Shirt a Phobia

Sample Page

This article is about the actress. For other uses, see Musidora (disambiguation).

Jeanne Roques (23 February 1889 – 11 December 1957), known professionally as Musidora, was a French actress, film director, screenwriter, playwright and novelist. A major figure of French silent cinema, she became internationally known for portraying Irma Vep in Louis Feuillade‘s serial Les Vampires (1915–1916), and Diana Monti in Judex (1917).

Musidora was one of the earliest “vamps” in cinema, and was later embraced by surrealist writers and filmmakers as a cultural icon. She was also among the first women to direct films, also screenwriting and producing several features in the 1910s and 1920s.

Life and career

Early life

Musidora, photographed by Henri Manuel in 1910

Jeanne Roques was born in Paris to the music composer and theorist of socialism Jacques Roques (1852–1931)[1] and the painter and feminist Adèle Clémence Porchez (1855–1928),[2] who instilled in her a love of literature. Her paternal grandmother was of Spanish descent.[3] She began her career at an early age, encouraged by her mother. She wrote her first novel at the age of fifteen, she painted and sculpted, attending Emmanuel Frémiet‘s school for three years.[4]

Jeanne adopted the stage name “Musidora” (Greek for “gift of the muses”), after the heroine in Théophile Gautier‘s novel Fortunio,[5][6] and began performing in cabarets, [[Music hall#Music halls of Paris|music halls]], revues and plays in Paris in 1910, gaining recognition in Aristide Bruant‘s play La Loupiotte, where she played the part of La Môme Liquette (The Shirt Chick). Her first success was two years later at the Bataclan theatre, in the revue Ça grise, where she shared the stage with Colette, who became a lifelong friend. Musidora also performed in cabarets and on the stages of the l’Odéon and Châtelet theatres,[citation needed] and appeared in revues at the Folies Bergère and Bataclan theatre from 1912 to 1914, singing, dancing (especially tango), comic acting, sometimes cross-dressing.[7][8]

After a few appearances in short films, almost all of which have been lost, she made her film debut in Les Misères de l’aiguille (Miseries of the Needle) (1914), a feminist social drama produced by the socialist film collective Le Cinéma du Peuple and directed by Raphaël Clamour [fr], one of her colleagues at the Théâtre du Châtelet.[9] The film tells the story of a seamstress who, after the death of her husband, attempts suicide with her child to escape poverty. The film highlights the problems of urban women of the French working-class.[10]

After signing a contract with Gaumont, she appeared in a handful of films for Gaston Ravel in 1914. The film director Louis Feuillade had seen her perform as a tango dancer in La Revue Galante at the Folies Bergère and they began a professional collaboration, with her first major roles coming in his adaptation of François Coppée‘s play Severo Torelli, and in Le Calvaire.[11] She was then one of the many actresses Feuillade employed in patriotic productions and vaudevilles. She also made several films with Gaumont’s in-house directors, who were all pulled from their work by war mobilisation. Historical dramas, slapstick comedies, patriotic films, and sentimental scenes followed one another from 1914 to 1917.

Stardom – Les Vampires and Judex

Publicity photo of Musidora as Irma Vep, dressed for burgling in her black bodysuit. She performed in cabarets and music halls alongside her film work, and wore the bodysuit and reprised the role several times.[12][13]
Irma Vep (Musidora) sings in the “Howling Cat” nightclub, in Les Vampires (1916).
Diana Monti (Musidora) makes a daring escape, wearing a bathing suit, in Judex (1916).

In late 1915, having returned to civilian life, Louis Feuillade offered her the role of Irma Vep (an anagram of “vampire”), a cabaret singer, in Les Vampires (The Vampires). (The serial was not about vampires, but about a criminal secret society, inspired by the exploits of the real-life Bonnot Gang.) Irma Vep plays a leading role in the Vampires’ crimes, and is a master of disguise. In the third episode, Musidora appears dressed for burgling, clad in a tight black silken hooded bodysuit, sometimes masked. She also appears in other episodes disguised as a maid, a typist, a sailor, a viscount, and a telephone operator, and spends two episodes under the hypnotic control of Moreno, a rival criminal, who makes her his mistress and induces her to assassinate the Grand Vampire.[14] In another episode, she escapes captivity and conceals herself under a steam train: Musidora did her own stunts, hiding beneath the moving train, dropping off and lying between the rails as it moved away.[15][16]

Musidora said later, “In the stunning VAMPIRES, I introduced the most discrete luxury. The black tight bodysuit had been worn before me by Josette Andriot, but it had been made of decent cotton. The micromesh silk of my suit would for a long time set astir the youth of 1916.”[17][18] Her biographer, Patrick Cazals, considers the scenes in which Musidora appears in her black silken bodysuit to be among the most erotic ones in the first quarter century of cinema.[19] In Annette Förster’s analysis, “film historic and feminist accounts treat the figure of Irma Vep in the black bodysuit as an embodiment of eroticism, evil, criminality, sexual difference, ambiguity, mobility, and silent film-experience.”[20]

The series was an immediate success with French cinema-goers and ran in ten installments until 1916. As a criminal antiheroine and femme fatale, Irma Vep was an immediate sensation; the role brought Musidora international fame and established Irma Vep as an enduring figure in silent cinema. The strange character enjoyed great popular success and Musidora was admired by members of the Surrealist movement, who later made her one of their poetic emblems.[6] Her heavily stylised appearance, with her dark eyes heavily lined with kohl, her pale skin, her dramatic makeup, and her exotic wardrobe, contributed to Musidora becoming one of the most recognisable stars of French silent cinema. Her vamp persona was popularised in the United States by actress Theda Bara at about the same time.[21]

