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Louise Armandine Duval (1879-1940) who took the stage name Armande Cassive, was a highly respected lady of the French theater. Raised in an Ursuline convent, she began her work on the stage in the late 19th century, and also appeared in film in later years. Below is a brief quote by critic Carl Van Vechten (writer, photographer, patron of the Harlem Renaissance, and long time friend of Gertrude Stein) from "The Merry-Go-Round."
"I sometimes think that _Occupe-toi d'Amelie_ is the most satisfactory play I have ever seen; it is certainly the most delightful. I do not think you can see it in Paris again. The Nouveautes, where it was presented for over a year, has been torn down; an English translation would be an insult to Feydeau; nor will you find essays about it in the yellow volumes in which the French critics tenderly embalm their _feuilletons_; nor do I think Arthur Symons or George Moore, those indefatigable diggers in Parisian graveyards, have discovered it for their English readers. Reading the play is to miss half its pleasure; so you must take my word in the matter unless you have been lucky enough to see it yourself, in which case ten to one you will agree with me that one such play is worth a kettleful of boiled-over drama like _Le Voleur_, _Le Secret_, _Samson_, _La Vierge Folle_, _et cetera_, _et cetera_. In the pieces I have mentioned Feydeau, in representation, had the priceless assistance of a great comic artist, Armande Cassive. If we are to take Mr. Symons's assurance in regard to de Pachmann that he is the world's greatest pianist because he does one thing more perfectly than any one else, by a train of similar reasoning we might confidently assert that Mlle. Cassive is the world's greatest actress."
Van Vechten was writing about a play by that grandson of Moliere, Georges Feydeau, the famous French play-write, whose farces are acknowledged forerunners to the Surrealist, Dadaist, and Absurdist schools of French theater. The play to which he refers was produced in 1908, 10 years before Feydeau, in the winter of 1918, contracted syphilis, and going slowly mad, died three years later, at age 58.
Feydeau's plays (he wrote at least 60 of them), were not terribly well respected at the time, but Van Vechten appears to have been ahead of his time yet again, as today Feydeau is considered to be one of the finest play-writes of Belle Epoque France.
Mlle. Cassive first met Georges Feydeau when she was only 14, and refused a small part in one of his plays. Years later, in 1898, she accepted his offer for the lead in "The Lady from Maxim's," which was, due in large part to her performance of course, a tremendous success.
Mlle. Cassive was to become one of Feydeau's favorite actresses, and appeared in many of his productions. She enjoyed great success for decades, but ended her days sadly; dying in Paris, unknown, alone, and in poverty.
A gorgeous card by Leopold Reutlinger, showing the young Cassive in happier times. Very nice condition too, with minor age tanning.
Please examine our high res scans for detail.
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