Today’s a quick-hit post on what is purported to be the “first” color stag film, LE GRANDE NUMERO, a “circus” themed French stag film from 1952 brought to us by PORNOCOLOR and C. B. de Mézig. And while we have done almost zero research to either back this up or dispel whether this is in fact the “first” color stag film, let’s just say we do have our doubts on that.
But even if it’s not the first color stag film it is certainly a somewhat fun one which I’m sure got a big vive la France! out of the guys down at the lodge back in the day. We start off with a pan over a midway at night, and then find ourselves face-to-face with a caged tiger. But never fear, a rotund female lion-tamer is on hand to protect us, complete with leopard skin outfit to prove the point. We then cut to a room where a clown and another circus performer are hatching a scheme in which the clown will hide behind a screen while the lady gets the lion tamer herself. But things get a bit too heated for the clown, who knocks over the screen while taming his own tiger. But no fear, Ms Lion Tamer is very game for a nice three-some, which takes up the rest of the reel. And for the grand finale…well let’s just say it includes champagne (it is a French film after all).
While we haven’t determined yet if Pornocolor was an actual studio, distributor, brand, or just a gimmick name, we have found that Cecil B. de Mézig (I kid you not) does have at least a few other credits:
- ESPRIT DE FAMILLE (Family Spirit) – 1948
- PETIT CONTE DE NOEL (Little Christmas Tale) – 1950
- LA FEMME AU PORTRAIT (The Woman in the Picture) – 1952 (not the 1946 Edward G Robinson film)
- LE GRAND NUMERO (The Big Number) 1952
We’ve opened files on both de Mézig and Pornocolor, so as new information comes available we’ll let you know. But for now, here’s a few screen shots from LE GRAND NUMERO for the curious, and for the more adventurous the full film is provided at the bottom of the post (this is full NSFW).