After the Les Vampires serial, Musidora starred as the criminal adventuress Diana Monti in Judex, another popular Feuillade serial filmed in 1916 but delayed for release until 1917. Diana Monti is even more seductive and wicked than Irma Vep.[22] Disguised as the governess Marie Verdier, she attempts to seduces the banker Favraux, and tries throughout the series to seize his fortune.[6]

In the fifth episode, Diana Monti escapes capture by removing her outer clothes to reveal a black bathing suit, in which she dives into water and swims away. A contemporary reviewer wrote admiringly, “Miss Musidora, who has to flee in great haste, plunges into the river in such a marvellous way, that one forgets the blackness of her soul for the moment.”[23] Judex was an even greater popular success than Les Vampires, and confirmed her position as a French film star or vedette.[24]

By the time her contract with Gaumont expired in 1917, she had appeared in more than forty dramas and farces, and had become one of the stars of French silent film.[8]

She subsequently acted in films directed by André Hugon: Les Chacals (The Jackals) (1917), Johannès, fils de Johannès (Johannes, Son of Johannes) (1918), and Mam’zelle Chiffon (1918); by Gaston Ravel: La Geôle (The Jail) (1918); by Germaine Dulac: La Jeune Fille la plus méritante de France (The Most Deserving Girl in France) (1918); and by Fred LeRoy Granville: Le Berceau de Dieu a.k.a. Les Ombres du passé (Shadows of the Past a.k.a. The Cradle of God) (1926). At the same time, she continued to appear on stage in revues, vaudeville, and melodramas.

Musidora and the Surrealists

Publicity shot of Musidora wearing her iconic costume from Les Vampires.

André Breton, Louis Aragon, and the other founders of the Surrealist movement were avid viewers of Feuillade’s serial films, particularly Les Vampires. Though not intended to be avant-garde, Les Vampires and Judex were lauded by Aragon and Breton in the 1920s for the films’ elements of surprise, fantasy/science fiction, unexpected juxtapositions and visual non sequitors. They adopted Musidora as a cultural icon, and invited her to several of their events.[a]

Aragon wrote:

The worldview that an entire generation forms originates in the cinema, and there is a film that summarises that, a series. An entire generation of young people falls in love with Musidora in LES VAMPIRES.[26]

Breton sent her roses, and the actress attended a Dada evening. He wrote to her:

A few of us have often talked about you and the mediocre future that awaits the French cinema and theatre which has never known who you were. … It is through Les Vampires that Musidora’s portrait is offered, in its final touches, adorned in her tights for the union of love and death, her eye by turns dreamy, sadistic, or passionate. The myth was established through this idealised imagery. Yet beneath the hotel mouse-like swimsuit of arachnid and sublime silk, there was also a woman whom her admirers ignored. Suffering, sensitive, anxious, seeking to express in love, poetry, and struggle, a feeling of the unattainable that this elegant black armour stifled or masked …[6]

At the end of 1928, Aragon and Breton wrote a play in her honour, Le Trésor des Jésuites (The Jesuits’ Treasure), in which all the characters’ names are anagrams of “Musidora” (Mad Souri, Doramusi, etc.)[6][27] The play was originally intended to be performed at the “Gala Judex”, a gala organised to support the widow of actor René Cresté (who had played the title character in Judex) on 1 December 1928.[28] The play was published in the special issue of the Belgian avant-garde review Variétés[29] and was performed only once, in 1935, at the Nové Divadlo (New Theatre) founded by Oldřich Nový in Prague, in a production directed by Jindřich Honzl, with sets by Jindřich Štyrský.[30]

Filmmakers Fritz Lang, Luis Buñuel, Georges Franju, Alain Resnais, and Olivier Assayas have all been influenced by Les Vampires and Judex in their careers as directors.[31][32][33][34][35]

As a director and producer

At a time when many women in the film industry were confined to acting, Musidora achieved a degree of success as a film producer and director. She was among the earliest French women to work as a film director, screenwriter, and producer during the silent era. Following pioneers such as Alice Guy-Blaché and alongside contemporaries including Germaine Dulac, she belonged to a small group of women who exercised creative control behind the camera in early French cinema. Between 1917 and 1924, she directed or co-directed several films in France and Spain, although most are now lost. Her work has since been reassessed by feminist film historians as an important contribution to women’s authorship in silent cinema.

She set up her own film production company,[5] Société des Films Musidora, and adapted two novels by her friend Colette: L’Ingénue libertine, which became Minne (1916); and La Vagabonde (The Vagabonde) (1918), which she co-wrote (with Colette) and co-directed (with Eugenio Perego), based on Colette’s novel of the same name. In Italy, she produced and directed La Flamme cachée (The Hidden Flame) (1920) based on an original screenplay by Colette, before writing and directing Vicenta (1920). Between the late 1910s and early 1920s, she directed ten films, most of which are now lost, with only two surviving: Soleil et Ombre (Sol y sombra) (Sun and Shadow) (1922), and La Terre des taureaux (La tierra de los toros) (The Land of the Bulls) (1924), both of which were filmed in Spain.

