Michel Carré

Michel-Antoine Carré or Michel Carré (fils) (7 February 1865, Paris – 11 August 1945, Paris) was a French actor, stage and film director, and writer of opera librettos, stage plays and film scripts.

Career He was the son of the librettist Michel Carré (père) (1821–1872) and cousin of the theatre director Albert Carré (his father's nephew). His libretto for André Messager's 1894 opera Mirette was never performed in France but was performed in an English adaptation in London at the Savoy Theatre.

He directed or co-directed some fifty silent films from c1907 to the mid 1920s. Many of these were shorts, including Ordre du roy (1909). His longer notable films included L'Enfant prodigue, the first European-made full-length feature film (1907), based on his own stage pantomime of the same name; and The Miracle (1912), the world's first full-colour narrative feature film.

He was one of the main directors at the Société cinématographique des auteurs et gens de lettres (SCAGL), created to protect the rights of authors whose works were used in screenplays.

He was created chevalier of the French Legion of Honour in 1927

Works

+ Operas with libretti by Michel-Antoine CarréYear Title Composer Collaborator Notes

Friquette et Blaisot Albert Millet Charles Narrey Opera Hilda Albert Millet Charles Narrey Opera Le bouton d'or Gabriel Pierné 'Fantaisie lyrique' in four acts Mirette André Messager Comic opera. Never performed in French. Translated twice for English productions at the Savoy Theatre: dialogue translated by Harry Greenbank, and a new libretto by Fred. E. Weatherly; and later revised with new lyrics by Adrian Ross Dinah Paul de Choudens L'hôte Edmond Missa Muguette Edmond Missa Georges Hartmann Le fakir de Bénarès Le garçon de chez Prunier Joseph Szulc André Barde Three-act operetta

+ Stage works by Michel-Antoine CarréYear Title Collaborator Notes

L'enfant prodigue Music by André Wormser Silent drama (French pantomime) with music, filmed twice by Carré in 1907 & 1916 Nos bons chasseurs Paul Bilhaud, music by Charles Lecocq French vaudeville (stage comedy with vaudeville songs) in three acts, fp. Nouveau-Théâtre, Paris, 10 April 1894 Ma Bru ! (My Daughter-in-Law) Paul Bilhaud fp at the Théâtre de l'Odéon, Paris, in 1898, and at the Lyceum Theatre, Manhattan, on 26 February 1900 L’Âme des héros Paul Bilhaud one-act play in verses, created at the Comédie-Française, 6 June 1907 La Courtisane de Corinthe Paul Bilhaud, music by Charles-Gaston Levadé Produced in 1908 by Sarah Bernhardt, at the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt

Selected filmography L'Enfant prodigue (1907) (scriptwriter & director) Marie Tudor (1912) (scriptwriter) The Miracle (1912) (director) Temptation (1936) (scriptwriter)