The Rat (1925 film)
| The Rat | |
|---|---|
Ivor Novello screenshot
|
|
| Directed by | Graham Cutts |
| Produced by | Michael Balcon |
| Written by |
Ivor Novello Constance Collier |
| Starring | Ivor Novello Mae Marsh Isabel Jeans |
| Cinematography | Hal Young |
|
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by | Woolf & Freedman Film Service |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
74 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
The Rat is a 1925 British silent film drama, directed by Graham Cutts and starring Ivor Novello, Mae Marsh and Isabel Jeans. The film is based on a play written by Novello and Constance Collier, set in the Parisian criminal underworld. The film's louche settings and melodramatic storyline proved popular with audiences, and its success spawned two sequels, The Triumph of the Rat (1926) and The Return of the Rat (1929).
Zélie de Chaumet (Jeans) is a bored, sensation-seeking demimondaine, living with her older lover and keeper Herman Stetz (Robert Scholtz) in a lavish apartment in a wealthy area of Paris. By contrast career criminal Pierre Boucheron (Novello), known as The Rat, lives with his casual girlfriend Odile (Marsh) in a run-down room in a squalid part of the city.
One evening Zélie has an arrangement to attend a performance at the Folies Bergère with friends. Fearing that this will be a dreary evening out, she asks Herman to arrange an after-theatre party for them at the White Coffin Club, a notorious low-life hangout, to end the evening on an exciting note. Pierre also attends the Folies Bergères that evening on the lookout for easy pickings, and steals Zélie's cigarette case. Meanwhile, Odile has noticed that Pierre has gone out without his knife, and goes to the White Coffin with it. Herman notices her and is struck by her beauty and naïvety. He is in the process of trying to force his attentions on her when Pierre arrives and violently throws him out of the club, warning him never to return.
Zélie and her friends arrive at the White Coffin. Watching Pierre win a knife fight and performing a wild dance with one of the club's showgirls, she is intrigued and strikes up a conversation with him. Pierre recognises her from the Folies Bergères and returns her cigarette case. After she leaves, Pierre receives a note with her address, inviting him to visit. Unknown to Zélie, Herman has had her movements watched and when she arrives home he confronts her about her earlier conduct with Pierre. When she does not deny her fascination with Him, Herman says that he is going out and expects to find her gone by the time he returns.
...
Wikipedia