La Possession de l'infant (1909) *** (out of 4) Melodrama about a rich father who gains custody of his child while the mother goes off in tears. Of course, the child is miserable even though he has everything in the world but after a weekend trip at his poor mother's house, the child realizes that money isn't everything and he has to convince the father that his money is evil. D.W. Griffith was making this type of melodrama in America and he certainly knew how to handle it a lot better. I will admit that I enjoyed this film because the story was nice if overly preachy and at times the melodrama was handled way too thick. Griffith did the same thing in his American films but I feel that he was a master at this sort of thing and could make it work no matter how silly it got. The ending to this film is downright embarrassing not because it's bad but because it really comes out of no where and is quite forced. Where Griffith would have made it work, Feuillade doesn't do as good a job but that shouldn't keep people away from checking this out. Again, the story is nice and we get some good visuals but just be ready for all the syrup we get.

This Louis Feuillade film begins with a man gaining custody of his son. Why the mother loses custody is unknown, but the father is shown as rather cold and unforgiving. The child, though raised in luxury, is miserable and lonely. Later, the father takes the child to his mother's house and seems to forget the kid there! Soon, the mother takes the child home to raise herself. The father has a change of mind and looks for the kid. When he and the police find him with the mother, all is forgiven and the family becomes one once again.Overall, the story is very, very simplistic and not especially believable. However, for 1909, this is exactly the sort of morality play that was typical and this film is a decent one from this period despite its shortcomings.