Ravel, Gaston

(1878-1958)

   Director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Paris, Gaston Ravel was primarily a silent-film-era director. He began his career at Gaumont under the direction of Louis Feuillade and began making films in 1914. Ravel went on to make at least thirty silent films, many of them starring Gaumont actors such as Yvette Andreyor, Louise Lagrange, Léon Mathot, Georges Melchior, Claude Mérelle, Musidora, René Navarre, and Jean Signoret. His early Gaumont films include Saint-Odile (1914), La Fille aux pieds nus (1914), La Petite refugiée (1914), Autour d'une bague (1915), Triple entente (1915), Fille d'Eve (1916), La Femme inconnue (1916), L'Homme qui revient de loin (1917), Du rire aux larmes (1917), La Geôle (1918), and La Maison d'argile (1918). Ravel also codirected several films with Jacques Feyder including Des Pieds et des mains (1915) and Monsieur Pinson policier (1916).

   In 1919, Ravel left France for Italy to work in the emerging Italian cinema. He made several films in Italy between 1919 and 1922, including Cosmopolis (1920) and Saracinesca (1921), codirected with Augusto Camerini. In late 1921, Ravel returned to France and resumed directing. His later silent films include A l'ombre du Vatican (1922), Tao (1923), starring Joë Hamman, Ferragus (1923), Jocaste (1924), Le Gardien du feu (1924), Chouchou poids plume (1925), L'Avocat (1925), Amour, délice, et orgues (1925), Le Roman d'un jeune homme pauvre (1926), Le Fauteuil 47 (1926), and Le Bonheur du jour (1927). He also codirected several films with Tony Lekain, including On ne badine pas avec l'amour (1924), Madame Récamier (1928), and Figaro (1929).

   Ravel made only a handful of films during the sound era, although his 1929 film, Le Collier de la reine, which stars Marcelle Chantal, was one of the first sound films in French. His other sound films include L'Étrangère (1931), Monsieur de Porceaugnac (1932), Le Rosaire (1934), and Fanatisme (1934), all codirected with Lekain. Ravel predominantly worked with literary adaptation, adapting works ranging from Greek tragedy to Pierre de Beaumarchais to Honoré de Balzac. However, some of his films, most notably Des Pieds et des mains, have also been seen as avant-garde experiments in comedy and the absurd. In addition to directing, Ravel wrote the screenplays for several of his films and self-produced his film Chou-chou poids plume (1925). He gave up the cinema after 1934.

   Historical Dictionary of French Cinema by Dayna Oscherwitz & Mary Ellen Higgins