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Julienne Mathieu

{{Short description|French actress (1874–1943)}}

{{More citations needed|date=April 2020}}

{{use mdy dates|date=May 2020}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Julienne Mathieu

| image = Julienne mathieu-portrait.png

| alt =

| caption = Julienne Mathieu, star of the Pathé Productions, in En avant la musique (Music Forward!), silent film of 1907

| other_names =

| birth_name = Julienne Alexandrine Mathieu

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1874|09|21}}

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1943|12|1|1874|09|21}}

| death_place =

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| occupation = Actress, special effects expert

| years active = 1905–1909

| notable_works = Hôtel électrique

| spouse = Segundo de Chomón

| children = Robert de Chomón

| relatives =

| module =

| awards =

| signature =

}}

Julienne Alexandrine Mathieu ({{Birth date|1874|09|21}} - {{Death date|1943|12|1}}) was one of the earliest French silent film actresses who appeared mostly in French silents between 1905 and 1909. She appeared in the silent film Hôtel électrique released in 1908, one of the first films to incorporate stop animation. She was the wife of the director Segundo de Chomón. Her contribution to his work was not only her participation in the cast, but also in the script and the special effects (in particular, Pathécolor process to which she introduced her husband).Josep Maria Minguet Batllori, Segundo de Chomón. El cinema de la fascinació., Barcelone, Filmoteca de Catalunya, 2010, p.272

Biography

From 1907 to 1909, she was credited in the cast of at least 42 films. Most of them were shot by Segundo de Chomón, but she also appeared in films of Gaston Velle, Albert Capellani, Ferdinand Zecca and Lucien Nonguet. Many of these productions are marked by the use of special effects, of which her husband and she have become specialists, such as stop-motion animation, pixilation, overprinting, dissolving, even tracking shot. For their inspiration, they closely imitate the production of Méliès, definitive pioneer but less successful : by funding the Mathieu-Chomón couple, Pathé Frères Productions sought to regain the advantage over its competitor, Star Film.

Her life on screen ends in 1909. Her sister, France Mathieu,{{Cite journal|last=Batllori|first=Joan M. Minguet|date=2009|title=Segundo de Chomōn and the Fascination for Colour|jstor=27670759|journal=Film History|volume=21|issue=1|pages=7–103|issn=0892-2160}} appeared then in her place, and disappeared soon from the picture too. From 1912 to 1925, Julienne Mathieu seems to have lived in Turin (Italy) with her family, sometimes called Suzanne.{{Cite web|url=https://sempreinpenombra.com/2011/03/28/segundo-de-chomon-mago-misterioso/|title=Segundo de Chomon mago misterioso|date=2011-03-28|website=sempre in penombra|language=it-IT|access-date=2020-04-26}} She died in oblivion at the Hospice of Charity (Ospizio della Carità) in Chieri (Italy) on December 1, 1943, while the city was still under German occupation after the fall of Fascist Italy.File:Julienne Mathieu having her hair brushed.gif, one of the first uses of stop-motion animation in film.|alt=|left]]

Analysis

Principal character of movies where magic was central, Julienne Mathieu was almost always presented as the master of ceremonies, unlike other productions of her time, by Méliès or Blackton for example, which faced the same diegesis.{{Cite book|last=Hennefeld|first=Maggie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-0pBDwAAQBAJ&q=%22julienne%20mathieu%22%20melies%20magician&pg=PT315|title=Specters of Slapstick and Silent Film Comediennes|date=2018-03-27|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-54706-2|language=en}} In En avant la musique (1907), a film parodying Méliès' Le mélomane (1903), for example, she was playing a female bandmaster who stole the heads of her male musicians to throw them on a giant musical sheet.{{Cite book|last=Elcott|first=Noam M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RJ89DAAAQBAJ&q=%22julienne%20mathieu%22%20melies%20magician&pg=PA119|title=Artificial Darkness: An Obscure History of Modern Art and Media|date=2016-05-30|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-32897-3|language=en}}

The rehabilitation of Julienne Mathieu is pending, according to the organizers of a conference in 2018: « Figures that have remained in the shadows are emerging, like Julienne Mathieu who could be qualified as co-author on each of her films. »Billaut Manon, Por Katalin, « Colloque « Les mille et un visages de Segundo de Chomón : truqueur, coloriste, cinématographiste... et pionnier du cinématographe » à la Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé ; exposition « Effets Spéciaux. Crevez l’écran ! » à la Cité des Sciences et de l’industrie », 1895, 2018/1 (n° 84), p. 172-175. URL : https://www.cairn.info/revue-1895-2018-1-page-172.htm For others, she was an excellent connoisseur of the entertainment industry and of cinematographic techniques, and she was at least an « artistic collaborator ».(es) Agustin Sanchez Vidal, «  », Artigrama, vol. 2,‎ 1985, p. 265-278 [https://web.archive.org/web/20120221095221/http://www.unizar.es/artigrama/pdf/02/2articulos/15.pdf]

