Living Dead Man, The (1926)

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In 1958, the Albatross company
donated the rights

and surviving elements of its productions
to the Cinémathèque française.

Co-produced by Marcel L'Herbier's
Cinégraphic, The Late Mathias Pascal

is one of these productions. For this film
the Cinémathèque française bought

the rights corresponding to the Société
Albatross' contribution

and received materials which had until
then been owned by the studio.

Curator Henri Langlois made a print in 1964

from the original negative
of The Late Mathias Pascal.

The negative having since been lost,
that print is the source for the present copy.

The tints were reintroduced according to
a vintage nitrate print

deposited at the Cinémathèque
by Marcel L'Herbier in 1958.

This restored edition was made in 2009
with the support of the

Franco-American Cultural Foundation
(DGA - MPAA - WGA - SACEM)

in the laboratory of L'Immagine Ritrovata.

Music composed and conducted
by Timothy Brock

Recorded in a live performance
on June 28, 2009

by The Orchestra
of the Municipal Theatre of Bologna

Deed of Sale
Madame Maria Pascal

(Wife of Lucca Pascal, deceased)

Acting on behalf of her son Mathias Pascal
and her sister-in-law Scolastica Pascal

authorizes her estate manager
Batta Maldagna

to sell her San Rocchino Estate
for the sum of 1 00,000 lire

In fact,
the treacherous Maldagna is ruining poor,

debt-ridden Madame Pascal by purchasing
"San Rocchino" at far less

than its real value, estimated at 600,000 lire
at the death of Lucca Pascal.

MATTHIAS PASCAL
AT WORK

Do not disturb

"Don't worry ...he's working."

Since childhood, Mathias Pascal

has been a tormented dreamer,
pursuing a fanciful hope:

to be a free man ...
...to be master of his Destiny....

A History of Liberty
By Mathias Pascal

The cart man explains:
"We have orders from Mr. Maldagna

to cut down the beech trees."

to sell her "San Rocchino" Estate
read and approved. Batta Maldagna

" ...that ...or seizure of our property."

"Calm down !
Your mother has grief enough as it is ..."

The jolly, naïve Pomino,
nicknamed "Mino,"

is particularly nervous
at the thought of letting

the ascetic Mathias
into the great secret of his life.

Unfortunately for "Mino,"
irritated Mathias is just going out.

Later, young Romilde dreams
about Mathias whom she secretly admires.

She submits meekly to her self-serving
mother, widow Pescatore,

who wants to marry her off to a rich man.

At last, Mino can pour out
his poor little heart.

" ...A real Angel ! I’d do anything for her!

But l haven't the nerve to speak to her!"

At the carnival tonight, give her a message.

Ask for her hand - for me ..."

Holiday time in Miragno -
The bonfires have already been lit.

"Look ...there she is!"

To give Mathias
time to persuade Romilde ...

"A charming but shy young man
has asked me to tell you

...that he loves you."

"Yes ...
well you can tell that young man that ...

I’ve long had ...the same feelings ...
about him."

" ...May l ask for your hand ...for him?"

"So ...it's me ...
that ...you?"

Forgetting Mino, Mathias is overwhelmed by

this unexpected new sensation
of happiness ...

And so fate brings together

the freedom-loving Mathias
and the most charming of wives ...

...and the most heinous of mothers-in-law.

Don't you have anything better to do
than pester my daughter!"

"Why, Mathias isn't pestering me at all."

And this is the usual scene.

Under her mother's influence,
the behavior of the weak-willed Romilde

towards Mathias has already changed.

"Goodbye! l won't keep living under
the same roof as that good-for-nothing."

All that kept Mathias home was the thought
of his coming fatherhood and the desire

not to leave his mother.

HIS MOTHER!

The only real love left to him except
for the child that would soon be born.

The birth of a little girl filled Mathias
with childish delight.

Today is the great day:
appointed assistant librarian,

Mathias begins his job
at the Municipal Library.

"Stop pestering my daughter!"

Mathias arrives at work full of enthusiasm:
"Work means liberty"

Set up in a deconsecrated church,
this library was a strange place.

The Rat That Withdrew From the World
by Aesop

The chief librarian

But at night, after "work"

"Madame Pascal is very ill.
She wants to see her granddaughter."

"Yes, tomorrow.
It's too late tonight."

"But ...this is serious.
It has to be tonight."

Mathias wasn't told about this scene.

So the next day,
he had no cause to be worried.

A SHORT POCKET GUIDE TO RAT-HUNTING

"Your mother is very ill
and you didn't come ..."

"I want to see the baby ...last night
THEY wouldn't let me ..."

"I'll bring her myself ...
l promise you."

"Romilde? She went for the doctor.
Your daughter is sick."

"It’s difficuIt to diagnose.
There's nothing to do but wait."

On this train taking him away

from a detestable home life
after weeks of mourning,

Mathias recalls how he decided
to take this liberating trip.

Still grief-stricken, he saw everything
as if in a dream.

That night, in these notorious rooms
where the GAMBLING TABLES

held their victims in thrall ...

Mathias slowly feels the temptation.

"BETS ARE CLOSED"

"You must be new to the game.
A piece of advice..."

"1 2...play the 1 2!"

"PLACE YOUR BETS!"

Mathias plays his own hunch ...

Midnight - Defying all the odds,
Mathias is on a winning streak that

gradually surprises
even the most blasé of players.

1 :55 A.M. Five minutes to closing.
Mathias has broken all the records.

