Maurice Mariaud

Biography

Maurice Mariaud started working for Gaumont, France, in 1908 as an actor, and then directed 44 short fiction films for Gaumont, plus some episodes of film serials. Two uncredited works in that period are _Amour qui sauve, L' (1912)_ and Attacked by a Lion (1912). In 1918, he worked in Portugal, returning to France to direct the major opus drama Tristan et Yseult (1920). In January 1922, he was contracted for 5 years by Caldevilla Film, a new Portuguese production company at Porto; he directed and starred in Os Faroleiros (1922), directed possibly the best silent version of As Pupilas do Senhor Reitor (1924), and the first of seven major fiction films that did not go into production because the company closed down in March 1923, due to the split of 'Raul de Caldevilla'. Mariaud directed a minor comedy to another Portuguese company, Aventuras de Agapito (1923), and returned to France where he did minor mystery and dramatic films. He would return to Portugal to direct a film based on a daring novel written by Alberto Castro Neves, with whom he had previously worked in _Faroleiros, Os' (1922)_. Even though it was a silent movie, Nua (1931) achieved a short-lived popular success. The oppressive regime and the moral majority didn't approve of the film, of which no copy survives.