Les trois masques

Renée Héribel has fallen pregnant by her lover, François Rozet. The priest and the maid think they should get married, but Rozet's father, Jean Toulout, doesn't care for her low-class family. Will they take revenge for this insult?

France's first talkie was produced in England at Twickenham studios; the excuse was the sound systems were better. This rather simple story is well acted, but the methods used to deal with sound recording are apparent to the observant viewer; one party scene shot wild and with background noises added -- the main events take place at Carnival -- and otherwise all the sequences with sound are close-ups. Cameraman Raymond Agnel moves the camera around to maintain composition, even during a talking sequence, but it's clear that the selling point was neither the story nor the camera of the images, but the talking.