''Sables'' is a 1927 French

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

directed by

Dimitri Kirsanoff Dimitri Kirsanoff (, né Markus David Sussmanovitch Kaplan, Маркус Давид Зусманович Каплан; 6 March 1899 – 11 February 1957) was a Russian-French early film-maker working in France, sometimes considered part of the F ...

and starring

Colette Darfeuil Colette Darfeuil (born Emma Henriette Augustine Floquet, 7 February 1906 – 15 October 1998) was a French actress whose film career began at age 14 in 1920 and continued through the early 1950s. Darfeuil made her screen debut in at age 14 ...

Gina Manès Gina Manès (born Blanche Moulin; 7 April 1893 – 6 September 1989) was a French film actress and a major star of French silent cinema. After an early appearance in a Louis Feuillade film, she had significant roles in films of Germaine Dulac and ...

and

Nadia Sibirskaïa Nadia Sibirskaïa (born Germaine Marie Josèphe Lebas, 11 September 1901 – 14 July 1980) was a French film actress.Sultanik p.263 She was married to the Russian-born director Dimitri Kirsanoff and appeared in several of his early films. Earl ...

. Richard Abel, in his history of French cinema of this period, positions ''Sables'' firmly in a wave of films made at this time in the exotic locations of North Africa and the French colonies. ''Sables'' was one of a series made by French filmmakers at this time: Toussaint's ''Inch’Allah'',

Luitz-Morat Luitz-Morat (1884–1929) was a French actor, screenwriter and film director.Oscherwitz p.35 Selected filmography * '' A Roman Orgy'' (1911) * '' The City Destroyed'' (1924) * '' Surcouf'' (1925) * '' Jean Chouan'' (1926) * '' The Chocolate Girl' ...

's ''Le sang d’Allah'' ("Allah's blood") and Hugon's ''

Yasmina Yasmin is a feminine given name of Persian origin (یاسمن), sometimes also used as a surname. Variant forms and spellings include Yasaman, Yasemin, Yasmeen, Yasmina, Yasmeena, Yasmine, and Yassmin. Etymology ''Yasmin'' () is the Persian n ...

''. ''Sables'' fits into this pattern with a melodramatic plot that uses the Tunisian desert as its background adding mystery and the unknown. The cast included the director's wife at the time, Nadia Sibirskaïa, who played a similar role for him in '' Menilmontant''. The cinematographer was Roger Hubert in what was his third feature, subsequently lighting '' Les Visiteurs du Soir'' and ''

Les Enfants du Paradis ''Children of Paradise'' (, ) is a two-part French romantic drama film by Marcel Carné, produced under war conditions in 1943, 1944, and early 1945 in both Vichy France and Occupied France. Set in the theatrical world of 1830s Paris, it tells ...

''. Kirsanoff had no illusions about what he had made: he described the film as "Terrible, childish, stupid, merely amusing…an imbecile wrote the story".

Cast

- Gladys *

- Madame de Varennes *

Edmond Van Daële Edmond Van Daële (11 August 1884, in Paris – 11 March 1960, in Grez-Neuville, Maine-et-Loire, France) was a Dutch- French film actor. Born as Edmond Jean Adolphe Minckwitz, he appeared in the 1923 silent film '' Coeur fidèle'', directed by J ...

- Monsieur de Varennes *

- Yvonne

References

Bibliography

* Dayna Oscherwitz & MaryEllen Higgins. ''The A to Z of French Cinema''. Scarecrow Press, 2009.

External links

* 1927 films French silent films 1920s French-language films Films directed by Dimitri Kirsanoff French black-and-white films 1920s French films {{1920s-France-film-stub