Years in Spain

Portrait of Musidora by Julio Romero de Torres (1922). Painted in Spain, now in the collection of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Buenos Aires).[36]

Musidora went to Spain in 1921 with a three-month contract to perform at the Teatro de la Comedia in Madrid.[37] Through the mediation of the cuplé singer Raquel Meller, wife of the Guatemalan writer Enrique Gómez Carrillo, Musidora met the Cordoban painter Julio Romero de Torres, who portrayed her in more than one painting that same year.[38] In Romero de Torres’s circle she met the bullfighter (rejoneador) Antonio Cañero, a wealthy landowner from Córdoba, with whom she had a romantic relationship,[39] which ended after a few months when he left her for a Russian princess.[40]

In Spain, she wrote, directed, produced, and starred in four films, with limited success: Pour don Carlos (For Don Carlos) (1921), adapted from the eponymous novel [fr] by Pierre Benoit, which recounts the 1873–1876 guerilla campaign during the Third Carlist War;[41]Musidora en Espagne (Musidora in Spain) (1922); Soleil et Ombre (Sun and Shadow) (1922);[42] and La Terre des taureaux (La tierra de los toros) (The Land of the Bulls) (1924),[43] which was conceived as part of a mixture of film screening and live performance, in which Musidora herself would sing and dance. Cañero was also to appear on stage, but he had left her by the time the film was exhibited in Spain.[44]

Her films were well received by the press, yet she probably lost money making them.[39]

Return to France

In 1924, Musidora ended her career as a filmmaker and turned to theatre and writing. After spending five years in Spain, she returned to Paris in 1926, and made her final film appearance in the religious epic Le Berceau de Dieu (The Cradle of God) alongside Léon Mathot, France Dhélia, and Lucien Dalsace. In the same year, she was elected Reine du Cinéma (Queen of Cinema).[45]

After her marriage in 1927, she distanced herself from film and devoted herself primarily to the theatre until the early 1950s. In 1930, she was part of the production of Gustave Damien [fr]‘s touring play, Échec à la Reine (Checkmate to the Queen), in Dinard.[46]

She sculpted, and also published two novels, Arabella et Arlequin (Arabella and Harlequin) (1928) and Paroxysmes (Paroxysms) (1934), as well as numerous songs and a collection of poems, Halos (1940). According to her biographer, Francis Lacassin, Musidora left behind many unpublished works at her death. She also taught diction at the Reims Conservatory in 1938.[47] As well as her relationships with Breton, Aragon and Colette, she was friends with other French cultural figures, including Germaine Dulac and Pierre Louÿs. She continued to appear in plays she had written (about thirty between 1916 and 1952) until 1948, including La Vie sentimentale de George Sand (The Sentimental Life of George Sand) (1946), and was a successful songwriter, novelist, poet, memoirist, and essayist.[5]

Later writing and archival work

After the Second World War, she became involved in the film industry again. From 1944, the year of her divorce, she worked with Henri Langlois at the Cinémathèque Française on an oral history project for the Commission for Historical Research of the Cinémathèque, coordinating, conducting and transcribing interviews with her colleagues from silent cinema.[48] Her work for this commission inspired her to direct and star in one last film, La Magique Image (The Magic Image) (1950), an homage to Feuillade.[39][8] Her last public appearance was at the Cinémathèque’s permanent exhibition in 1946, where she greeted visitors reclining on a bench, wearing the black vamp bodysuit that had made her famous.[49] Late in her life, she would occasionally work in the ticket booth of the Cinémathèque Française, where patrons might not have realised that the older woman in the foyer was starring in the film they were watching.[citation needed] She also worked as a journalist, writing many articles on cinema.[50]

Death

Musidora died in Paris on 11 December 1957 at the Broussais Hospital in Paris.[5][51][b] She was buried next to her parents in Bois-le-Roi, Seine-et-Marne, where her son practised as a dentist.[47]

Personal life

Musidora married Clément Marot[c] (1895–1975), a medical doctor and childhood friend,[47] on 20 April 1927 in Châtillon-sur-Marne. A condition of their marriage was that she could continue to work as an actress and an artist.[52][53] Their marriage lasted 15 years and produced one child, Clément Marot Jr. (1928–2010). The couple divorced in 1944.[54]

Poster by Guy Arnoux [fr] depicting Musidora as Irma Vep (1915)
Advertisement for the Le Nil cigarettes “Souricette” (Little Mouse). Musidora, dons her black silken Irma Vep bodysuit once again, even though she only wore it twice in Les Vampires.[55]
A graffiti mural on a métro in tribute to Musidora.

In 1974, the feminist film collective “Musidora” [fr] organised the first feminist film festival in France, named after Musidora.[5][56]

“Les Amis de Musidora” (The Friends of Musidora) association was founded in 2014, and regularly publishes in its journals the results of its research on her life and work.

In 2019, the Bologna Film Festival honoured Musidora by screening a biographical documentary as well as the 1922 film Soleil et Ombre (Sun and Shadow), and by using as the logo for its 33rd edition the stylised portrait of the actress and director.[57][58]

In 2019, through a vote, users of the community centre on rue François-Truffaut in Paris (12th arrondissement) chose “Musidora” as the centre’s name. Following this participatory process, the Paris City Council officially adopted the name “Centre Paris Anim’ Musidora” at its July 2019 meeting.[59]

In 2020, Carole Aurouet [fr], Marie-Claude Cherqui, and Laurent Véray organised the first symposium dedicated to Musidora.[60] The proceedings of this symposium were published in 2022 by Éditions de Grenelle under the title Musidora, Who Are You?[61]

In 2022, actor and director Hugo Bardin (in character as his drag queen Paloma) and his friend Kameliya paid tribute to Musidora in episode 7 of the show Drag Race France, performing a mime in costume and makeup as Irma Vep.[62]

In 2022, a biographical graphic novel titled Musidora, Once Upon a Time in Cinema, written by Arnaud Delalande and illustrated by Nicolas Puzenat, was published by Éditions Robinson.[63]

