the French relationship to food. It's just loving. "
2. ↑ bei silentfilm.org [1] Feyder conceived the project as a vehicle for Jean Forest, the Montmartre boy he had discovered and cast in Crainquebille in 1922 and again in Visages d'enfants - three films of varying ambition, all illuminated by one of the silent screen's most moving child players
3. ↑ cf. IMDb / release info [2]
4. ↑ cf. arte.tv (France) Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Posted on August 31, 2011 at: Der Wahlberliner [3]
6. ↑ cf. arte.tv archive link ( memento of the original from April 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.