The World of Mime Theatre * Info & Resources * Film & Video

ABSTRACT MIME
1971, Odin Teatret
VHS PAL; Color, 20 min. (Can be ordered in VHS NTSC from Hush)
Through his performance, Mime artist and instructor Yves Lebreton, former student of Etienne Decroux, demonstrates his development of Decroux's "Corporal Mime" into a form he calls "Abstract Mime". This film is a part of the film Corporal Mime. (See Corporal Mime for ordering information.)

THE ART OF SILENCE: PANTOMIMES WITH MARCEL MARCEAU
1975, Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corporation
VHS NTSC; Color; Four separate videos approx. 30 min. each
From a series of 13 short films directed by John Barnes. Marcel Marceau performs some of his best known works. (Individual films (16mm) might be found separately in certain libraries.)
* This video is no longer available for purchase from Encyclopedia Britannica, but most of the videos are available to view online.

Group 1 (video 1) - Catalog no. 4125 Pantomime: The Language of the Heart Bip as a Skater The Creation of the World	Group 3 (video 3) - Catalog no. 4127 Bip as a Soldier The Hands The Painter
Group 2 (video 2) - Catalog no. 4126 Bip at a Society Party Bip Hunts Butterflies The Cage	Group 4 (video 4) - Catalog no. 4128 The Dream The Maskmaker Youth, Maturity, Old Age, and Death The Sideshow

The Best of Shields and Yarnell

THE BEST OF SHIELDS & YARNELL
DVD Region 1 (US and Canada only); Color, 80 min.
The mime duo of Shields & Yarnell were on over 600 national shows in the 70s and 80s, plus their own series on CBS and many TV specials. They won an Emmy and they won Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year two years in a row. They also won Special Attraction of the Year from the American Guild of Variety Artists.
The Best of Shields and Yarnell is rare footage of Shields & Yarnell that hasn't been seen for years. A one-hour-and-twenty-minute DVD of the best picks of Shields & Yarnell. Ages 8 - 80.

BIP ET LE RENDEZ-VOUS (BIP AND THE DATE)
1948, directed by Robert Valey
16mm; B&W, silent, 11 min.
A Paris, visionnable dans la salle de consultation du Forum des Images, sur place uniquement.
In Paris, viewable in the consultation room of the Forum des Images, on the premises only.
Bip est amoureux. Pour rejoindre Ninie, sa douce et tendre, il se livre à une véritable course contre la montre dans les rues de la capitale. Un rendez-vous qui vaut à Bip, le personnage imaginé par Marcel Marceau, de nouvelles aventures parisiennes. L'occasion de nombreux gags mis en scène par Robert Valey avec la complicité du célèbre mime.
Bip is in love. To meet Ninie, his kind and gentle one, he engages in a true race against the clock through the streets of the capital. A date that brings new Parisian adventures for Bip, the character created by Marcel Marceau. The result of numerous bits directed by Robert Valey with the participation of the celebrated mime.

CHILDREN OF PARADISE
See Les Enfants du Paradis

A CONCERT IN PANTOMIME
1966
DVD; NTSC format; B&W, 60 min. (approx.)
(From The Red Skelton Hour) Red Skelton and Marcel Marceau, two masters of pantomime, in an evening of wordless performance. Ten scenes, including Marceau's famous character Bip, highlight the comedy and virtuosity of these two great talents.
Scenes include: "A Woman Driver" (RS), "Marcel Marceau Flies a Kite" (MM), "Looking at the New Baby" (RS), "Bip Goes to an Audition" (MM), "The Fisherman and the Little Boy" (RS), "The Prize Fighters" (RS), "Marcel Marceau as the Sculptor" (MM), "The Circus Performer" (MM), "The Astronauts" (RS), "The Miracle of the Dolls" (RS and MM together, along with four other featured players).

CORPORAL MIME
1971, Odin Teatret
VHS; Color, 90 min.
Ordering:
Pal format: Odin Teatret, Særkærparken 144 - 7500 Holstebro, Denmark - Post Box 1283 - Denmark
                Tel. +45 97 424777   Fax +45 97 410482   E-mail odin@odinteatret.dk
NTSC format: Ian Watson, 55 Tiemann Place #39, New York, N.Y. 10027, USA
                            E-mail idwatson@andromeda.rutgers.edu
                            or Seth Baumrin at E-mail sbaumrin@hotmail.com
In Australia and New Zealand also available from HUSH Videos and Books
Features Mime artist and instructor Yves Lebreton, former student of Etienne Decroux. He shows, in two parts, Decroux's training program. At the end of each part of the film he gives examples, in the form of short performances, of his own development from Decroux's style into what he calls "Abstract Mime."