On 9 November 2023, the municipal council of Bois-le-Roi, decided to name its new cultural facility as “Médiathèque Musidora“. The centre was inaugurated on 28 June 2025.[64]

In 2026 Les Amis de Musidora announced that they had rediscovered La Magique Image (1950), and it was screened by the Cinémathèque française, as part of the 13th Cinémathèque Festival.[65]

Filmography

As actress

Year Title Role Director Archive status[39] Notes
1909 Le Troisième Larron (The Third Thief) A Gaumont production
1910 La Main noire (The Black Hand) Étienne Arnaud
1913 L’Aventure de Jean Loupin
(Jean Loupin’s Adventure)		 A Gaumont production
1913 Le Drapeau (The Flag) A Gaumont production
1914 La Ville de Madame Tango
(Madame Tango’s City)		 The tangomaniaque A Pathé-Frères production
1914 Les Misères de l’aiguille
(Miseries of the Needle)		 Seamstress Raphaël Clamour Produced by the socialist film collective Le Cinéma du Peuple
1914 Severo Torelli Portia Louis Feuillade Cinémathèque Française
1914 Le Calvaire  [fr] (The Ordeal) The dancer Bianca Flor, Frondier’s mistress Louis Feuillade Lost
1914 Tu n’épouseras jamais un avocat  [fr]
(You’ll Never Marry a Lawyer)		 Estelle Morille Louis Feuillade Lost
1914 L’Union sacrée  [fr] (The Sacred Union) Typist Louis Feuillade Louis
1914 Bout de Zan et l’espion  [fr]
(Bout de Zan and the Spy or Bout de Zan and the Boches)		 Louis Feuillade Lost
1914 Les Fiancées de 1914  [fr] (The Fiancées of 1914) Louis Feuillade
1914 Sainte Odile Gaston Ravel
1914 Les Trois Rats (The Three Rats) Opéra rat Gaston Ravel
1914 La Bouquetière des Catalans  [fr]
(The Flower Girl of the Catalans)		 Gaston Ravel
1914 Les Leçons de la guerre (The Lessons of War) Gaston Ravel
1914 La Petite Réfugiée (The Little Refugee) Gaston Ravel
1914 L’Autre Victoire (The Other Victory) Gaston Ravel
1914 Le Roman de la midinette
(The Romance of the Young Girl)		 Gaston Ravel Lost
1915 Le Furoncle  [fr] (The Boil) Gaston Ravel
1915 Celui qui reste  [fr] (The One Who Remains) Suzanne Gervon Louis Feuillade Lost
1915 Le Coup du fakir (The Feat of the Fakir) Louis Feuillade Lost
1915 Deux Françaises  [fr] (Two French Women) Mme Castel Louis Feuillade Lost
1915 Fifi tambour  [fr] (Fifi the Drummer) Louis Feuillade Lost
1915 L’Escapade de Filoche  [fr] (Filoche’s Escapade) Mme Pichepin Louis Feuillade Lost
1915 Les Noces d’argent  [fr] (The Silver Wedding) Louis Feuillade Lost
1915 Bouboule Louis Feuillade
1915 Le Sosie  [fr] (The Lookalike) Louis Feuillade Lost
1915 La Barrière (The Barrier) Gaston Ravel or Louis Feuillade
1915 Le Fer à cheval  [fr] (The Horseshoe) Louis Feuillade Lost
1915 Le Collier de perles  [fr] (The Pearl Necklace) Louis Feuillade Lost
1915 Bout de Zan et le poilu
(Bout de Zan and the Hairy One)		 Louis Feuillade Lost
1915 Jeunes filles d’hier et d’aujourd’hui  [fr]
(Young Girls of Yesterday and Today)		 Louis Feuillade Lost
1915 Triple entente Gaston Ravel Lost
1915 Le Trophée du zouave (The Zouave Trophy) Gaston Ravel
1915 Le Grand Souffle (The Great Breath) Gaston Ravel
1915 L’Autre devoir  [fr] (The Other Duty) Léonce Perret
1915 Les Vampires: 3. Le Cryptogramme rouge
(The Vampires: Episode 3 – “The Red Codebook”)		 Irma Vep, alias Anne-Marie Le Goff, Guérand’s maid Louis Feuillade Cinémathèque Française
Library of Congress
1916 Les Vampires: 4. Le Spectre
(The Vampires: Episode 4 – “The Spectre”)		 Irma Vep, alias Juliette Berteaux, typist at the Renoux-Duval bank Louis Feuillade Cinémathèque Française
Library of Congress
1916 Les Vampires: 5. L’Évasion du mort
(The Vampires: Episode 5 – “Dead Man’s Escape”)		 Irma Vep, alias Mlle de Mortesaigues Louis Feuillade
1916 Les Vampires: 6. Les Yeux qui fascinent
(The Vampires: Episode 6 – “Hypnotic Eyes”)		 Irma Vep, alias Viscount Guy de Kerlor Louis Feuillade
1916 Les Vampires: 7. Satanas
(The Vampires: Episode 7 – “Satanas”)		 Irma Vep, alias Marie Boissier of the Chronograph Company, and Noémie Patoche, the fake telephone operator Louis Feuillade
1916 Les Vampires: 8. Le Maître de la foudre
(The Vampires: Episode 8 – “The Thunder Master”)		 Irma Vep Louis Feuillade
1916 Les Vampires: 9. L’Homme des poisons
(The Vampires: Episode 9 – “The Poisoner”)		 Irma Vep, alias Aurélie Plateau Louis Feuillade
1916 Les Vampires: 10. Les Noces sanglantes
(The Vampires: Episode 10 – “The Terrible Wedding”)		 Irma Vep Louis Feuillade
1916 C’est le printemps !  [fr] (It’s Spring!) The artist’s maid Louis Feuillade
1916 Cœur fragile (Fragile Heart) Gaston Ravel
1916 Fille d’Ève (Daughter of Eve) Gaston Ravel
1916 Le Pied qui étreint  [fr] (The Foot That Embraces) Irma Vep, in the final installment, “The Man with the Polka Dot Scarf” Jacques Feyder Cinémathèque Française
1916 Simple erreur (Simple Mistake) Gaston Ravel
1916 Le Colonel Bontemps  [fr] (Colonel Bontemps) The Colonel’s daughter Louis Feuillade Lost
