Colette at the Movies: Criticism and Screenplays

Not many know that Colette, the renowned French Novelist, was also a film critic and screenwriter. Who wouldn't be intrigued by what she had to say about Charles Boyer, Marlene Dietrich, Mickey Rooney―and Mae West? Her comments are only covered articles and screenplays by one of the twentieth century's major writers.Fascinated by "the marvel of this age, cinema," Colette began writing for and about the movies in 1914. She was an innovative critic, among the first to recognize the artistic and educational potential of film, as well as the achievements of Abel Gance, Thomas Ince, Max reinhardt and Cecil B. DeMille.In 1917 Colette launched a column in Le Film, a pioneer journal of serious movie criticism. That same year she wrote the scenario for the Italian version of her novel La Vagabonde. For Colette it was a bitter experience, reflected in the hilariously incisive "A Short Manual for the Aspiring Scenario Writer" and "Backstage at the Studio," both included here.Colette's contribution to film criticism was long overlooked because, out of literary snobbery, she eliminated her writings on the movies from the 1948 edition of her complete works. Now, Thanks to Alain and Odette Virmaux, two french film historians, this material is once again available and set in an overall context.Colette at the Movies includes scripts that Colette wrote for Marc Allegret's lac-Aux-Dames(1934) and Max Ophüls Divine(1935), which was drawn from her own L'envers du Music-Hall. They will be of interest to students of both film and literature.Some fascinating and rare photographs are also featured in this volume, and there is a filmography.