DREAM JOURNEY
1995, Danmari Ltd.
VHS / stereo, 28 min.
Performance video created, performed and produced for television and home video by the internationally acclaimed mime artist Yass Hakoshima. The fusion of mime, music and video technology in Dream Journey creates an imaginative dream-like journey through various landscapes. Features six works from the repertoire of the Yass Hakoshima Mime Theatre.

KINDER DES OLYMP (German version of Les Enfants du Paradis)
VHS PAL
Dubbed in German / Sprache: Deutsch
More details

Watch Clips
from this Film

LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS (Children of Paradise)
Directed by Marcel Carné
S.N. Pathé Cinema, 1946
190 minutes
HD Digital Rental or Purchase on Amazon Video (English Subtitled)
DVD [Region 1 (US and Canada only) & Region 2 (Europe, Middle East & Japan only)]
VHS NTSC (Home Vision Cinema; French with English subtitles)
VHS PAL (French with English subtitles, or dubbed in German)
VHS SECAM
B&W, 195 min.
Ordering: DVD Region 1 / DVD Region 2 / Video NTSC / Video PAL / Video SECAM
A feature film, one of the all-time greatest of the French cinema, starring Jean-Louis Barrault, Arletty, and Pierre Brasseur. A better translation of the title would be "Children of the gods," referring to the common folk who sat in the furthest, least expensive balcony seats in the popular theatres of 1840's Paris. A romantic epic, the fictional story includes some characters based on actual people, such as Jean-Gaspard Deburau (played by Barrault), the most famous French mime of the 19th century, who greatly evolved the character Pierrot. The cast also features "the father of modern mime," Etienne Decroux, as Deburau's father. Filmed during the German occupation, this French milestone centers around the theatrical life of a beautiful courtesan and the four men who love her. Voted the "Best French Film in History" by the French Film Academy in 1990. Academy Award Nomination: Best Original Screenplay (Jacques Prévert).

MARCEL MARCEAU EN SCENE: Le plus grand mime contemporain du monde
PolyGram Video, 1992
VHS Secam; Color, approx. 90 min.
Marcel Marceau et des membres de son compagnie jouent sept oeuvres de son répertoire : "Le petit café", "L'Oiseleur", "Le Cauchemar du Pickpocket", "Le Tribunal", "Bip : Musicien des rues", "Bip : Grand vedette d'un cirque ambulant", et "Bip dans la vie moderne et future".
Marcel Marceau and members of his company perform seven creations from his repertoire: "The Small Café", "The Bird Keeper", "The Pickpocket's Nightmare", "The Trial ", "Bip as a Street Musician", "Bip: Great Star of a Traveling Circus", and "Bip in the Modern and Future Life".

MARCEL MARCEAU OU "LE POIDS DE L'AME"
Arte Vidéo, 1992
VHS Secam; Color, 60 min.
A travers ce portrait Marcel Marceau nous raconte les moments importants de sa vie d'artiste, nous donne les clés de cette magie du geste qu'est le mime. Ce film lui donne la parole et nous fait suivre les meilleurs extraits de son oeuvre. Documentaire avec des extraits d'exécution.
Throughout this portrait Marcel Marceau recounts significant moments in his artistic life, gives us the keys to this magic of gesture that is mime. This film lets him speak and allows us to follow the best excerpts of his work. Documentary with performance excerpts.

MARCEL MARCEAU - DIE KUNST DER PANTOMIME
Absolut Medien, 2018 (from films originally produced in 1951/52)
DVD PAL; Color 69 min.Titles and some narration in German, but performance is non-verbal

Three short films in color:
The Art of Pantomime
Style Pantomimes: Walking, Walking Against the Wind, The Staircase, Tug-of-War, The Tightrope Walker, The 1500-Meter Run
Bip Pantomimes: Bip and the Bumblebee, Bip Tragedian, Bip at a Society Party
The Sunday Painter
The Overcoat — Marceau's one-act mimodrama based on the story by Gogol, performed with his ensemble mime company

Plus several additional short films in black & white

Watch Trailer

MARCEL MARCEAU SPEAKS
Times Two Audio, 2000 (reissue of 1971 Caedmon Records LP)
Audio CD, 60 min.
English conversation between Marceau and writer William Fifield recorded in Paris in 1968. Marceau discusses the history of mime, his early years (studies with Dullin and Decroux, the war years, the beginning of Bip and his career), his work, the art of mime, his paintings, and much more.

MEET MARCEL MARCEAU
1965
DVD; NTSC format; B&W, 52 min.
The most renowned of contemporary mime artists stars in a one-man show filmed for television. Ten different vignettes, including his famous "Bip" character, are featured. Voiceover narration by Marcel Marceau in English.
Vignettes include: "The Tango Dancer", "The Side Show", "The Magic of Mime", "The Magician", "The Kite", "Bip: Matador", "Bip at a Society Party", "Youth, Maturity, Old Age, and Death", "Bip Dreams He is Don Juan", and "Tribute" (Marceau's tribute to silent film stars).