1916 Les Mariés d’un jour  [fr] (Brides for a Day) Louis Feuillade Lost
1916 Les Fourberies de Pingouin  [fr] (Penguin’s Rogueries) Louis Feuillade Lost
1916 Les Fiançailles d’Agénor  [fr] (Agénor’s Engagement) Amélie Louis Feuillade Lost
1916 Le Poète et sa folle amante  [fr]
(The Poet and his Mad Lover)		 Louis Feuillade Lost
1916 Si vous ne l’aimez pas…  [fr] (If You Don’t Like It…) Simone Louis Feuillade Lost
1916 La Peine du talion  [fr] (The Penalty of Retaliation) Rosa Larose Louis Feuillade Lost
1916 Lagourdette gentleman cambrioleur  [fr]
(Lagourdette, Gentleman Burglar)		 Lagourdette’s friend Louis Feuillade Gaumont Pathé Archives
1916 Minne  [fr] Jacques de Baroncelli Unfinished film, adapted by Musidora from Colette’s novel L’Ingénue libertine
1917 C’est pour les orphelins !   [fr] (This is for the Orphans: The Artist’s Wakening ) Louis Feuillade Lobster Films Benefit film
1917 Judex: 1. L’Ombre mystérieuse
(Judex: Episode 1 – “The Mysterious Shadow”)		 The adventuress Diana Monti, alias Marie Verdier Louis Feuillade Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique
Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée [FRB]
Cinémathèque Française
Svenska Filminstitutet
BFI National Archive
Cineteca Nazionale
Národní Filmov Archiv
George Eastman Museum
Lobster Films
Library of Congress
1917 Judex: 2. L’Expiation
(Judex: Episode 2 – “Atonement”)		 Diana Monti Louis Feuillade
1917 Judex: 3. La Meute fantastique
(Judex: Episode 3 – “The Fantastic Hounds”)		 Diana Monti Louis Feuillade
1917 Judex: 4. Le Secret de la tombe
(Judex: Episode 4 – “The Secret of the Tomb”)		 Diana Monti Louis Feuillade
1917 Judex: 5. Le Moulin tragique
(Judex: Episode 5 – “The Tragic Mill”)		 Diana Monti Louis Feuillade
1917 Judex: 6. Le Môme réglisse
(Judex: Episode 6 – “The Licorice Kid”)		 Diana Monti Louis Feuillade
1917 Judex: 7. La Femme en noir
(Judex: Episode 7 – “The Woman in Black”)		 Diana Monti Louis Feuillade
1917 Judex: 8. Les Souterrains du Château-Rouge
(Judex: Episode 8 – “The Dungeons of the Chateau-Rouge”)		 Diana Monti Louis Feuillade
1917 Judex: 9. Lorsque l’enfant parut
(Judex: Episode 9 – “When the Child Appeared”)		 Diana Monti Louis Feuillade
1917 Judex: 10. Le Cœur de Jacqueline
(Judex: Episode 10 – “The Heart of Jacqueline”)		 Diana Monti Louis Feuillade
1917 Judex: 11. L’Ondine
(Judex: Episode 11 – “The Water Sprite”)		 Diana Monti Louis Feuillade
1917 Judex: 12. Le Pardon d’amour
(Judex: Episode 12 – “The Forgiveness of Love”)		 Diana Monti Louis Feuillade
1917 Débrouille-toi  [fr] (Figure It Out) Mlle Friquette Louis Feuillade Lost
1917 Le Maillot noir (The Black Jersey) As herself Musidora Short
1917 Mon oncle  [fr] (My Uncle) Louis Feuillade Lost
1917 Les Chacals (The Jackals) Dolores Melrose, Hampton’s fiancée André Hugon
1918 La Vagabonde  [fr] (The Vagabond) Eugenio Perego and Musidora Lost Adapted by Musidora and Colette from Colette’s novel of the same name
1918 Johannes, fils de Johannes  [fr]
(Johannes, Son of Johannes		 Gabrielle Baude André Hugon
1918 La Geôle (The Jail) Marie-Ange Gaël, the Madonna Gaston Ravel
1918 La Jeune Fille la plus méritante de France  [fr]
(The Most Deserving Young Woman in France)		 The four seasons merchant Germaine Dulac
1919 Mam’zelle Chiffon Chiffon, the milliner André Hugon
1920 La Flamme cachée  [fr] (The Hidden Flame) Annie Morin, the student Musidora and Roger Lion Lost Also co-producer and co-screenwriter, based on an original screenplay by Colette
1920 Vicenta  [fr] Vicenta, the innkeeper’s daughter Musidora Cinémathèque Française
[incomplete, only a 19-minute fragment survives]		 Also screenwriter and producer
1921 Pour don Carlos  [fr] a.k.a. Les Monstres se révoltent (For Don Carlos a.k.a. The Monsters Revolt) Allégria Jacques Lasseyne [fr] and Musidora Cinémathèque Française (most complete) Also screenwriter and producer
1922 Une aventure de Musidora en Espagne (Musidora’s Adventure in Spain) Musidora Also co-producer and co-screenwriter
1922 Soleil et Ombre  [fr] (Sol y sombra) (Sun and Shadow) Juana, the innkeeper’s maid; and the foreign blonde Jaime De Lasuen [fr] and Musidora Cinémathèque Française, Filmoteca Española Also co-producer
1924 La Terre des taureaux  [fr] (La tierra de los toros) (Land of the Bulls) As herself and the “ugly girl” Musidora Cinémathèque de Toulouse
Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée
Library of Congress		 Also producer and screenwriter
1926 Le Berceau de Dieu  [fr] a.k.a. Les Ombres du passé
(Shadows of the Past a.k.a. The Cradle of God)		 Fred LeRoy Granville Also co-producer and co-screenwriter
1950 La Magique Image (The Magic Image) Old gypsy woman Musidora Cinémathèque Française (rediscovered in 2026) Also co-producer and co-screenwriter

