Tag Archives: James Joyce

From Huntley Film Archives on Youtube is this archive film of 1920’s Paris. at the end of the clip is a glimpse of Piccasso in his studio that may be from a later era followed by a clip of James Joyce in conversation on a street in Paris. The description on Youtube does not mention Joyce :
“Paris. The Place de l’Etoile, Paris in the 1920’s with traffic moving on the road and pedestrians walking about. Paris street in the 1920’s with horse drawn carriages and some cars, banks of the Seine with building. Impressionistic shot of shadows of iron balustrades reflected on the Seine. Paris street scene in a flower market in the 1920s — many stalls laden with flowers and a middle aged female seller in the foreground as another woman in a cloche hat passes by in the rain. Paris, 1920’s, at night in the rain with cars on the wet road and illuminated buildings. Crowds in Paris night club in the 1920’s surrounding a black drummer, a very jazz age shot, — the young people present are jigging up and down in time to the music and some are clapping. A round table in a Paris pavement café — empty. A shot of a champagne bucket as a hand loosens the cork. A scene looking over the rooftops of Paris in the 1920s. Shot of a Paris basilica as seen down a narrow street — could be Montmartre. Shot of a Montmartre street/square (could be the Place Du Tertre), in the 1920’s with a corner café with street tables and a man on a bicycle cycling towards us. Empty frames in a shop window. A man handles a framed canvas in the street. A narrow Paris street in shade as a man walks down in. Three lace panels hanging on a line blow in the wind. A vegetable stall on a Paris street — an old street lamp on the street corner — the tradesman looks up at us. More Paris rooftops with some flags flying in the distance — we move along and see the feint shape of the Eiffel Tower in the background — we hear Hemingway’s description of life in Paris in the 1920’s and his unsalubrious lodgings. Shots of people in Paris cafes — one sips citron presse. Another oriental looking intellectual in big round glasses and a striped tie. A crowded pavement café with many fringed umbrellas above the tables which are full of people in cloche hats, trilbys and fur stoles — the epitome of café society of the 1920’s.
The sign of the Café Rotonde. Two women in cloche hats are seated at a round table on the terrasse with wine glasses in front of them — one is smoking a cigarette and the smoke billows around — the waiter pours more wine for them. An eastern street seller with a carpet over his shoulder is doing a transaction with two men seated in a street café — one wears a beret. Close up of a man blowing cigarette smoke as we are told how the “scum” of Greenwich village has colonised the area of Paris around the Café Rotonde, with the result that tourists, looking for Parisien atmosphere also frequent the area. We see a woman in furs and cloche hat with typical 1920’s flapper make-up. A shot of drinks on the café table. A smiling man with bohemian scarf around his neck. A hand on a leaf of paper. A row of people at a terrassed café. Then another shot of a spoon and a drink on a round café table, looking up we see a man in dangling a thin snake over his plate, he looks amused. We see the puzzled face of a man in jacket and tie. A row of four women, all in 1920’s cloche hats sit together at a café table and smile to camera — they are each tasting something in an experimental way, glasses and a water bottle on the table in front of them. A woman rests her face on her hand and stares at us in an amused but haughty way- she is wearing a silk cloche hat and reeks of Bohemian society — she smiles and lifts a wine glass to her lips then laughs obviously very amused and finally makes a comic face at us. From a travelling vehicle we see a Paris café on a street corner — a 1920 car is in front of the building and the café terrasse is full — men in straw boaters walk by and we can see waiters in white jackets; two soldiers walk along the pavement and we see the café’s name on its awning — Pouquet’s Bar. Hemingway grew to love Paris and got to know Monet, Braque and Picasso, We are inside Picasso’s studio as Pablo Picasso (recognised personality), is working on a sculpture — Picasso wears long shorts and is bare chested and tanned — he turns the sculpture around on its stand and we see it is the figure of a goat (this shot might be from a later decade as Picasso’s “She-Goat ” was not done until the 1950’s).”