La dame de Monsoreau (1913) - full transcript
present
The lady of Monsoreau
Direction by Émile Chautard
1913 Eclair Production
A copy of the Swiss film archive
with German intertitles, very...
...incomplete compared with the
original length, and in places...
...heavily decomposed, was used
for the restoration of this film...
...that was thought lost. All
the cards have been translated...
...and remade. Moreover, two inter-
titles have been made to facilitate...
...the understanding of parts that
the gaps in this copy made unclear.
The lady of Monsoreau
Great drama
after the eponymous novel.
Principal roles:
...of the Sarah Bernhardt theatre...
...of the Odeon theatre...
...count of Bussy...
...duke of Anjou...
...count of Monsoreau...
The pretty Diana,
daughter of the baron De Méridor.
Henry III, king of France
(1551-1589)
Louis de Clermont, count of Bussy
(his name stands for
courage and loyalty)
The Great Huntsman of the court
Bryan de Monsoreau
François, duke of Anjou,
brother of the king of France
Chicot, the king's fool.
The baron of Méridor and his
daughter Diana live very quietly
at their chateau of Anjou.
Diana has only one friend,
the doe Daphne.
One morning, the sound
of the hunting horn echos
again through the forest;
the count of Monsoreau,
deputy superintendent of
the province, leads the pack.
Diana witnesses her poor doe
put to death and faints...
The count of Monsoreau comes
to Méridor to apologise to
Diana for that tactless hunt.
His Royal Highness the duke of
Anjou invites the baron of Meridor
and his daughter to the feast...
...that he gives at the city hall
of Angers. By the order of his royal
highness, the count of Monsoreau.
Dazzled by Diana's beauty, the duke
of Anjou proclaims her his love,
...thereby awakening the jealousy
of Monsoreau, who watched them.
Monsoreau tells baron of Méridor Diana
will no longer be safe at the chateau
while the duke is enamoured with her.
The baron convinces his daughter
to place herself under her aunt's
protection at Lude.
At midnight, masked riders suddenly
surround the sedan chair and divert
it to an unknown destination.
A richly laid table awaits her. Diana
questions the masked man, who chooses to
stay silent, leaves, and locks the door.
Diana recognises the lake of Baugé.
The chateau belongs
to the duke of Anjou...
He who took you comes tonight
at 2 o'clock. At 1 o'clock,
...a friend carrying a letter
from your father will stop under
your window. Burn this note.
During the night, horses' whinnies reach
the prisonner. A shadow detaches itself
...from the edge of the forest and steps
in a boat. It's the count of Monsoreau.
"What, it's you...?"
"Who else than your father and me,
guards the honour of Diana of Méridor?
My dear Diana, Have faith in the count
of Monsoreau. He alone can save you
for he is our friend. Your father.
"In five minutes it will be too late.
Do you hear the steps of many horses?
It's the duke of Anjou and his men."
"Let your veil float...
They will believe you dead and
the search will be abandoned."
The count of Monsoreau leads Diana
to a house that he's decorated for
his purpose and acquires from her...
...the promise to marry him. About
what has made the duke of Anjou use
force against her, he says nothing.
My dear Diana! If you've fulfilled
my wish and followed the count of
Monsoreau, you must know...
...that the violent duke of Anjou is
a threat to your security. Monsoreau
cannot protect you effectively,
...than as his wife; also accept
his request. Be assured of my
paternal blessing, your father.
The following night, the duke and one of
his confidants ride around the house of
Diana, of which they've gotten the key.
Monsoreau has won the match.
He has married Diana in secret.
But one day, the duke of Anjou...
...recognises her in front
of the church, that beloved
that he believed drowned.
When Bussy is injured in an ambush,
Gertrude returns with a young
doctor from the neighbourhood...
...called Rémy le Haudoin, of
whom she has blindfolded the eyes
for the sake of carefulness.
A few sips of a delicious elixir bring
down the fever of the injured man
and send him to a refreshing sleep.
Diana and Gertrude transport
the injured man at night
to the pits of the temple,
...where the monk Gorenflot
finds him early the next morning.
In the presence of his assembled
court, and his jester Chicot,
...Henry III relieves the count of
Monsoreau of his task of Great Huntsman.
Remy tries to find Diane's place back.
On the doorstep of the house he meets...
...Bussy, who is motivated by the same
wish. Bussy takes Remy into his service.
Henry III and his court undertake with
great pomp a voyage to Fontainebleau
to visit there a consacrated church.
The litter of the king.
Chicot spots before a
tavern his mortal enemy,
the duke of Mayenne, and,
...because his presence in this
place seems suspicious to him,
he decides to shadow him.
From the monitoring of the duke
of Mayenne and his brother,
the duke of Guise, he learns...
...that the leaders of the league
against the huguenots are
hatching a plot against the king.
When the rallying point of the
conspirators happens to be the
abbey of Saint Genevieve, he goes...
...in search of his friend, the monk
Gorenflot, who belongs to that order, in
the hope of gathering more information.
He finds him at the inn "The Horn of
Plenty", in front of a sparse meal.
To loosen his tongue, the tricky
Chicot treats him on good wine.