As director

Year Title Notes
1917 Le Maillot noir (The Black Jersey) Appeared as herself
1918 La Vagabonde  [fr] (The Vagabond) Also actor, co-screenwriter and co-director with Eugenio Perego
1920 La Flamme cachée  [fr] (The Hidden Flame) Also actor, co-directed with Roger Lion, and co-producer
1920 Vicenta  [fr] Also actor, screenwriter, and co-producer
1921 Pour don Carlos  [fr] a.k.a. Les Monstres se révoltent
(For Don Carlos a.k.a. The Monsters Revolt)		 Also actor, co-director with Jacques Lasseyne [fr], and producer
1922 Une aventure de Musidora en Espagne
( Musidora’s Adventure in Spain)		 Also actor
1922 Soleil et Ombre  [fr] (Sol y sombra)
(Sun and Shadow)		 Also actor, co-director with Jaime De Lasuen [fr], producer and screenwriter
1924 La Terre des taureaux  [fr] (La tierra de los toros)
(Land of the Bulls)		 Also actor
1950 La Magique Image (The Magic Image) Also actor, producer and screenwriter

Writing

  • Musidora, “Vicenta”. Comoedia illustré (15 February 1920): 207-208.[39]
  • Musidora, Comment j’ai tourné Don Carlos [How I Filmed Don Carlos]. Ève (30 January 1921): 10.[39]
  • Musidora-Pierre Louÿs: une amitié amoureuse : récit et correspondances, 1914–1924 [A Loving Friendship: Narrative and Correspondence, 1914–1924] OCLC 1236010043
  • Musidora, Grandes Enquètes d’Ève: Comment je suis devenue Torera [Ève’s Great Investigations: How I Became a Torera]. Ève (28 September 1924): 11–18.[39]
  • Musidora, En Amour tout est possible [In Love, Anything Is Possible]. Paris: Éditions Eugène Figuière, 1928. OCLC 469033921
  • Musidora, Arabella et Arlequin, roman [Arabella and Harlequin], 1928. OCLC 469033903
  • Musidora, Paroxysmes. De l’amour à la mort [Paroxysms. From Love to Death]. Paris: Éditions Eugène Figuière, 1934.[39]
  • Musidora, Auréoles : poésies scandées [Halos: Chanted Poems]. Paris: Éditions Arnaud, 1939. Preface by Wilfrid Lucas. OCLC 759756149
  • Musidora, La Vie d’une vamp [The Life of a Vamp], Ciné-Mondial 42–48 (12 June – 17 July 1942): n.p.[39]
  • Musidora, La vie sentimentale de George Sand [The Romantic Life of George Sand]. Paris: Éditions de la Revue moderne, 1946. OCLC 66135217
  • Musidora, Souvenirs sur Pierre Louÿs [Memories of Pierre Louÿs]. Muizon: Éditions “À L’écart”, 1984.[39][66][67]
  • Musidora, Interview with Renée Sylvaire. Manuscript. Committee on Historical Research Collection (Fonds Commission des Recherches Historiques), CHR29-B1. Bibliothèque du Film, Cinémathèque Française.[39]
  • Musidora, Colette et le Cinéma Muet [Colette and Silent Cinema]. In Patrick Cazals, Musidora. La dixième muse [Musidora, the Tenth Muse]. Paris: Éditions Henry Veryier, 1978. 195–199.[39]

Notes

  1. ^ Both in the 1910s and since, commentators have conflated the actress Musidora with her on-screen persona Irma Vep. For example, in the 2007 opinion of the German film scholar Thomas Brandlmeier [de], “Who would have guessed that a certain Musidora existed in this world, boundlessly vain, capricious, depraved, malicious as a scorpion, so wicked that one feels compelled to look beneath her dress to see if she has a devil’s foot; a Musidora without soul, without pity, without regret, who even betrays the lover of her choice; a vampire of gold and silver who drinks the inheritances of sons from wealthy families like soda water to keep his appetite alive; a demonic mocker who pours his shrill and merciless laughter over everything, a depraved courtesan who revives the orgies of antiquity without the passionate ardour of a Messalina as an excuse.”[25]
  2. ^ Förster (2017) gives her death date as 10 December, and the location as Bois-le-Roi hospital.
  3. ^ Not to be confused with the poet Clément Marot.