"LAST TWO ROUNDS!"

"NO MORE BETS!"

His final bet.
Mathias plays everything on ...

"NUMBER 1 2!"

Now a weaIthy man, Mathias almost

subconsciously feels the lure
of house and home.

A few days later
he is on the train to Miragno ...

By wire from Miragno: Last Saturday,
the body of a man in a state of

advanced decomposition was found
drowned in a millrace.

The body is thought to be that
of the librarian, Mathias Pascal.

This su1c1de
is believed to be the resuIt of grief and debt.

"This is awful! I’m dead!"

At the next stop, determined to set
the distressing record straight.

I’m not dead. Home tomorrow.

Suddenly a thought strikes Mathias.

Being dead means escaping
all earthly woes.

It means no more enemies.
No more creditors. No more hostile wife.

No more mother-in-law.
Being dead means FREEDOM

"I’m changing...trains!"

A man without a past
arrives in the Eternal City.

Unhindered and nameless - a new man.

And with a new heart ...

Now dressed less conspicuously,

the Late Mathias headed for
the best luxury hotel.

Terence Papiano, Esq.
Archaeologist

Tours of Rome, Day and Night

"...a lot of luggage?"

"Suite 3 - 400 lire a night."

Identity Form
(required by the police)

"The dead travel fast!"

The late Mathias is no exception.

Forced to flee, running in utter confusion,
he begins to think

Freedom has something bitter about it.

ROOM FOR RENT

"The room to rent?

Certainly, my daughter will show it to you."

ADRIENNE!

"l hope this will suit you ...

May I have your name?"

"My name? ...I call myself Monsieur Adrien.
Does that bother you?"

"Don't mind the books. They're my poor
father's passion. l detest them myseIf!"

SPIRITUALISM

SPIRITUALISM
HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE DEAD

Unfortunately, this drunken woman
is one of Paleari's boarders.

What a bad impression it would make
on the new lodger.

"It’s Miss Caporale, my father's medium.

She's had a hard life - she drinks a little.

But she's an artist - she sings well !"

This strange household worried Mathias.
And if that wasn't enough ...

"Please excuse me for not
being dressed earlier.

l would like you to meet
my dear Adrienne's fiancé."

"A distinguished archaeologist,
Terence Papiano."

"l hope you aren't leaving,
Monsieur Adrien?"

Within a few months, "Adrien" begins to
take to the lovely, wholesome Adrienne.

It helps that odious Terence
left on a trip the day of his arrival.

Unfortunately, Terence is due home tonight

and his borderline
hysterical brother Scipion

has dutifully spied on the "stranger."

SPIRITUALISM
HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE DEAD

"Those damned spirits!

Miss Caporale has been using them
to persuade my poor father

to marry me off to that Terence

- whom I hate!"

Very much in love with Adrienne
but deprived of his identity,

he is in no position to free her from Terence
by marrying her himself.

"Adrien" suffers more and more
from being a NOBODY.

MARRIAGES
2 WITNESSES REQUIRED

"…and that lodger …still here?"

Miss Caporale is also Terence's assistant.

"So ...he is rich?"

" ...and ...he loves her?"

"Call Adrienne!"

"Monsieur Adrien!"

"Do come in, Monsieur Adrien…
we were just talking about you."

"My future father-in-law is about
to hold a very unusual séance.

We'll be communicating with the dead.

We hope you'll join us."

"Get dressed and join us as soon
as possible in the "Magic Room".

The séance.

SPIRITS
Knock once for 'yes' and twice for 'no'.

"Will my daughter be
happily married to Terence?"

"It’s nothing; stay here!

It’s just that these experiments
are too much for my poor brother."

"I’ve been robbed - 50,000 lire!"

"I’m going to report this to the police.

Say nothing until I get back."

"That's a promise?"

"Someone has stolen 1 00,000 lire
from Monsieur Adrien!"

"It’s TERR…"

"It’s a mistake. I found my money.

There was no theft."

"A change of air would do your
brother a world of good."

"Leave Rome with him ..."

"...without further delay."

To be robbed,
and unable to file a complaint,

in danger, and unable to defend himself,

in love, and unable to fulfill his happiness;

these were the privileges "Monsieur Adrien"
had brought to Mathias Pascal ...

and Mathias Pascal was tired of
being dead for nothing.

"I’m leaving - a few days -
personal business.

I'll forgive you not keeping your word,

if you promise not to marry Terence -
at least not until l get back!"

Soon after, Mathias ...

Nightfall, the following day ...

Mathias found himself in front
of his memory-haunted house.

"Who is it?"

"Mathias"

"Who?"

"The late Mathias Pascal"

"Where have you been?"

"In the next world!"

"Romilde? I want to see her!"

"...Remarried?"

" ...You were dead ..."

"You see - you can't stay!"

"I have the Civil Code in my favour.

In such cases, the first husband
has the right to take back his place.

It’s the second husband who has to go."

"So I’m free to stay,
AND I'M STAYING!"

The next morning,

the streets of Miragno are jammed
with holiday crowds.

Have no fear, I’m leaving for Rome
(on urgent business).

Be happy with your child.
Mathias

Living happily means living in hiding ...

Mathias, his papers now in order,

steals down the deserted streets
towards the station ...

At 10 a.m.
In front of Town Hall

Speech by Batta Maldagna
(outgoing mayor and candidate for re-election)

HERE LIES
MATHIAS PASCAL

ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN

The End