Le Maître de forges (1933)
Directed by Abel Gance, Fernand Rivers

Film Review

Adapted from Georges Ohnet's 1882 novel of the same title,  Le Maître de forges exemplifies the kind of formulaic melodrama that was enormously popular in the 1930s but which now appears unbearably hollow and dated.  Its lead actress Gaby Morlay would become closely associated with this sort of film, to the extent that she can legitimately be described as the queen of the French melodrama (a term than now seems horribly derisive).  The film's main point of interest is that it was the first sound film to be directed by Fernand Rivers, who had, during the previous two decades, directed and starred in a series of short films featuring the popular comic character Plouf, whom he had created.

On Le Maître de forges Rivers was assisted by Abel Gance (credited as the film's supervisor), who was struggling both financially and morally after the catastrophic failure of his first sound film, La Fin du monde (1931).  Gance's input was somewhat more than supervisory - he had a hand in the screenplay and probably directed several scenes in the film.  Gance also worked with Rivers on his next film, La Dame aux camélias (1934), and by the end of the decade Rivers was a fully fledged filmmaker, impressing most with his period dramas.  In the late 1940s, towards the end of his career, Fernand Rivers remade Le Maître de forges (God knows why) with Hélène Perdrière and Jean Chevrier in the lead roles - a film that is as dull and forgettable as Rivers' first attempt.

Film Synopsis

The wealthy Claire de Beaulieu is about to marry the Duke de Bligny, an impoverished nobleman, when disaster strikes.  Her family ruined, Claire is not surprised when her fiancé gives her up to marry instead a rich heiress.  She allows herself to be married by Philippe Derblay, the master of an ironworks and a man for whom she has no feelings.  Despite her husband's devoted attentions, Claire cannot bring herself to love him and insists that they sleep in separate beds.  When the Duke de Bligny challenges Philippe to a duel Claire suddenly realises how much her husband means to her...