- The Lady of the Camellias
"The Lady of the Camellias" (French: "La Dame aux camélias") is a
novel byAlexandre Dumas, fils , first published in 1848.Adapted for the stage, "La Dame aux camélias" premiered at the
Theatre de Vaudeville inParis ,France on February 2, 1852. An instant success,Giuseppe Verdi immediately set about to put the story to music. His work became the 1853opera "La Traviata " with the female protagonist "Marguerite Gautier" renamed "Violetta Valéry".In the English-speaking world, "La Dame aux Camélias" became known as "Camille" and sixteen versions have been performed at
Broadway theatre s alone. The Lady of the Camellias is "Marguerite Gautier" who is based onMarie Duplessis , the real life lover of author Dumas, fils.tage performances
Since its debut as a play, numerous editions have been performed at theatres around the world. The role of the tragic "Marguerite Gautier" became one of the most coveted amongst actresses and included performances by
Lillian Gish ,Eleonora Duse ,Margaret Anglin ,Gabrielle Réjane ,Tallulah Bankhead ,Eva Le Gallienne ,Isabelle Adjani , and especiallySarah Bernhardt , who starred in Paris,London , and several Broadway revivals, plus a 1912 film. Dancer/ImpressarioIda Rubinstein successfully recreated Bernhardt's interpretation of the role onstage in the mid-1920s, coached by the great actress herself before she died.It is also the inspriration for the 2008 Musical Marguerite, however, the story is based in 1944 German-occupied France.Film adaptations
In addition to inspiring "La Traviata", "The Lady of the Camellias" has been adapted for approximately twenty different
motion picture s in numerous countries and in a wide variety of languages. The role of "Marguerite Gautier" has been played on screen bySarah Bernhardt ,Clara Kimball Young ,Theda Bara ,Yvonne Printemps ,Alla Nazimova ,Greta Garbo ,Micheline Presle ,Francesca Bertini ,Isabelle Huppert and others.Films entitled "Camille"
To date, there have been at least eight adaptations of "The Lady of the Camellias" entitled "Camille".
Other films based on "La Dame aux Camélias"
In addition to the "Camille" films, the story has been the adapted into numerous other screen versions:
*"Kameliadamen", the first movie based on the work. "Kameliadamen" was a 1907 Danish
silent film directed byViggo Larsen and starringOda Alstrup , Larsen,Gustave Lund andRobert Storm Petersen .*"La Dame aux Camélias", a 1911
French language silent film , directed byAndré Calmettes andHenri Pouctal . It starsSarah Bernhardt .*"La Signora delle Camelie", a 1915
Italian language film. It was directed byBaldassarre Negroni andGustavo Serena . It stars Hesperia,Alberto Collo andIda Carloni Talli .*"Damen med kameliorna", a 1925 Swedish film adapted and directed by
Olof Molander . It starsUno Henning andTora Teje .*"La Dame aux Camélias", the first sound adaptation. "La Dame aux Camélias" was a 1934 French film adapted by
Abel Gance and directed by Gance andFernand Rivers . It starsYvonne Printemps andPierre Fresnay .*
Greta Garbo had the starring role in "Camille" (1936), directed byGeorge Cukor *A 1944
Spanish language version was produced inMexico . It was adapted byRoberto Tasker and directed byGabriel Soria , and starsLina Montes andEmilio Tuero .*"La Dame aux Camélias", a 1953 French film adapted by
Bernard Natanson and directed byRaymond Bernard . It starsGino Cervi ,Micheline Presle andRoland Alexandre .*"Camelia", a 1954 Mexican film adapted by
José Arenas ,Edmundo Báez ,Roberto Gavaldón andGregorio Walerstein . It was directed by Gavaldón, and starsMaría Félix .*"La Mujer de las camelias", a 1954 Argentine film adapted by
Alexis de Arancibia (as Wassen Eisen) andErnesto Arancibia , and directed by Ernesto Arancibia. It starsMona Maris .*"La Dame aux Camélias", a 1980
French language film adapted byJean Aurenche ,Enrico Medioli andVladimir Pozner , and directed byMauro Bolognini . It starsIsabelle Huppert .The story also partly inspired the plot of the movies "
Pretty Woman " and "Moulin Rouge! ".Fact|date=September 2008External links
* Full texts at
Project Gutenberg [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2419 in the original French] and [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1608 in an English translation]
* [http://cuyoo.com/u-novel_display-49.html Both Chinese and English] online read in HTML format.References & Notes
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