Léontine s’envole
Léontine Gets Carried Away
Romeo Bosetti
On a walk with her parents, Léontine pesters them to buy her one balloon after the next, until she is suddenly lifted off the ground. Below her, the adults run around in circles, desperate to bring her back down again. Up in the air she enjoys the wind and the freedom, captured in breathtaking aerial shots. This is one of the final films in the French silent series depicting the chaos unleashed by Léontine’s irrepressible pursuit of pleasure.
How is it possible that we don’t even know the name of the actor who played Léontine Penouillard, let alone anything about her life story? An internationally popular enfant terrible, the film character of Léontine was comical, mischievous and anarchic. Between 1910 and 1912, Pathé Frères produced around 20 episodes of the Léontine series. Nicknamed Titine in France and Betty in the US and Britain, she enjoyed global popularity, before vanishing entirely from the public eye.
Films with Léontine (Selection)
Les malices de Léontine 1912 | Léontine garde la maison 1912 | Léontine s’envole 1911 | Amour et musique 1911 | Un ravalement précipité 1911 | Léontine enfant terrible 1911
Romeo Bosetti
Romeo Bosetti, who was born in Chiari, Italy in 1879, was a French actor, director and screenwriter. He joined Pathé Frères in 1906, where he specialised in short comedy films, many of them following Léontine and her mischievous pranks. Bosetti is considered a pioneer of slapstick in early French cinema. He died in Suresnes, France, in 1948.
Films by Romeo Bosetti (Selection)
Zoé et le parapluie miraculeux 1913, Les malices de Léontine 1912, Léontine garde la maison 1912, Little Moritz demande Rosalie en mariage 1911, Little Moritz enlève Rosalie 1911, Rosalie et Léontine vont au théâtre 1911, Léontine enfant terrible 1911, Un ravalement précipité 1911
