L'ARGENT

The film was screened publicly for the first time in January, 1929, with some scenes accompanied by sounds from records (crowd noises and airplanes). L'Argent raised an uproar and some controversy, and not only because of L'Herbier's decision to set Zola's work in modem times. L'Herbier, with a large budget at his disposal, made a powerful and grandiose work. In a 1978 interview, the director affirmed:
"In L'Argent I had a theme that took me in completely. To put passion into the project of a film, you have to have a hero that either you love or you hate. I found nothing to adore in the project, but there was something that I hated more than anything else money. Zola says that money is the manure that life sprouts out of.
"I had the opportunity to see the film again in connection with a project for 'Cinéastes de notre temps'. I aIready knew that a film seen fifteen years before was like a film never seen at all. However, I had never been hit with such a change in tack, for I found myself before an absolute masterpiece, one of the greatest films in the history of cinema, doubtlessly the most modem of all silent films. It was characterized by a writing that takes it out of its era. It was a film that could not even be 'read' by its contemporaries." Noël Burch (Revoir L'Argent, 1968)
During the shooting of the film, Jean Dréville made a short I film, Autour de L'Argent (1928, Cinógraphic, b/n, 1140 m). In 1971 sound was added to the film under the supervision of the C.N.C. with the author's collaboration.

Director: Marcel L'Herbier.
Screenplay: Marcel L'Herbier dal romanzo di Emile Zola.
Director of photography: Jules Kruger, Jean Letort, Louis Bertre.
Art director: Lazare Meerson, André Barsacq; Jaque Catelain (due bozzetti), Pierre Charreau (mobili), Jean Luce (vetreria), Puyforcat (argenteria); Dominique, Desny, Primavera (accessori vari).
Costume designer: Jacques Manuel, realizzati da Louise Boulanger; Raymond Templier, André Leroy (gioielli).
Cast: Alfred Abel (il banchiere Alphonse Gunderman), Pierre Alcover (Nicolas Saccard), Brigitte Helm (la baronessa Sandorf), Marie Glory (Line Hamelin), Pierre Juvenel (il barone Defrance), Alexandre Mihalesco (Salomori Massias), Jules Berry (il giornalista Huret), Antonin Artaud (il segretario Mazaud), Armand Bour (Daigremond), Yvette Guilbert (La Méchain), Marcelle Pradot (Alice de Beaucilliers), Raymond Rouleau (Jeantrou), i Rocky Twins (attrazioni).
Supervisione alla regia: Suzanne Vial.
Director of Production: Georges Lampin.
Production company: Cinéromans (filiale della Cinégraphic Film L'Herbier) e Cinéromans.
Italian distribution: Cinéromans.

CONSERVAZIONE E RESTAURO / CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION

Nel novembre 1975 vengono presentati a Parigi al cinema Le Seine cinque film muti restaurati grazie all'impegno di Frantz Schmitt di Marcel L'Herbier; tra questi, anche L'Argent. La copia è ancora oggi conservata presso il Centre National de la Cinématographie Service des Archives du Film di Bois d'Arcy.
Il restauro è stato realizzato a partire da una copia a 16 ft/s, dalla quale è stato stampato un controtipo a 24 ft/s in formato sonoro (stretching), poi completato da inserti realizzati con la collaborazione della Biblioteca Nazionale a partire da giornali d'epoca. Tali parti erano infatti conservate soltanto in una "versione tedesca" ed è stato quindi necessario rifarle al banco ottico.