Chess Player, The

The Chess Player is a powerful drama of patriotism, betrayal and suspense produced at an extraordinarily fertile moment in French cinema history. Like Abel Gance's Napoleon, director Raymond Bernard's creation is a grand epic filled with style, verve and action. The film was a sensation in 1927 and continues to astonish audiences today.

1776. Poland. With his homeland partitioned and ruled by Russia, Polish nobleman and patriot Boleslas Vorowski heads a secret liberation movement. When Vorowski is wounded in battle, his mentor, the inventor Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen, constructs the Turk, a marvelous chess-playing automaton. With the handsome Polish nobleman secreted inside, the Turk vanquishes the Russians - if only on the chessboard. When Catherine the Great summons the Turk to the Russian Imperial Court for a command match, the fate of Polish independence lies in the hands of the chess player.

Henri Dupuy-Mazuel's novel was based on the story of the real Turk, an automaton that baffled the best minds of Europe and America - including Benjamin Franklin, Edgar Allan Poe and Napoleon. Shot on location in Poland, France and Switzerland, The Chess Player combines gorgeous decors and thousands of extras from the Polish cavalry into an electrifying feast for the eyes and mind. The film has been expertly restored by Photoplay Productions under the auspices of Kevin Brownlow, Patrick Stanbury and the late David Gill.

Produced by the Societe des Films Historiques. Starring Pierre Blanchar, Charles Dullin, Edith Jehanne, Camille Bert, Pierre Batcheff, Marcelle Charles-Dullin. Directed by Raymond Bernard. Cinematography: Joseph-Louis Mundviller, Marc Bujard, Willy Faktorovitch. Art direction: Jean Perrier, Eugene Carre. Special effects: W Percy Day. Set design: Robert Mallet-Stevens, Jean Perrier. Costume Design: Eugene Lourie. Original score composed by Henri Rabaud, performed by the Orcestre de Radio-Television-Luxembourg conducted by Carl Davis. Restoration by Photoplay Productions in collaboration with the BFI, Bundesarchiv Filmarchiv, Cinematheque Municipale de Luxembourg, Cinematheque Francaise, Les Services des Archives du Film.

Bonus Features

1. Original publication on the film from La Petite Illustration Cinematographique (5 February 1927)
2. Stills Gallery
3. Raymond Bernard text interview by Kevin Brownlow (Download).
4. Interview with Tom Standage (author of "The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous Eighteenth-Century Chess-Playing Machine"), courtesy of The Lenny Lopate Show, WNYC.

Reviews

"One of the most fascinating and stylish productions of French silent cinema. Perfect!" - The Times London

"Some of the most extraordinary scenes so far seen in cinema, scenes that will revolutionize film technique the world over." - Cinea

"A film that surpasses all films!" - Le Soir

"Beautifully restored...An opulently mounted epic. A masterwork!" - Philip French, The Observer