Gabriel de Gravone (1887-1972) was an actor of the French silent cinema. He is best known as Élie, the son of Sisif (Séverin-Mars) in Abel Gance’s La Roue (1920-1923).
French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 224. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères.
French postcard by Cinémagazine, no. 71. Photo: Studio Rahma.
Gabriel de Gravone was born Antoine Paul André Faggianelli in Ajaccio on the island Corsica, France, in 1887.
He started his career as film actor in 1909. Probably his first film was Un clair de lune sous Richelieu/A Ray of Moonlight on Richelieu (Albert Capellani, 1909), a period piece starring Paul Capellani.
The film was scripted by Abel Gance, who would later call him back for his masterpiece La Roue. Capellani directed Gravone a few times, most notably in the four part episode film Les Misérables (Albert Capellani, 1912, released 1913), in the role of Marius opposite Maria Fromet as Cosette.
Between 1912 and 1914 Gravone was the partner of Aimée Campton in the Pathé comedy series with the character 'Maud' and of Cauroy in the 'Papillon' comedies by Gaston Roudès. During the First World War, Gravone hardly acted in film.
In 1919 Louis Mercanton directed him in the feature L’appel du sang/The Call of the Blood, based on the novel by Robert Hichens and co-starring Charles Le Bargy and Ivor Novello.
Gabriel de Gravone as Marius in Les Miserables (1913), with Henry Krauss (left) as Jean Valjean, Léon Lérand as Gillesnormand and Marialise as Cosette. French postcard by E.L.D. Photo: Films Pathé Frères. Publicity still for Les Miserables (Albert Capellani, 1913). Caption: Les fiançailles de Marius et de Cosette (The betrothal of Marius and Cosette).
Italian postcard by Ed. G.B. Falci, Milano. Gabriel de Gravone in the Italian historical film La cavalcata ardente (Carmine Gallone 1925).
Soava Gallone and Gabriel de Gravone in La cavalcata ardente (1925). Italian postcard by Ed. G.B. Falci, Milano. no 318. Publicity still for La cavalcata ardente (Carmine Gallone, 1925).
The film that gave Gabriel de Gravone lasting fame was the modern tragedy La Roue/The Wheel (Abel Gance, 1920-1923). Gravone played Élie, the son of Sisif (Séverin-Mars) and a passionate violinist.
Father and son are both in love with Sisif’s foster daughter Norma (Ivy Close), whom Sisif has once saved from a train wreck. His love for Norma turns Sisif violent and jealous, though, and when she leaves by train with Hersan (Pierre Magnier), an engineer from town, he almost wrecks the train. He is blinded by steam and is reduced to servicing a little funicular at the Mont-Blanc mountain, aided by his son Élie. When Norma returns with her now husband, love between Élie and Norma returns. Hersan, jealous, fights Élie and both men are killed, falling down. Norma stays to help the old and blind Sisif until his death.
After La Roue, Gravone became very active in the French silent cinema, until the mid-1920s. First he starred in the Alphonse Daudet adaptation L’Arlésienne (André Antoine, 1921), then in L’ombre du péché/The Shadow of Sin (Yakov Protazanov, 1922) with Diana Karenne, the Gaston Leroux adaptation Rouletabille chez les bohémiens (Henri Fescourt, 1922) with Édith Jéhanne, and Petit ange et son pantin/Small angel and his marionette (Luitz Morat, 1923).
Gabriel de Gravone also appeared Le mariage de minuit/The marriage at midnight (Armand Du Plessy, 1923) with Rita Jolivet, the Abbé Prevost adaptation Les demi-vierges/The half-virgins (Armand Du Plessy, 1924), and the ghost story Le manoir de la peur/The manor house of fear (Alfred Machin, Henri Wulschleger, 1924, released 1927) costarring Romuald Joubé.
His other films include Mimi Pinson (Théo Bergerat, 1922-1924) with Simone Vaudry, L’Ornière (Edouard Chimot, 1924) with Gabriel Signoret, and Michel Strogoff (Victor Tourjansky, 1925) starring Ivan Mozzhukhin.
In Italy, he made La cavalcata ardente/The ardent ride (Carmine Gallone, 1925) starring Soava Gallone, and finally de Gravone played the Biblical Abel in Le berceau de dieu/The Cradle of God (Fred Leroy-Granville, 1926).
In 1926, he also directed himself the film Paris, Cabourg, le Caire… et l’amour/Paris, Cabourg, Cairo... and Love (Gabriel de Gravone, 1928). After that he didn’t perform in films anymore.
Gabriel de Gravone died in Marseille in 1972. He was 85.
Scene from La Roue/The Wheel (1920-1923). Source: MoreTen (YouTube).