THE MIME MARCEL MARCEAU (LE MIME MARCEL MARCEAU)
Released 2017 (from footage created 1964)
DVD | PAL format Region 0 | Color, 50 min.
Order This DVD
The enchanting portrait of one of the greatest stage artists of the twentieth century, the mime Marcel Marceau. In this work of pure poetry, we rediscover the exquisite art of this goldsmith of movement that echoes the commedia dell'arte. The film consists of twelve sketches that present the fabulous richness of the art of the mime Marceau:
"Bip, Pedestrian of Paris," "In a Silent Way, Exercises," "The Cage," "Lineage and Relationships," "Cousinages and Kinship," "The Creation of the World," "The Good News," "The Seven Deadly Sins," "Bip and the Mask Seller," "The School of Mime," "Don Juan, Mimodrama," "Bip Forever."

THE MIME OF MARCEL MARCEAU
1972 Learning Corporation of America (May also be found in a video collection entitled Behind the Scenes/The Performing Arts)
Color, 22 min.
A documentary-style film by Daniel Camus, this short film shows Marceau as performer and as teacher. We see him on stage in some of his most comic, dramatic, and profound moments. These images are intercut with Marceau teaching his students the techniques of the art. The film includes a short interview with the master where he discusses the philosophy behind his work, as well as footage of his students in the other disciplines he has them learn—ballet, acrobatics, and fencing. Dialogue is in French with English subtitles and English voiceover translation.

MIME SPOKEN HERE
2-disc DVD or 2-volume VHS NTSC; 3 hrs. 49 min. total
Ordering: DVD | VHS
Two volume instructional video version of Tony Montanaro and Karen Hurll's book.

MUMMENSCHANZ: The Musicians of Silence
2001
VHS NTSC (English), VHS PAL (English, German, or French); 54 min.
A film by Kamal Musale. Can be ordered from the official Mummenschanz website: English • Deutsch

MUMMENSCHANZ 1972-2000
2000
VHS PAL (German or French); 15 min.
A portrait by Magdalena Kauz. Can be ordered from the official Mummenschanz website: English • Deutsch

POUR SALUER ETIENNE DECROUX (A SALUTE TO ETIENNE DECROUX)
1992 Documentaire de Jean-Claude Bonfanti
Couleur 59 min.
A Paris, visionnable dans la salle de consultation du Forum des Images, sur place uniquement.
In Paris, viewable in the consultation room of the Forum des Images, on the premises only.
Consacré à Etienne Decroux, père fondateur de la grammaire du mime, ce documentaire est composé de témoignages de personnalités ayant travaillé avec lui et illustré de nombreux extraits de ses tableaux. Une lecture de fragments du livre publié par Etienne Decroux en 1963, "Paroles sur le mime", accompagne cet hommage passionnant.
Dedicated to Etienne Decroux, father of the grammar of mime, this documentary is composed of accounts of people who worked with him and is illustrated with numerous excerpts of his pieces. A reading of portions of the book published by Etienne Decroux in 1963, "Words on Mime", accompanies this passionate homage.

QUIET ON THE SET
VHS NTSC; Color, 55 min.
Todd and Marilyn Farley and MIMEistry International. A ministry concert — Christian-themed mime performance.

ROBERT SHIELDS: CELEBRATION OF IMAGINATION
VHS; Color and B&W, 57 min.
San Francisco’s first street mime Robert Shields introduced thousands to his innovative brand of pantomime, mischief, and physical comedy. With his partner Lorene Yarnell, they reached a wider audience with their ground-breaking variety show and hundreds of television appearances as Shields & Yarnell. Rare, never-before-seen footage of Shields at his best—on the streets, your favorite television shows, and creating art.

THE SILENT OUTCRY: The Life and Times of Samuel Avital
DVD or VHS
Follows the artistic and spiritual life and work of this mime master and discoverer of the BodySpeak method. Includes biography, three performance pieces, student testimonials, and class demonstrations.

THE STORY OF MUMMENSCHANZ
DVD PAL (English/German/French/Italian), DVD NTSC (English/German/French/Italian); 3 hrs. of material
Interviews with Mummenschanz founders Floriana Frassetto and Bernie Schürch, and shots of their creations. Also includes films of the best numbers from their various shows. Can be ordered from the official Mummenschanz website: English • Deutsch

TONY MONTANARO: Theatre & Inspiration
DVD; 56 min.
Ordering: from Karen Montanaro Tanzspiel | from Films by Huey
Tony Montanaro (1927 - 2002) was one of the great mime artists of the 20th Century. Theatre & Inspiration celebrates his life and contributions as performer and teacher to the world of theatre and the joy he brought to audiences across America and Europe.

This is only a partial list of films and videos available on the subject of Mime Theatre. The list will be updated periodically. Some of these titles can be ordered by following the provided links. Some, older titles in particular, can also be found at your local public and university libraries.