Encyclopedia of French Film Directors

760 • MUSIDORA
1986 Lettre d’Amour (short; also screenwriter, dialogist)
1991 Rien que des Mensonges (also co-screenwriter;
co-dialogist, France / Switzerland)
MUSIDORA (Jeanne Roques / February 23, 1889,
Paris, France–December 7, 1957, Paris, France)
She borrowed her pseudonym from Théophile Gautier’s
novel Fortunio. A former dancer, she notably
played in a revue, Ca grise, with future writer Colette.
She entered fi lms in 1909 performing in Le Troisième
Larron. Her portrayals of such mysterious characters
as Irma Vep and the adventuress Diana Monti in
Louis Feuillade’s serials Les Vampires (1915–1916) and
Judex (1916), respectively, earned her international
fame and the admiration of poets and writers (Louis
Aragon called her the “tenth muse” in an article published
in 1918 and co-authored with André Breton
a play for her, Le Trésor des Jésuites). After starring in
about fi fty movies, including those she directed, she
retired in 1926 and made a last fi lm appearance in
a documentary she fi lmed (1951 La Magique Image).
Dedicating the last years of her life to the Cinémathèque
Française, she authored many articles on fi lms
in the magazines Comoedia, L’Eclaireur, Masques et
Visages, and Fantasio; an autobiography (La Vie d’une
Vamp); two novels (1934 Paroxysmes: De l’Amour à la
mort; En Amour tout est possible); a collection of poems
(1939 Auréoles: Poésies scandées); and a play (1946 La
Vie sentimentale de George Sand).
Filmography
1917 Le Maillot noir (also co-screenwriter, actor as
herself)
1918 La Flamme cachée (co-director with Roger
Lion; also adapter, actor)
La vagabonda (co-director with Eugenio Perego;
also screenwriter, adapter, actor; Italy)
1919 Vincenta (also screenwriter, producer, actor)
1920 Pour Don Carlos (co-director with Jacques
Lasseyne; also screenwriter, adapter, producer,
actor)
1922 Sol y sombre / Soleil et Ombre (co-director with
Jacques Lasseyne; also screenwriter, adapter,
producer, actor; Spain / France)
1924 Tierra de los toros / Terre des Taureaux (also
screenwriter, producer; Spain / France)
1951 La magique Image (16-mm compilation documentary;
also actor as herself)
MUSSO, JEFF (Joseph César Musso / October 21,
1907, La Ciotat, Bouches-du-Rhône, France–March
13, 2007, Sarcelles, Val d’Oise, France)
A former concert violonist, he was violin fi rst prize
of the Toulon Conservatory and had to abandon his
musical career for health reasons. He switched to
cinema as a specialist of sound recording and as a
composer for several shorts. His fi rst feature feature
was an adaptation of Liam O’Flaherty’s novel
The Puritan. During World War II, he was blacklisted
by the Gestapo. He resumed his career in 1944,
fi lming the fi rst movie on the French Resistance
(Vive la Liberté!).
Filmography
1935 Âme antillaise (documentary; short)
La Guitare à Versailles (documentary; short)
1936 Le Golf enchanté (documentary; short)
Miranda à Paris (documentary; short)
1937 Le Puritain / UK and USA: The Puritan (also coscreenwriter,
co-adapter, composer)
1939 Dernière Jeunesse / Ultima giovinezza / USA:
Second Childhood (also co-screenwriter, coadapter,
co-dialogist; France / Italy)
1946 Vive la Liberté! (also adapter, co-dialogist; shot
in 1944–1945)
1948 La Dynastie des N’Guyen (documentary; also
screenwriter; unfi nished)
1951 Robinson Crusoë / Il naufrago del Pacifi co (also
co-screenwriter, co-dialogist; France / Italy)
1970 Le Soleil d’Ayucho (documentary; short)
Le Pérou (documentary; short)
1971 La Science et la santé (documentary; short)
1972 Les Incas (documentary; short)
1974 Le Musée de l’Or (documentary; short; also
screenwriter)
1975 El caballo de Paso (documentary; short)
1980 La Brigade blanche (documentary; also screenwriter,
adapter)
1986 Le Soleil des Morts (documentary; also screenwriter,
adapter, producer, composer)
MUXEL, PAULE (December 8, 1960, France–) and
SOLLIERS, BERTRAND DE (July 9, 1964, Vichy,
Allier, France–)
Bertrand de Solliers was trained at the ESEC (a fi lm
school). Paule Muxel has written essays since 1976.
Besides their own movies, they produced 2004 14,