
André Deed
Acting
Biography
Henri André Chapais, known as André Deed (22 February 1879 – 4 October 1940), was a French actor and director, best known for his Foolshead comedies, produced in the 1900s and 1910s. André Deed was one of the first named actors in cinema, and his film series based around Foolshead were a global success.
Known For

In her village, Ms. Husson seeks to put a price under a rosiere but finding no worthy young pretty girl, hands it has Isidore, the village idiot, who becomes rosier
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When Hell gets boring, head for Paris.
The Devil's Son Has a Wedding in Paris

Georges Méliès adaptation of Robinson Crusoe, the first film adaptation of the story. Filmed in black & white, Méliès would then paint the film by hand to colour it. Originally a 15 minute film, twelve and a half minutes of painted film have been found and have been restored.
Robinson Crusoe

The legend of Aladdin and his magic lamp: Aladdin finds a magic lamp which brings him wealth, luxury, and marriage to a princess. But his rival, an evil magician, steals the lamp for himself. Aladdin must regain the lamp or lose everything.
Aladdin and His Wonder Lamp
While a balloon merchant sleeps on a river bank, a group of children steal his balloons and attach them to the hat of an old lady. Her hat and wig come off and a chase through Paris begins.
The Wig Chase

The first scene presents before the astonished eyes of the spectators a solid piece of marble, which the minute it is placed on a table seems to take life, and one can follow a snake-like line branding on the polished face of the stone the name of the house of Pathé Frères. As soon as this stone has been engraved, as by magic, a handsome young lady appears with a huge lump of clay covered with a cloth. As soon as the cloth is removed from the soft mass it starts whirling and turning as if stricken mad, and one is asking one's self what all the contentions are going to lead to, when the vague shape of an animal not yet discernible seems to appear, and before one has time to make one's mind as to the category of brutes to which it belongs one sees the form of a remarkably well made orang-utan modelled out of the clay, who calmly smokes his pipe. Then the statue is removed by the same winning young lady and another covered block of the same substance is carried forward.
Modern Sculptors
Two young lovers. An arranged marriage. An older groom. The lovers develop a plan to convince the groom that she is unworthy and also to discredit him. A surprise ending convinces the father that he should bless the lovers' marriage.
Monsieur de Pourceaugnac

Short comedy in which Gribouille (Cretinetti) loses his two lovers to two gentlemen.
Two Girls Are in Love with Foolshead

A washerwoman works so long for the same bosses that she gets to like their young son very much. One day she is unjustly accused of robbery, and dismissed. She suffers in her loneliness, until the day she hears that the boy is terminally ill, and there's no medical hope for him. She comes back and sits by him, praying to Saint Thérèse de Lisieux - and the miracle happens.
La Rose effeuillée

Cretinetti goes hunting with his friends, stalking the ferocious Chicken, and produces a typical Italian slapstick, which makes your typical Keystone slapstick look like tea time at the Ritz. Raw, bone-breaking slapstick.
The Delights of the Shoot

At the royal court, a prince is presenting the princess whom he is pledged to marry when a witch suddenly appears. Though driven off, the witch soon returns, summons some of her servants, and carries off the princess. A rescue party is quickly organized, but the unfortunate captive has been taken to a strange, forbidding realm, from where it will be impossible to rescue her without some special help.
The Kingdom of the Fairies
Cretinetti tries to bring a gift to his sweetheart. He loses the flowers. The tableware set breaks into pieces. Finally he buys a piano, but in the great chaos he is stuffed inside it.
Il regalo di Cretinetti

A clown performs various feats of magic based on his ability to detach and reattach different parts of his body.
An Extraordinary Dislocation
Cretinetti meddles with things and lands into trouble every time, having his head forged on an anvil and falling into a pit on a construction site.
Cretinetti ficcanaso

The story begins with a scientist creating a device shaped like a man that can be remote-controlled by a machine. The mechanical man possess super-human speed and strength. The scientist is killed however by a gang of criminals, led by a woman named Mado, who wish to get the instructions for building the mechanical man. The criminals are captured before they are able to get them and are brought to trial and condemned. Mado manages to escape and kidnaps the scientist's niece whom she forces to give her the instructions which she uses to build a mechanical man.
The Mechanical Man

Cretinetti sidesteps his creditors using several amazing tricks.
Come Cretinetti paga i debiti
Moving Cretinetti style: a tornado of furniture.
Cretinetti s'incarica del trasloco
Andre Deed sees Valentina Frascaroli shoot a man who annoys her in the street and is enchanted. He decides the way to win her affection is to swap clothes with the guy who cleans his apartment, and swagger about the cheap Montmartre saloons. Miss Frascaroli likes it, but the apaches who make up her friends don't, and proceed to torment the lovestruck fellow.
Boireau et la gigolette

The proud owner of a new car gets behind the wheel for the first time and weaves down the street, hitting everything from lamp-posts to market stalls and baby carriages. An ever-increasing crowd of incensed pursuers chases after him.
The Inexperienced Chauffeur

Boireau's father keeps trying to apprentice him to a different trade. Each time, the youngster annoys the customers and destroys the goods and property.