Today's film special is about a little known French silent film, La course à l'amour/Love on the Run (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1924). Les Cinématographes Méric produced a series of postcards for this comedy, which starred Édouard Mathé and Gina Relly. However, the most remarkable person on the postcards is the Italian strongman Mario Guaita-Ausonia.
![Ausonia in La course a l'amour]()
French postcard by Les Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still of Ausonia (Mario Guaita) in the French silent film La course à l'amour/Love on the Run (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1924).
![La course a l'amour]()
French postcard by Les Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still of the French silent film La course à l'amour (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1924).
La course à l'amour (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1924) was a silent black and white production by Lauréa Films, a regional film production company that produced several local films in a studio of the Red Cross since 1920.
Head of productions of Lauréa Film was Paul Barlatier, who was one of the directors and script-writer of this film. His co-director was former actor Charles Keppens.
La Course à l'amour was not the first film made with this title. Wikipedia mentions that in 1912 there had been an early short silent version, La Course à l'amour (Jean Durand, 1912) with comic Onésime and Gaston Modot. It probably had a different script.
In the second version, the lead role was played by Édouard Mathé, the star of the successful serials Les vampires/The Vampires (Louis Feuillade, 1915) and Judex (Louis Feuillade, 1916).
The film was shot on location between Nice and Évian, and the Dictionnaire du cinéma français des années vingt describes it as a 'sympathetic comedy'.
![La course a l'amour]()
French postcard by Les Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still of La course à l'amour (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1924).
![La course a l'amour]()
French postcard by Les Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still of La course à l'amour (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1924).
A supporting part was played by the athletic muscleman Mario Guaita aka Ausonia. he got the most attention on the postcards made for La course à l'amour.
The Italian had had his international breakthrough with Spartaco/Spartacus (Enrico Vidal, 1913) and in the following decade he became a major actor in the Italian forzuto (strong men) genre.
This genre started with the popular strong man Maciste (Bartolomeo Pagano) in the classic spectacle Cabiria (Giovanni Pastrone, 1914). The forzuto can be seen as a forerunner of the Peplum genre of the 1950s and 1960s and Hollywood's superhero films of later decades.
In the early 1920s, Ausonia moved to Marseille, where he made La course à l'amour (1924) and a few other films and where he ran a cinema.
Little is known about La course à l'amour (1924). Despite the series of postcards and Ausonia's impressive muscles, the film was probably not a success. It was the final film for co-director Charles Keppens and for lead actor Édouard Mathé. Also for his co-star Gina Relly, it was one of her last films. Her impressive film career ended two years later.
Lauréa Film ceased its activities and of Paul Barlatier was not heard again.
![La course a l'amour]()
French postcard by Les Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still for La course à l'amour (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1924).
Sources: Dictionnaire du cinéma français des années vingt (French) Wikipedia (French) and IMDb.
French postcard by Les Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still of Ausonia (Mario Guaita) in the French silent film La course à l'amour/Love on the Run (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1924).
French postcard by Les Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still of the French silent film La course à l'amour (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1924).
Sympathetic comedy
La course à l'amour (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1924) was a silent black and white production by Lauréa Films, a regional film production company that produced several local films in a studio of the Red Cross since 1920.
Head of productions of Lauréa Film was Paul Barlatier, who was one of the directors and script-writer of this film. His co-director was former actor Charles Keppens.
La Course à l'amour was not the first film made with this title. Wikipedia mentions that in 1912 there had been an early short silent version, La Course à l'amour (Jean Durand, 1912) with comic Onésime and Gaston Modot. It probably had a different script.
In the second version, the lead role was played by Édouard Mathé, the star of the successful serials Les vampires/The Vampires (Louis Feuillade, 1915) and Judex (Louis Feuillade, 1916).
The film was shot on location between Nice and Évian, and the Dictionnaire du cinéma français des années vingt describes it as a 'sympathetic comedy'.
French postcard by Les Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still of La course à l'amour (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1924).
French postcard by Les Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still of La course à l'amour (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1924).
Muscleman
A supporting part was played by the athletic muscleman Mario Guaita aka Ausonia. he got the most attention on the postcards made for La course à l'amour.
The Italian had had his international breakthrough with Spartaco/Spartacus (Enrico Vidal, 1913) and in the following decade he became a major actor in the Italian forzuto (strong men) genre.
This genre started with the popular strong man Maciste (Bartolomeo Pagano) in the classic spectacle Cabiria (Giovanni Pastrone, 1914). The forzuto can be seen as a forerunner of the Peplum genre of the 1950s and 1960s and Hollywood's superhero films of later decades.
In the early 1920s, Ausonia moved to Marseille, where he made La course à l'amour (1924) and a few other films and where he ran a cinema.
Little is known about La course à l'amour (1924). Despite the series of postcards and Ausonia's impressive muscles, the film was probably not a success. It was the final film for co-director Charles Keppens and for lead actor Édouard Mathé. Also for his co-star Gina Relly, it was one of her last films. Her impressive film career ended two years later.
Lauréa Film ceased its activities and of Paul Barlatier was not heard again.
French postcard by Les Cinématographes Méric. Photo: publicity still for La course à l'amour (Paul Barlatier, Charles Keppens, 1924).
Sources: Dictionnaire du cinéma français des années vingt (French) Wikipedia (French) and IMDb.