La Nouvelle Mission de Judex

La Nouvelle Mission de Judex
René Cresté as Judex and
Yvette Andréyor as Jacqueline
Directed byLouis Feuillade
Written byArthur Bernède
Louis Feuillade
StarringRené Cresté
Marcel Lévesque
Yvette Andréyor
Édouard Mathé
Gaston Michel
CinematographyAndré Glatti
Léon Klausse
Distributed byGaumont
Release date
  • 25 January 1918 (1918-01-25)
[1]
Running time
374 min
CountryFrance
LanguageSilent film serial with French intertitles

La Nouvelle Mission de Judex (lit. "The New Mission of Judex", also known in English as The Further Exploits of Judex) is a French silent film serial released in 1918, consisting of twelve episodes, directed by Louis Feuillade from a screenplay by Feuillade and Arthur Bernède. Immediately preceding the weekly release of each episode, Judex's adventures were serialised in the daily magazine Le Petit Parisien. It was a sequel to the 1916 serial Judex with most of the same cast, but was less successful. It is not generally available for viewing today.

Plot

Jacques de Trémeuse, better known as Judex, has married Jacqueline, and has become a father to her son, Little Jean. Jacques' brother Roger loves Primerose, whose father is the inventor, Milton. Jean's teacher conceals a double identity: he is both the distinguished Dr. Howey, and also the criminal One-Eyed Man, who wears an eye patch. Dr. Howey and his accomplice, the dangerous Baronne d'Apremont, head an organisation known as the Rafle aux secrets ("The Raiders of the Secrets"). They both have the capacity to hypnotise the innocent Jacqueline and Primerose and make them do things against their will: Primerose steals the plans for her father's invention for them, an automatic propulsion system, just before Milton is to file the patent with the Minister of the Navy; Jacqueline threatens to poison her already ill son. Primerose kidnaps Jean on behalf of the crooks.

Judex is forced to take action. The Baronne and her female aid Gaby hold Little Jean, but they are captured and imprisoned by Judex and his colleague Cocantin. Gaby repents but the unrepentant Baronne escapes. Dr. Howey and the Baronne die when their boat explodes, accidentally caused by Cocantin. In the end, Primerose is cured and marries Roger.[2][3]

Cast

The sequel uses many of the same actors and characters as in the previous Judex film serial, with the notable exception of Musidora whose character, the villainous femme fatale Diana Monti, was killed off at the end of the earlier series.

Production

The director Louis Feuillade and the novelist Arthur Bernède had collaborated on the 1916 film serial Judex, accompanied by a 12-part cinematographic novel, which was simultaneously serialised in newspapers and film.[2] After the success of that approach, they created a sequel serial titled La Nouvelle Mission de Judex (lit. "The New Mission of Judex", released in the UK as The Further Exploits of Judex).[5]

The serial was shot almost entirely on the Riviera, in seven months.[2]

The printed story ran in Le Petit Parisien from 11 January to 4 April 1918, and the film episodes ran from 25 January to 15 April 1918.[2]

Episodes

Theatrical release poster for episode 10: "The Two Destinies"

The twelve numbered episodes average 25 minutes in length each:[6]

  1. Le Mystère d'une nuit d'été (A Midsummer Night's Mystery)
  2. L'Adieu au bonheur (Farewell To Happiness)
  3. L'Ensorcelée (The Bewitched)
  4. La Chambre aux embûches (The Chamber of Traps)
  5. La Forêt hantée (The Haunted Forest)
  6. Une Lueur dans les ténèbres (A Glimmer In The Darkness)
  7. La Main morte (The Dead Hand)
  8. Les Captives (The Captives)
  9. Les Papiers du Dr. Howey (Dr. Howey's Papers)
  10. Les Deux destinées (The Two Destinies)
  11. Le Crime involontaire (The Unintended Crime)
  12. Châtiment (Retribution)

Reception

It is generally agreed that the serial was a poor sequel to the earlier Judex. The public was disappointed by the blandness of the revival and the serial was lambasted by critics, with the influential film critic Louis Delluc stigmatising Feuillade's "serialised abominations",[7] and writing "Friends took me to see La Nouvelle Mission de Judex. Friends?"[2]

Preservation status

The Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) holds the most complete copy of the serial, with scenario and archival film material.[1]

The BFI describes the serial as "infuriatingly unavailable (even online)".[8]The serial is also unavailable on DVD.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Film historian Paul van Yperen claims that Juana Borguèse may have been an early pseudonym for the opera singer and actress Claudia Victrix, who later became the mistress and then wife of the film producer Jean Sapène.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 "Notice de titre conventionnel" [Notice of conventional title]. BnF Catalogue Général (in French). Bibliothèque nationale de France. Retrieved 29 May 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Besnier, Annie (2002). Preface. Judex: grand roman historique [Judex: Great Historical Story]. By Bernède, Arthur (in French). Internet Archive. Paris, France: Fayard. pp. 20–24. ISBN 978-2-213-61274-4.
  3. ↑ Callahan, Vicki (2005). Zones of Anxiety: Movement, Musidora, and the Crime Serials of Louis Feuillade. Contemporary Approaches to Film and Television Series. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0-81432-855-2. OCLC 849944925.
  4. ↑ "La Collectionneuse: Claudia Victrix". European Film Star Postcards. 31 August 2025. Retrieved 29 May 2026.
  5. ↑ "Rene Crest - A French Actor Who Pleases British Audiences". Picture Show. 29 November 1919.
  6. ↑ "Silent Era: Progressive Silent Film List". www.silentera.com. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  7. ↑ "FEUILLADE (Louis)". Archive Larousse (in French). Éditions Larousse. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  8. ↑ "Where to begin with Louis Feuillade". BFI Features. BFI. Retrieved 29 May 2026.
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