Today, EFSP has another film special with Spanish Chocolate cards from the collection of Ivo Blom. The subject is the French film Le mot de l'énigme/The Word of The Enigma (Georges Monca, 1916), a Pathé Frères production with Gabrielle Robinne, Jean Kemm, Henri Bosc and Andrée Pascal. Chocolate Salas-Sabadell made a series of six cards for the film, which was titled Celos mortales (Mortal skies) for Spain. Ivo has acquired five of them.
![Gabrielle Robinne, Henri Bosc and Andrée Pascal in Le mot de l'énigme (1916)]()
Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Salas-Sabadell, no. 1. Photo: Pathé Frères. Gabrielle Robinne, Henri Bosc and Andrée Pascal in Le mot de l'énigme (Georges Monca, 1916).
![Gabrielle Robinne and Jean Kemm in Le mot de l'énigme (1916)]()
Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Salas-Sabadell, no. 2. Photo: Pathé Frères. Gabrielle Robinne (left) and Jean Kemm (at the table) in Le mot de l'énigme (Georges Monca, 1916).
![Gabrielle Robinne, Henri Bosc and Andrée Pascal in Le mot de l'énigme (1916)]()
Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Salas-Sabadell, no. 3. Photo: Pathé Frères. Gabrielle Robinne, Henri Bosc and Andrée Pascal in Le mot de l'énigme (Georges Monca, 1916).
Jean Kemm plays in Le mot de l'énigme/The Word of The Enigma (Georges Monca, 1916) the elder Robert Duroc, who falls in love with young Lucy Le Quesnel (Gabrielle Robinne), in vain. In the countryside, Lucy visits her friend Thérèse Tillier (Andrée Pascal) and falls in love with her brother Maxime (Henri Bosc).
Yet, Mr. Tillier forbids marriage between Lucy and Maxime when he hears about the financial misfortune of Lucy's family and sends his son to the US. The father even removes a letter by Maxime asking Lucy in marriage. Lucy thinks Maxime has abandoned her and marries Duroc, who generously offers his fortune to save Lucy's family.
Years pass by. Lucy hasn't forgotten Maxime but her heart now belongs to her husband. Maxim reappears but Lucy avoids him, withdrawing to the countryside. Maxime has followed her.
The husband thinks he has seen him leaving the villa, so he bluntly confronts Lucy by telling him that Maxim's car crashed: he has killed himself. Lucy's face decomposes and she mortally collapses. All the help comes too late.
It is not clear who played father Tillier in Le mot de l'énigme, but Lucy's parents were played by Léon Bernard and Paule Andral.
The film came out at the Paris cinema Omnia Pathé, on 3 August 1916. It was produced by Société cinématographique des auteurs et gens de lettres (SCAGL) for Pathé Frères. It was a typical example of the many films Robinne did with director Georges Monca between 1915 and 1917. In the years 1912-1915, she had made films with René Leprince with her fixed partner and husband René Alexandre.
![Henri Bosc and Andrée Pascal in Le mot de l'énigme (1916)]()
Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Salas-Sabadell, no. 4. Photo: Pathé Frères. Henri Bosc and Andrée Pascal in Le mot de l'énigme (Georges Monca, 1916).
![Gabrielle Robinne and Jean Kemm in Le mot de l'énigme (1916)]()
Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Salas-Sabadell, no. 6. Photo: Pathé Frères. Gabrielle Robinne and Jean Kemm in Le mot de l'énigme (Georges Monca, 1916).
![Le Mot De L Enigme]()
The French poster for Le mot de l'énigme (Georges Monca, 1916). Source: Larry Smith @ Flickr.
Sources: Fondation Jerome Seydoux Pathe (French) and IMDb.
Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Salas-Sabadell, no. 1. Photo: Pathé Frères. Gabrielle Robinne, Henri Bosc and Andrée Pascal in Le mot de l'énigme (Georges Monca, 1916).
Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Salas-Sabadell, no. 2. Photo: Pathé Frères. Gabrielle Robinne (left) and Jean Kemm (at the table) in Le mot de l'énigme (Georges Monca, 1916).
Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Salas-Sabadell, no. 3. Photo: Pathé Frères. Gabrielle Robinne, Henri Bosc and Andrée Pascal in Le mot de l'énigme (Georges Monca, 1916).
The forbidden marriage
Jean Kemm plays in Le mot de l'énigme/The Word of The Enigma (Georges Monca, 1916) the elder Robert Duroc, who falls in love with young Lucy Le Quesnel (Gabrielle Robinne), in vain. In the countryside, Lucy visits her friend Thérèse Tillier (Andrée Pascal) and falls in love with her brother Maxime (Henri Bosc).
Yet, Mr. Tillier forbids marriage between Lucy and Maxime when he hears about the financial misfortune of Lucy's family and sends his son to the US. The father even removes a letter by Maxime asking Lucy in marriage. Lucy thinks Maxime has abandoned her and marries Duroc, who generously offers his fortune to save Lucy's family.
Years pass by. Lucy hasn't forgotten Maxime but her heart now belongs to her husband. Maxim reappears but Lucy avoids him, withdrawing to the countryside. Maxime has followed her.
The husband thinks he has seen him leaving the villa, so he bluntly confronts Lucy by telling him that Maxim's car crashed: he has killed himself. Lucy's face decomposes and she mortally collapses. All the help comes too late.
It is not clear who played father Tillier in Le mot de l'énigme, but Lucy's parents were played by Léon Bernard and Paule Andral.
The film came out at the Paris cinema Omnia Pathé, on 3 August 1916. It was produced by Société cinématographique des auteurs et gens de lettres (SCAGL) for Pathé Frères. It was a typical example of the many films Robinne did with director Georges Monca between 1915 and 1917. In the years 1912-1915, she had made films with René Leprince with her fixed partner and husband René Alexandre.
Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Salas-Sabadell, no. 4. Photo: Pathé Frères. Henri Bosc and Andrée Pascal in Le mot de l'énigme (Georges Monca, 1916).
Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Salas-Sabadell, no. 6. Photo: Pathé Frères. Gabrielle Robinne and Jean Kemm in Le mot de l'énigme (Georges Monca, 1916).
The French poster for Le mot de l'énigme (Georges Monca, 1916). Source: Larry Smith @ Flickr.
Sources: Fondation Jerome Seydoux Pathe (French) and IMDb.