In this movie co-written and directed by the appropriately named Gérard Bourgeois, we get to witness the tragic tale of Jacques Normand. Once a happy clerk with a decent job, a beautiful wife and two children, he took to the booze, and so began his tragic path.
Although French film makers realized early on that their market was the lower class, and slanted their movies that way. However, the rise of the feature movie (and at 35 minutes, this was a feature in 1911) the economics shifted. More time was needed in pre-production, to write a treatment, and rehearse the actors, and so the audience needed to get bigger. This meant appealing to the middle class, with their morals and fears, and alcoholism was a big fear. Earlier movies in this vein, like BUY YOUR OWN CHERRIES, made temperance appeals to the underclasses. This one shows the downfall of a middle class fellow, and would appeal more to the new audience.
Although French film makers realized early on that their market was the lower class, and slanted their movies that way. However, the rise of the feature movie (and at 35 minutes, this was a feature in 1911) the economics shifted. More time was needed in pre-production, to write a treatment, and rehearse the actors, and so the audience needed to get bigger. This meant appealing to the middle class, with their morals and fears, and alcoholism was a big fear. Earlier movies in this vein, like BUY YOUR OWN CHERRIES, made temperance appeals to the underclasses. This one shows the downfall of a middle class fellow, and would appeal more to the new audience.
