By now, it seems that no A Hundred Years Ago programme would be complete without two things: films about funerals and films about dancing. The former is covered by the short film of Rudolph Valentino’s funeral, while the latter is represented by this campy curiosity, the precise identity of which is unknown. As Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi and Jay Weissberg have pointed out, the French press reported at the tail end of 1925 that producer Alex Nalpas would soon be launching a series featuring then-popular dance stars from the music halls of Paris, and Eye Filmmuseum’s surviving print contains three of the four numbers reportedly featured in the first instalment. The dancers’ impressive feats and lurid costumes are underscored by the vibrant colour tinting and toning. Alex Nalpas would later produce La Revue des revues (1927), screening in this year’s Josephine Baker programme.

Oliver Hanley