Today’s chess video…
From the era of the silent film !
‘The Double-Incarnation of William Sheep’ (1913)
How many silent films that have chess as a principal theme do you know? On this blog I have already discussed the 1925 classic Chess Fever and Hitchcock’s 1927 hit The Lodger. Well, today’s focus is on a French silent film that even pre-dates these two classics!
“For many years believed to be a lost film.
This is a French silent film directed by Georges-André Lacroix (1880-1920) and produced by Gaumont. It follows a similar concept to the German film “The Student of Prague” which was released shortly before this.
A gambler plays a game of chess with his creditor to clear his debt but falls asleep during the game. While sleeping he dreams of an encounter with a mysterious man who has the power to take over his identity.
This video is a complete copy of the film remastered in HD from a 8mm Collectors’ market print released in the 1940s.
Music: Kevin MacLeod Special Visual Contents © 2014 The Video Cellar”
As a matter of historical record, the Gaumont Film Company is the first and oldest film company in the world. Founded in 1895 by Leon Gaumont (1864-1946) originally as a vendor of photography equipment, it is still in operation today but mostly as a distributor and TV program producer. The company does hundreds of millions of dollars business each year.
Leon Gaumont is a well known name in French cinema. He founded his company along with Gustave Eiffel in 1895 and it is even today a successful enterprise!