References

  1. ^ “Le théâtre. Coulisses” [The Theatre. Backstage.]. Paris-Midi (in French). 9 March 1931. p. 5. Retrieved 28 April 2026. available at Gallica
  2. ^ “La presse potinière. Le monde. Nécrologie” [Gossip Press. The World. Obituaries.]. La Presse (in French). 5 January 1929. p. 2. Retrieved 28 April 2026. available at Gallica
  3. ^ Förster 2017, p. 164.
  4. ^ “De Jeanne Roques à Musidora” [From Jeanne Roques to Musidora]. Cahiers Musidora (in French). Les Amis de Musidora: 37–39. December 2016. ISBN 978-2-7533-0187-0. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  5. ^ a b c d e “Musidora: French actress and director”. Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  6. ^ a b c d e d’Hugues et al. 1986, p. 106.
  7. ^ Förster 2017, pp. 142, 151.
  8. ^ a b c Förster 1998, p. 6.
  9. ^ Weber, Alain (2002). Cinéma(s) français 1900-1939: pour un monde différent [French Cinema(s), 1900-1939. For a Different World] (in French). Éditions Seguier. p. 26. ISBN 978-2840493044.
  10. ^ MUNDIM, Luiz Felipe C. (July–December 2019). “The miseries of the needle of the cooperative Cinéma du Peuple: a feminist movie in the early cinema”. Significação – Revista de Cultura Audiovisual.
  11. ^ Förster 2017, pp. 174, 177.
  12. ^ Förster 2017, p. 210.
  13. ^ Tierchant 2014, p. 110-111.
  14. ^ Bishop T. Allen Greenfield (2007). “Les Vampires, Musidora and the Vamp World of the Forgotten Original Goths”. LesVampires.org. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  15. ^ Förster 2017, p. 228.
  16. ^ Musidora, “Les Dangers du Cinéma”, Fantasio, 1 July 1916, p. 11
  17. ^ Förster 2017, p. 220.
  18. ^ Letter from Musidora to Georges Sadoul, quoted in Sadoul, Histoire générale, p. 342
  19. ^ Cazals 1978, pp. 36, 37.
  20. ^ Förster 2017, p. 212.
  21. ^ Vincendeau, Ginette (2000). Stars and Stardom in French Cinema. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 25. ISBN 1441130268.
  22. ^ Förster 2017, p. 231.
  23. ^ Simounet (2 February 1917). “Les Nouveautés de la semaine” [What’s New This Week]. Le Cinéma et l’Écho du cinéma réunis (in French). p. 3.
  24. ^ Förster 2017, pp. 234, 235.
  25. ^ Brandlmeier, Thomas (2007). Fantômas: Beiträge zur Panik des 20. Jahrhunderts [Fantômas: Contributions to the Panic of the 20th Century] (in German). Berlin: Verbrecher-Verlag. p. 70. ISBN 978-3935843720.
  26. ^ Förster 1998, p. 15.
  27. ^ Béhar, Henri, ed. (2004). Le cinéma des surréalistes (No. XXIV) [Surrealist cinema]. Cahiers du Centre de Recherche sur le Surréalisme: Mélusine (in French). Lausanne: Editions L’Age d’Homme. p. 115.
  28. ^ Maillard-Chary, Claude (1993). “L’imaginaire guerrier dans la poétique surréaliste” [The imaginary warrior in surrealist poetics]. L’Homme et la société (in French) (107–108): 74.
  29. ^ “Surrealism in 1929”. Variétés (in French). June 1929. pp. 47–61.
  30. ^ “Manuscrit original d’une pièce surréaliste à deux mains Louis Aragon & André Breton” [Original manuscript of a surrealist play written by two authors Louis Aragon & André Breton]. Christie’s (in French). Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  31. ^ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (2010). “Inside the Vault [on Spione]”. Goodbye Cinema, Hello Cinephilia: Film Culture in Transition. University of Chicago Press. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  32. ^ Callahan, Vicki (2005). Zones of Anxiety: Movement, Musidora, and the Crime Serials of Louis Feuillade. Contemporary Approaches to Film and Television Series. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0-81432-855-2. OCLC 849944925.
  33. ^ Notes for DVD of Georges Franju‘s Judex (1963), Criterion Collection / The Masters of Cinema
  34. ^ Neupert, Richard (2007). A History of the French New Wave Cinema. Wisconsin Studies in Film (2 ed.). University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0299217044.
  35. ^ Campion, Benjamin (May 2024). “Irma Vep , de l’art populaire de Louis Feuillade à l’auteurisme réflexif d’Olivier Assayas” [Irma Vep, from the popular art of Louis Feuillade to the reflexive auteurism of Olivier Assayas]. Télévision (in French). 15 (1): 117–130. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  36. ^ “Musidora” (in Spanish). Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  37. ^ Belinchón, Gregorio (15 September 2020). “La España que enamoró a Musidora, la mítica ‘vamp’“ [The Spain that captivated Musidora, the mythical ‘vamp’]. El País (in Spanish).
  38. ^ “Las mujeres y Julio Romero de Torres: Jeanne Roques “La Musidora”“ [Women and Julio Romero de Torres: Jeanne Roques “La Musidora”]. artencordoba (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  39. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Förster, Annette. “Musidora”. Women Film Pioneers Project, Columbia University Libraries. Retrieved 1 May 2026.
  40. ^ Förster 2017, p. 267.
  41. ^ Förster 2017, pp. 249–263.
  42. ^ Förster 2017, pp. 263–270.
  43. ^ Förster 2017, pp. 271–277.
  44. ^ Förster 2017, p. 271.
  45. ^ Förster 2017, p. 278.
  46. ^ “Dinan: Aujourd’hui” [Dinan: Today]. L’Ouest-Éclair (in French). 24 September 1930. p. 8. Retrieved 30 April 2026.available at Gallica
  47. ^ a b c Landru, Philippe (14 July 2015). “Cimetière de Bois-le-Roi”. Cimetières de France et d’ailleurs (in French). Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  48. ^ Förster 2017, p. 277.
  49. ^ Boussinot, Roger (1986). L’encyclopédie du cinéma [The Encyclopedia of Cinema] (in French). Bordas. p. 933. ISBN 978-2040106034.
  50. ^ Katz, Ephraim (1994). The Macmillan International Film Encyclopedia (2 ed.). London: Pan Macmillan Ltd. p. 990. ISBN 0-333-61601-4.
  51. ^ “La mort de Musidora” [Death of Musidora]. Le Monde (in French). 12 December 1957. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  52. ^ Förster 2017, p. 137.
  53. ^ G.L. (21 April 1927). “Musidora devient Mme Clément Marot” [Musidora becomes Mrs. Clément Marot]. Le Journal (in French).
  54. ^ Förster 2017, p. 532.
  55. ^ Förster 1998, p. 8.
  56. ^ Bissière, Michèle (2002). “Review of the book “Coline Serreau”“. Women in French Studies (in French). 10: 250–251. ISSN 2166-5486. Retrieved 1 May 2026.
  57. ^ “Musidora: What is she?”. Il Cinema Ritrovato. Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  58. ^ Hutchinson, Pamela (2 July 2019). “Silents in the Piazza: Il Cinema Ritrovato 2019”. Silent London. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  59. ^ “Délibération du Conseil de Paris”.
  60. ^ Aurouet, Carole (15 September 2020). “Colloque “Musidora, qui êtes-vous ?” du 18 au 20 novembre 2020″ [Symposium “Musidora, who are you?” from 18 to 20 November 2020]. OpenEdition (in French). Hypotheses.
  61. ^ Aurouet, Carole (2022). Musidora, qui êtes-vous?: Un éclairage complet et novateur sur une actrice, réalisatrice, productrice et artiste totale [Musidora, Who Are You?: A comprehensive and innovative look at an actress, director, producer, and all-around artist] (in French). Gremese. ISBN 978-2366773033.
  62. ^ “Drag Race France : 6 moments marquants de l’épisode 7: Le défilé “Un air de famille”“ [Drag Race France: 6 highlights from episode 7: The “Family Resemblance” parade]. Elle (in French). Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  63. ^ Delalande, Arnaud; Puzenat, Nicolas (2022). Musidora, Elle était une fois le cinéma [Musidora, Once Upon a Time in Cinema] (in French). Éditions Robinson. ISBN 978-2017076377.
  64. ^ “Le Département investit pour l’éducation: Une nouvelle médiathèque à Bois-le-Roi” [The Department invests in education: A new media library in Bois-le-Roi] (in French). Département de Seine-et-Marne. 21 July 2025. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  65. ^ Pichard, Hervé (4 February 2026). “Les images magiques du cinéma” [Magical Images of Cinema]. Cinémathèque (in French). Cinémathèque française. Retrieved 30 May 2026.
  66. ^ Musidora (1984). Souvenirs sur Pierre Louÿs (in French). Editions “A l’Ecart”.
    Musidora (1984). “Souvenirs sur Pierre Louys”. Muizon: Éditions À L’écart. Retrieved 5 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia. Limited ed. of 200 copies. Unbound; leaves loosely inserted in paper cover. Library’s copy no. 123 of limited ed. of 200.
  67. ^ Barney, Natalie Clifford; Blanche, Jacques-Emile; Bracquemond, Félix; Du Bert, Marthe; Erlanger, Camille; Farrère, Claude; Heredia, Louise de; Lebey, André; Louis, Georges; Loviot, Louis; Moulié, Charles; Quillot, Maurice; Roland, Claudine; Sherard, Robert Harborough. “Pierre Louÿs: An Inventory of His Papers”. Carlton Lake Collection. Harry Ransom Center. Retrieved 5 July 2022.