The jester worms little by
little the secrets from the
clouded mind of Gorenflot.
He also obtains the coin
that opens the door of the
abbey to the conspirators.
Draped in the monk's habit, Chicot
penetrates in the chapel of Saint
Genevieve, where, in the role...
...of Gorenflot, he holds a flaming
argument against the huguenots
and their protector, Henry III.
After the congratulations of the
members, Chicot attends from his
hiding place the coronation...
...of the duke of Anjou as
king of France by the duke of
Guise and the count of Monsoreau.
To rob Diana of all support,
Monsoreau has informed her father,
...of the failure of his rescue
and confirmed her drowning.
But the parental grief won't be eternal:
Bussy, who has already talked with Diana
and knows her origins, sets out...
...for Méridor accompanied by mr.
and mrs. of Sian-Luc, met on the road,
to bring the father to the daughter.
It's only at Méridor that Bussy
realizes Monsoreau's insensitivity.
He persuades the bereaved father in
tears to accompagny him to Paris.
Before the house of Diana:
A great joy awaits them.
"Diana! Diana!...
My child... alive..."
Even though he knows himself found,
Monsoreau doesn't admit his defeat yet.
He receives the duke's anger, who
demands only Diana, with an icy smile.
"You will present she who is still
my wife to the king this very day...
Else I reveal what has passed at the
chapel of Saint-Genevieve, mylord!"
At the announcement to the king
of her union to the man that she
loaths, Diana feels herself falter.
Henry III, a prince who undertakes
today a procession of penitance,
...to hold tomorrow a luscious
orgy with his favorites,
...is unpredictable in his friendships.
Only Chicot, jester and squire,
...has never had to undergo
an offensive plan of his.
"Your eternal majesty permits me,
to present him Diana de Méridor,
countess of Monsoreau?"
The irrevocable marriage
of Diana, whom he loves,
has thrown Bussy into illness.
For the first time, he
refuses to follow his
master, the duke of Anjou.
The duke has hardly left the
house, or Remy asks his master to
follow him with a mysterious air.
Bussy sees her, whom he
thought almost lost, give
him a signal to approach.
"And who tells you, monsieur de Bussy,
that I belong to him whose name...
...I carry? I despise him and return
to Méridor tomorrow with my father."
Chicot has warned the king of the
conspiracy. While the duke of Anjou...
...is held prisonner at the Louvre,
the members have to be arrested.
How Chicot conducts the missions
the king, his lord, entrusts him.
We notify you of the order to make
certain for the present...
...of the hate? of the person of
Monsieur de Bussy,
...count of Clermont, who has severely
offended us, for which reason,
...with god's help, we have the
obligation to smite him. King Henry.
The duke of Anjou has escaped
from the Louvre. After his
arrival, Bussy has to foresake
his daily ride towards
Méridor. The faithful Remy
has to visit Diana in his place.
Roland, Bussy's steed monture
knows the way and flies lie the wind.
Flowery greetings.
Against all expectation the
duke of Anjou has returned,
more dangerous than ever,
...because he still loves you.
I will do everything to foil his
intention of going to visit you.
Guessing himself betrayed Monsoreau
accuses Saint-Luc of conspiring...
...with Bussy and provokes him to a
duel. Saint-Luc leaves him for dead.
Monsoreau broods on revenge.
"Diana is a widow, and I believe
that right now, the stay at Angers
hasn't become dangerous for me."
After the duel.
Meanwhile, the queen-mother has arrived
at Angers to reconcile the duke with...
...his royal brother. Bussy whispers the
replies to his master through a doorframe.
My dear friend, The count of Monsoreau
has accused me of being in league...
...with the shadow that he says he saw
with Diana. We've come to a discussion...
...full of irritation, during which
my sword caught him in a way...
...so unhappy, that he found himself
struck dead. I make for Paris. St. Luc
"Remy, in the saddle,
and charge to Meridor!"
Remy finds the count of Monsoreau
still alive. His medical
profession dictates him...
...one duty, to care of the
injured, even if it concerns
mortal enemies of his master.
"I'll haste myself to the chateau
to ask for thelp there."
The duke of Anjou learns
of the death of Monsoreau
from the mouth of Bussy.
In good spirits to know the traitor's
death, he sets out for Meridor.
The astonishment of the
duke is the measure of
Bussy's disappointment.
To remove his wife from the duke's
attentions, Monsoreau takes her
with him to Paris with Remy.
Bussy, who has alerted the king
of the duke of Anou's return,
secretly follows the retinue.
While Bussy pays a visit
to his wellbeloved,
Monsoreau shadows...
...the duke of Anjou,
whom he still suspects of
a secret affair with Diana.
The feast of Corpus Christi.
The king, wrapped in a monk's
habit, like every year...
...withdraws himself for a
retraite of one night at the
abbey of Saint Genevieve.
The duke's gotten wind of Bussy's
secret visit. For jealousy and envy
Anjou betrays his most faithful friend.
He advises him to feign a journey
and to spend the night with Diana.
Bussy walks into the trap.
Bussy alone against all!
But at the darkest hour,
Chicot turns up, who brings
help for the brave one.
"Diana is free, Bussy,
I give her to you."
End.