Du Barry
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Edoardo Bencivenga
Mrs. Leslie Carter
Richard Thornton
Hamilton Revelle
Campbell Gollan
Louis Payne
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When Jean Du Barry, an impecunious nobleman, invites milliner's model Jeanette Vaubernier to see the king pass, Jeanette breaks a date with De Cossé Brissac, Captain of the Guards. The king is attracted to Jeanette, and after she has joined Du Barry's crowd, the king spots her at the opera. In disguise, the king visits Jeanette, to Cossé's dismay. For 100,000 francs, Du Barry has Jeanette married to his brother so that, now titled, she can live at the Royal Palace. As the king's mistress, Jeanette becomes the most admired and despised woman in France. Cossé is arrested by the jealous king, but when a revolution breaks out because of the king's extravagance, Cossé escapes to become a leader of the people. After Cossé scales the palace wall and is wounded, Jeanette, who wants to help the people, hides him in her bed. Although she bribes Du Barry to remain quiet, he reveals her secret to the king during an outdoor festival. To halt Cossé's execution, Jeanette renounces her love for him. Eighteen years later, after the king's death, Cossé is freed from the Bastille during the people's revolt. Although he pleads for Jeanette's life, she dies on the guillotine.
Director
Edoardo Bencivenga
Cast
Mrs. Leslie Carter
Richard Thornton
Hamilton Revelle
Campbell Gollan
Louis Payne
Mr. Pouget
Miss Rawlinson
Miss Corah Adams
Miss Robinson
Miss Wilkins
Mr. Barker
Mr. Cherney
Mrs. Eden
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Mrs. Leslie Carter, the protégée of David Belasco, starred in the play which was produced and directed by Belasco. Richard Thornton, Hamilton Revelle and Campbell Gollan also were in the play. The film had its premiere on December 25, 1914 in Chicago. There was a special showing for "entertainers of the theater profession" in New York on January 10, 1915, followed by a trade screening on January 11, 1915. The film was made at the Kleine studio in Grugliasco, Italy, in the foothills near Turin. The Motion Picture News reviewer remarked, "The technique of the producer was that of the Italian school. He used long character-building scenes with the players fifteen feet or more from the camera rather than that of the typical American producer who gives the screen short scenes, close-up views and many cut-backs." According to one source, the film was cut from 11 parts to 6. One review credited Kleine with the direction. According to a modern source, the film was never released in Italy because of World War I. Among the many films based on Belasco's play or on the life of Madame Du Barry are: the 1917 Fox film Du Barry (see below); the 1919 German production Madame Dubarry (titled Passion in the United States), starring Pola Negri and Emil Jannings and directed by Ernst Lubitsch; the 1930 United Artists release Du Barry, Woman of Passion, starring Norma Talmadge and directed by Sam Taylor (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1921-30; F2.1464); the 1934 Warner Bros. production Madame Du Barry, starring Dolores Del Rio and directed by William Dieterle (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.2646); and the 1954 French-Italian co-production Madame Du Barry, starring Martine Carol and directed by Christian-Jaque.