Sources: James Travers (Films de France), Cinema Francais, and IMDb.
French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 224. Photo: G.L. Manuel Frères.
French postcard by Cinémagazine, no. 71. Photo: Studio Rahma.
Capellani and Gance
Gabriel de Gravone was born Antoine Paul André Faggianelli in Ajaccio on the island Corsica, France, in 1887.
He started his career as film actor in 1909. Probably his first film was Un clair de lune sous Richelieu/A Ray of Moonlight on Richelieu (Albert Capellani, 1909), a period piece starring Paul Capellani.
The film was scripted by Abel Gance, who would later call him back for his masterpiece La Roue. Capellani directed Gravone a few times, most notably in the four part episode film Les Misérables (Albert Capellani, 1912, released 1913), in the role of Marius opposite Maria Fromet as Cosette.
Between 1912 and 1914 Gravone was the partner of Aimée Campton in the Pathé comedy series with the character 'Maud' and of Cauroy in the 'Papillon' comedies by Gaston Roudès. During the First World War, Gravone hardly acted in film.
In 1919 Louis Mercanton directed him in the feature L’appel du sang/The Call of the Blood, based on the novel by Robert Hichens and co-starring Charles Le Bargy and Ivor Novello.
Gabriel de Gravone as Marius in Les Miserables (1913), with Henry Krauss (left) as Jean Valjean, Léon Lérand as Gillesnormand and Marialise as Cosette. French postcard by E.L.D. Photo: Films Pathé Frères. Publicity still for Les Miserables (Albert Capellani, 1913). Caption: Les fiançailles de Marius et de Cosette (The betrothal of Marius and Cosette).
Italian postcard by Ed. G.B. Falci, Milano. Gabriel de Gravone in the Italian historical film La cavalcata ardente (Carmine Gallone 1925).
Soava Gallone and Gabriel de Gravone in La cavalcata ardente (1925). Italian postcard by Ed. G.B. Falci, Milano. no 318. Publicity still for La cavalcata ardente (Carmine Gallone, 1925).
La Roue
The film that gave Gabriel de Gravone lasting fame was the modern tragedy La Roue/The Wheel (Abel Gance, 1920-1923). Gravone played Élie, the son of Sisif (Séverin-Mars) and a passionate violinist.
Father and son are both in love with Sisif’s foster daughter Norma (Ivy Close), whom Sisif has once saved from a train wreck. His love for Norma turns Sisif violent and jealous, though, and when she leaves by train with Hersan (Pierre Magnier), an engineer from town, he almost wrecks the train. He is blinded by steam and is reduced to servicing a little funicular at the Mont-Blanc mountain, aided by his son Élie. When Norma returns with her now husband, love between Élie and Norma returns. Hersan, jealous, fights Élie and both men are killed, falling down. Norma stays to help the old and blind Sisif until his death.
After La Roue, Gravone became very active in the French silent cinema, until the mid-1920s. First he starred in the Alphonse Daudet adaptation L’Arlésienne (André Antoine, 1921), then in L’ombre du péché/The Shadow of Sin (Yakov Protazanov, 1922) with Diana Karenne, the Gaston Leroux adaptation Rouletabille chez les bohémiens (Henri Fescourt, 1922) with Édith Jéhanne, and Petit ange et son pantin/Small angel and his marionette (Luitz Morat, 1923).
Gabriel de Gravone also appeared Le mariage de minuit/The marriage at midnight (Armand Du Plessy, 1923) with Rita Jolivet, the Abbé Prevost adaptation Les demi-vierges/The half-virgins (Armand Du Plessy, 1924), and the ghost story Le manoir de la peur/The manor house of fear (Alfred Machin, Henri Wulschleger, 1924, released 1927) costarring Romuald Joubé.
His other films include Mimi Pinson (Théo Bergerat, 1922-1924) with Simone Vaudry, L’Ornière (Edouard Chimot, 1924) with Gabriel Signoret, and Michel Strogoff (Victor Tourjansky, 1925) starring Ivan Mozzhukhin.
In Italy, he made La cavalcata ardente/The ardent ride (Carmine Gallone, 1925) starring Soava Gallone, and finally de Gravone played the Biblical Abel in Le berceau de dieu/The Cradle of God (Fred Leroy-Granville, 1926).
In 1926, he also directed himself the film Paris, Cabourg, le Caire… et l’amour/Paris, Cabourg, Cairo... and Love (Gabriel de Gravone, 1928). After that he didn’t perform in films anymore.
Gabriel de Gravone died in Marseille in 1972. He was 85.
Scene from La Roue/The Wheel (1920-1923). Source: MoreTen (YouTube).
Sources: James Travers (Films de France), Cinema Francais, and IMDb.
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