A woman undresses on her wedding night.A woman undresses on her wedding night.A woman undresses on her wedding night.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis French short films is considered to be one of the first erotic films (or "stag party films") made.
- ConnectionsFollowed by Cinq ans après (1899)
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Not really as pornographic as all that
This weasel word "pornography" has given people quite the wrong idea about these early scènes grivoises (the French expression for such mildly titillating material).
First for Eugène Pirou. Pirou was a highly respected and fashionable Paris photographer (he called himself the "the photographer of Kings") who, following the success of the Lumière cinématographe at the Grand Café, set up his own little cinema at the Café de la Paix in Paris in April 1896.
The first films shown were a series depicting the visit of Tsar Nicholas II to France in October 1896, a six-minute programme in all. In the autumn of 1896 he also produced townscapes, comic shorts, an excerpt from a ballet and a sophisticated historical tableau. His most celebrated film, however, and the principal source of his success, was Le Coucher de la mariée, in which Louise Willy recreated a pantomime-striptease which she was already famous for on the Paris stage.
Mme Willy was an almost equally respectable pantomime artiste, a pupil of the great mime Charles Aubert. Her first venture into striptease (déshabillé in French) had been Le Coucher d'Yvette at the Eldorado in Nice in 1894 but she had had a particular success in 1895 with Le Coucher de la mariée which was performed at the Olympia in Paris in 1895.
Pirou was the first to make a film version late in 1896 (with Albert Kirchner alias Léar as cameraman) and at one point was so successful that he opened two other venues in Paris and took the show on tour (to the Casino in Nice in 1897). But all of the major French film-makers (with the exception of the more provincial Lumière) rapidly followed suit. The first recorded performance by Willy of Le Coucher de la mariée was in 1897 (just a one minute film) but Pathé remade the film several times (in 1904 and 1907). Pathé included many scènes grivoises in its catalogue. So well known was the piece that the mime Brunin (principally a female impersonator) put on a parody version at the Ambassadors'Theatre. This too was filmed by Clément-Maurice and included (withboth colour and sound) in the programme of his Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre at the Paris Exposition of 1900.
The Pirou film was originally just three minutes long (not seven minutes) but was nevertheless long for the time. He produced other similar films as well. Léar also continued to produce such films on his own account which were included in the catalogue of Pathé's main rival, Gaumont. Even Georges Méliès produced at least one similar film (Après le bal).
Such films would not doubt have been regarded as pornography (or at best as "stag" films in puritan US (where even a film of a kiss could cause some flurry and where films of belly-dancers were censored) but in France such films attracted interest but did not shock and were a very established part of popular cabaret culture. That is what people came to Paris for and still do. To refer to them as pornographic is accurate enough in a way - they obviously have a voyeuristic appeal - but gives a rather misleading impression of their content.
First for Eugène Pirou. Pirou was a highly respected and fashionable Paris photographer (he called himself the "the photographer of Kings") who, following the success of the Lumière cinématographe at the Grand Café, set up his own little cinema at the Café de la Paix in Paris in April 1896.
The first films shown were a series depicting the visit of Tsar Nicholas II to France in October 1896, a six-minute programme in all. In the autumn of 1896 he also produced townscapes, comic shorts, an excerpt from a ballet and a sophisticated historical tableau. His most celebrated film, however, and the principal source of his success, was Le Coucher de la mariée, in which Louise Willy recreated a pantomime-striptease which she was already famous for on the Paris stage.
Mme Willy was an almost equally respectable pantomime artiste, a pupil of the great mime Charles Aubert. Her first venture into striptease (déshabillé in French) had been Le Coucher d'Yvette at the Eldorado in Nice in 1894 but she had had a particular success in 1895 with Le Coucher de la mariée which was performed at the Olympia in Paris in 1895.
Pirou was the first to make a film version late in 1896 (with Albert Kirchner alias Léar as cameraman) and at one point was so successful that he opened two other venues in Paris and took the show on tour (to the Casino in Nice in 1897). But all of the major French film-makers (with the exception of the more provincial Lumière) rapidly followed suit. The first recorded performance by Willy of Le Coucher de la mariée was in 1897 (just a one minute film) but Pathé remade the film several times (in 1904 and 1907). Pathé included many scènes grivoises in its catalogue. So well known was the piece that the mime Brunin (principally a female impersonator) put on a parody version at the Ambassadors'Theatre. This too was filmed by Clément-Maurice and included (withboth colour and sound) in the programme of his Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre at the Paris Exposition of 1900.
The Pirou film was originally just three minutes long (not seven minutes) but was nevertheless long for the time. He produced other similar films as well. Léar also continued to produce such films on his own account which were included in the catalogue of Pathé's main rival, Gaumont. Even Georges Méliès produced at least one similar film (Après le bal).
Such films would not doubt have been regarded as pornography (or at best as "stag" films in puritan US (where even a film of a kiss could cause some flurry and where films of belly-dancers were censored) but in France such films attracted interest but did not shock and were a very established part of popular cabaret culture. That is what people came to Paris for and still do. To refer to them as pornographic is accurate enough in a way - they obviously have a voyeuristic appeal - but gives a rather misleading impression of their content.
helpful•93
- kekseksa
- May 7, 2016
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Мария отходит ко сну
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime7 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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