In 1930, the year that marked the French film industry’s total conversion to sound, Dulac directed six “illustrated records”. These were essentially post-synchronized silent films designed to accompany a variety of classical and popular music recordings, as Thomas Edison had dreamed. Several of these films featured French melodies by popular women singers like Fréhel and Damia. In keeping with the social concerns of the period, and Dulac’s penchant for a “pure cinema,” most of these films were shot on location. They also featured working-class subjects in provincial settings as they carried out their daily lives and reflected, with hope or despair, upon the possibility of achieving their dreams. Celles qui s’en font, starring actress and dancer Lilian Constantini of Thème et variations (1929), is accompanied by its original recordings, “À la derive” (1927), sung by Germaine Lix, and “Toute Seule” (1928) by Fréhel. (Recordings courtesy of Alain Carou of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France)

Tami Williams