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The Great Gabbo (VOA)
Location
Main screening room
Date
February 9th, 2022
Duration
92 min
Cycle
Erich von Stroheim : seul en son royaume

Among the pioneers in the history of cinema, Erich von Stroheim is undoubtedly one of those who strived the most to invent his own myth. This hero of another time, who seemed to carry the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on his shoulders, was a remarkable inventor of forms, creating from his very first silent films gems of narration, carried by a breathtaking art of editing. Although he often acted in the films he directed, it was Greed, his great work in which he did not act, that made him the first cursed filmmaker. No version of this film corresponds exactly to the film he had made, which was quickly butchered. With the advent of talking pictures, he became a simple actor (of genius) crossing with his legendary silhouette countless films.

The Great Gabbo
Directed by
James Cruze, Erich von Stroheim
Language
English version
Actors
Erich von Stroheim, Donald Douglas, Betty Compson
Origins
USA
Year
1929
Duration
92 min
Genre
Drama
Format
Digital
Synopsis

A demented and egocentric ventriloquist, although possessed by his wooden doll, is in love with a dancer who is in love with another man. The doll gives advice to the ventriloquist.

The Great Gabbo

Erich von Stroheim

Erich von Stroheim was an Austrian-American director, screenwriter, actor, and producer, most noted as a film star and avant-garde, visionary director of the silent era. After clashes with Hollywood studio bosses over budget and workers' rights problems, Stroheim found it difficult to find work as a director and subsequently became a well-respected character actor, particularly in French cinema. He is remembered for his role in Jean Renoir's La grande illusion and in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, next to Gloria Swanson. HIs performance in the latter earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1951.

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