El jefe político: genre crossover and thematic originality in a restored French film

Abstract

In 2021, the restoration of the long-lost French film El jefe político (‘The Political Boss’, released as La Réponse du destin in France) was finally completed. Directed by André Hugon between 1924 and 1925 and based on the homonymous novel by the Spanish writer José María Carretero, alias ‘El Caballero Audaz’ (‘The Audacious Gentleman’), it is a most remarkable melodrama set against the backdrop of the turbulent political climate that prevailed in Spain in the early 1920s. Its revival has meant rescuing two subjects from oblivion: André Hugon, a French filmmaker with one of the most prolific careers who directed more than 80 films between the 1910s and 1950s; and the film itself, a stark portrait of an upstart embroiled in political corruption. The author aims to analyse El jefe político as a film in which the most representative genres of the French commercial cinema of the time come together. This analysis will demonstrate Hugon’s personal approach to these genres as well as his originality when adapting Carretero’s novel, to which he adds two striking themes: an epidemic outbreak and the socio-political struggle to introduce the eight-hour working day.