Filmography

1909

  • 1909. Le Roi des aulnes, by Segundo de Chomón
  • 1909. Le jeu de patience, by Segundo de Chomón
  • 1909. Voyage dans la Lune (Nouveau voyage à la Lune), by Segundo de Chomón
  • 1909. La leçon de musique, by Segundo de Chomón (4 min, color, silent, 1.33)

1908

  • 1908. Le voyage original (A New Way of Traveling), by Segundo de Chomón{{cite web|title=Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé - Voyage original|url=http://filmographie.fondation-jeromeseydoux-pathe.com/1244-voyage-original|website=filmographie.fondation-jeromeseydoux-pathe.com|date=1908|access-date=April 26, 2020|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224173149/http://filmographie.fondation-jeromeseydoux-pathe.com/1244-voyage-original|url-status=dead}}
  • 1908. Le voleur mystérieux, by Segundo de Chomón
  • 1908. Sculpture moderne (ou Sculpteur moderne, ou Sculpteurs modernes), by Segundo de Chomón (4 min, stencil), produit par Pathé-Frères
  • 1908. Magie moderne, by Segundo de Chomón (3 min, stencil, format 1.33, prod.: Pathé-Frères)
  • 1908. Le chevalier mystère (ou Chevalier mystère), by Segundo de Chomón (color, silent, prod.: Pathé-Frères), with André Deed
  • 1908. Chiffonniers et caricaturistes (Chiffonniers caricaturistes, Chiffonniers et caricatures), by Segundo de Chomón
  • 1908. La légende du fantôme, by Segundo de Chomón (13 min 30 s, silent, prod.: Pathé-Frères)
  • 1908. La Belle au bois dormant, by Lucien Nonguet or Albert Capellani{{cite web|title=Segundo De Chomon|url=http://www.lesgensducinema.com/biographie/DeChomonSegundo.htm|website=lesgensducinema.com|date=}} (11 min 16 s){{cite web|title=La Belle au bois dormant|url=https://archive.org/details/LaBelleAuBoisDormant_519|website=Internet Archive|date=1908}}
  • 1908. Hôtel électrique, by Segundo de Chomón (9 min 31 s, silent, prod.: Pathé-Frères)
  • 1908. Les cocottes en papier, by Segundo de Chomón (5 min 40 s, silent, prod.: Pathé-Frères)
  • 1908. Les teintes chinoises
  • 1908. Les têtes fantastiques, by Segundo de Chomón
  • 1908. Les dés magiques, by Segundo de Chomón (7 min, silent, prod.: Pathé-Frères)
  • 1908. Le miroir magique, by Segundo de Chomón (2 min, silent, prod.: Pathé-Frères){{Citation|title=Le Miroir Magique : Segundo de Chomón : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive|url=https://archive.org/details/LeMiroirMagique|language=en|access-date=2020-04-26}}
  • 1908. Cauchemar et doux rêve, by Segundo de Chomón (4 min 45 s, silent, prod.: Pathé-Frères)
  • 1908. Les incompréhensibles, by Segundo de Chomón
  • 1908. Les joies du mariage, by Segundo de Chomón
  • 1908. Les ombres chinoises (Sombras chinescas), by Segundo de Chomón (3 min, silent, prod.: Pathé-Frères)
  • 1908. La belle et la bête, by Albert Capellani (11 min, silent, prod.: Pathé-Frères)

1907

1906

  • 1906. La dernière sorcière, by Segundo de Chomón{{Cite book|last=Hamus-Vallée|first=Réjane|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p6bODwAAQBAJ&q=e%20%22julienne%20mathieu%22%20cin%C3%A9ma&pg=PA50|title=Les mille et un visages de Segundo de Chomón: Truqueur, coloriste, cinématographiste... et pionnier du cinématographe|date=2020-02-04|publisher=Presses Universitaires du Septentrion|isbn=978-2-7574-2845-0|language=fr}}

1905

References

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External links

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  • {{IMDb name|0558863}}
  • [http://filmographie.fondation-jeromeseydoux-pathe.com/search.php?query=Julienne+Mathieu&submit_s.x=0&submit_s.y=0 Pages on Pathé Database]

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Category:French stage actresses

Category:French film actresses

Category:French silent film actresses

Category:20th-century French actresses

Category:1874 births

Category:1943 deaths

Category:Women film pioneers

Category:French cinema pioneers

Category:French visual effects artists