In Brittany, silent film actor Joseph Jiquel Lanoë emerges from oblivion

At the beginning of the 20th century, Joseph Jiquel Lanoë, originally from Vannes in Morbihan, starred in around a hundred films in Hollywood. Cinema enthusiasts from his native town paid tribute to him with a film concert.

A career in the United States. Many actors dream of it. Joseph Jiquel Lanoë, born in 1875 in Vannes, had managed to find a place for himself. He participated in the birth of the 7^e art. Having fallen into oblivion, the Cinscreen association wanted to rehabilitate it by dedicating a show to it.

“He hung out with the greatest actors of the time”

That evening, Joseph Jiquel Lanoë was on the big screen again. Nearly 300 spectators discover it like the American public a little over a century ago. Young Joseph left for the United States when he was in his twenties. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1912 and 1923. “Joseph Jiquel Lanoë participated and contributed fully to the development of Hollywood studios since he worked with the greatest actors of the time. He was there when Chaplin arrived and began to be known by the general public. He was there when David Wark Griffith and Mack Sennet, who were the star directors of the time, helped make Hollywood what it has become today” reports Olivier Calonnec, director of the Cinscreen association.

On the stage of the Palais des Arts, some of his films rediscovered by Cinécr are screened. Short films of 8 to 10 minutes accompanied, as in the era of silent cinema, by musicians: a flautist, a cellist and a pianist from the Conservatory. The soundtrack was imagined by the Breton composer, Etienne Chouzier, also from Vannes. “This allows you to make the image say things that you might not see at first glance. There can be two shots with something happening in the background and in the foreground. Musically, it’s It’s up to me to choose which of the two I highlight. Frankly, it changes the viewer’s vision.” he explains. Texts read during the show also enlighten the public on the journey of Joseph Jiquel Lanoë.

His homosexuality may have harmed him

In the room, high school students attending this film concert are spellbound. “As someone who wants to be an actress, it’s very inspiring,” reacts a high school student. “There is a gap of more than a hundred years with today’s cinema. As a result, the technology has evolved. At the beginning it was of lower quality, the image shook. There could be small problems in terms of the camera. But it really wasn’t disturbing. It was even spectacular at that time, revolutionary”, enthuses another high school student. Joseph Jiquel Lanoë died in 1948, in Papeete (Tahiti), at the age of 72.

How could such a character disappear from collective memory? His homosexuality undoubtedly played a role. The city of Vannes plans to name a street after him. A happy ending the way Americans like them.