Sources

Further reading

Cahiers Musidora
  • Les amis de Musidora (December 2016). De Jeanne Roques à Musidora [From Jeanne Roques to Musidora]. Cahiers Musidora (in French). Vol. 1. Bois-le-Roi, Seine-et-Marne: Éditions Les Amis de Musidora. ISBN 978-2-9559-6560-3.
  • Les Amis de Musidora (July 2018). Musidora, Colette, Feuillade, le cinéma et la Grande Guerre [Musidora, Colette, Feuillade, Cinema and the Great War]. Cahiers Musidora (in French). Vol. 2. Bois-le-Roi, Seine-et-Marne: Éditions Les Amis de Musidora. ISBN 978-2-9559-6561-0.
  • Les amis de Musidora (March 2019). Musidora, pionnière et reine du cinéma (1916-1926), Colette, Pierre Benoît, Jaime de Lasuen, Antonio Canero, Pour Don Carlos, Sol y Sombra, La Tierra de los toros [Musidora, Pioneer and Queen of Cinema (1916-1926), Colette, Pierre Benoît, Jaime de Lasuen, Antonio Canero, Pour Don Carlos, Sol y Sombra, La Tierra de los toros]. Cahiers Musidora (in French). Vol. 3. Bois-le-Roi, Seine-et-Marne: Éditions Les Amis de Musidora. ISBN 978-2-9559-6562-7.

Radio

Filmed biographies

  1. ^ “Champreux, Jacques (1930-2020)”. Revue Jeune Cinema. JC n°416 – été 2022
  2. ^ “Mardi 22 octobre 2019 à 20h : cabaret Musidora avec le duo Bal tragique”. La Lucarne des Écrivains (in French). 14 October 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2022.