Barrabas (1919)

Barrabas is a French crime film first released in 1919, directed by Louis Feuillade.  The film stars Fernand Herrmann, Édouard Mathé, Gaston Michel, Georges Biscot and Blanche Montel.  Our overall rating for this film is: very good.


Rudolph Strelitz, alias ‘Barrabas’, is the ruthless leader of a band of underworld crooks who wreak mayhem and misery across the civilised world.  A lawyer, Claude Varèse, is determined to bring Strelitz to book, after his father was wrongly guillotined for the murder of Laure d’Hérigny, mistress of an American millionaire who has since disappeared.  Varèse’s sister, Françoise, is then abducted by the sadistic Dr Lucius, one of Barrabas’ henchmen...

Louis Feuillade’s last crime serial starred Gaston Michel, who achieved overnight fame through his role as Barrabas.  Michel’s fame was to be short-lived however.   Whilst filming in Portugal on a subsequent Feuillade film, Michel ended up being carried through the streets of Lisbon by fans, despite the torrential rain.  The actor died of pneumonia a few days later,

© James Travers 2002

1. Prologue; La Maîtresse du Juif Errant (77 min)
2. La Justice des hommes (39 min)
3. La Villa des Glycines (40 min)
4. Le Stigmate (39 min)
5. Nöelle Maupré (39 min)
6. La Fille du condamné (39 min)
7. Les Ailes de Satan (39 min)
8. Le Manoir mystérieux (40 min)
9. L’Otage (40 min)
10. L’Oubliette (38 min)
11. Le Revenant (38 min)
12. Le Justice (38 min)



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