Tue Mar 27, 2018 7:03 am
Here's what I wrote to Silencebound via PM:
Apologies for my slow reply, but I was away for the past few days!
I agree with the suggestion by user Ribouldinge that this is the September 1909 French release Hector est un garçon sérieux, first seen in the US in mid-December 1909 under the title Hector, the Angel Child. I've looked at the French, German and American synopses and all the details match - from the presence of the female statuette in the background of that opening scene, to Hector's use of a candle when he goes off to his room, to the uncle wielding a large bottle both outside the café and in the bed at the end.
This was a production by Pathé's 'prestige' unit S.C.A.G.L. (Société Cinématographique des Auteurs et Gens de Lettres), which is why it looks more technically sophisticated compared to a Comica or Nizza comedy of the same period (or even a few years later).
The Pathé edge code looks to be of a type first used in 1911... but there is no reason why a prestige title from Autumn/Winter 1909 would not still have remained on Pathé's books at that date.
I wonder whether the intertitle(s) in your print may offer some further proof of the film's identity. Because Hector... was called Peter in the German and Austrian release versions! Specifically, the film was released in Austria during the week of September 9th, 1909, under the title Der schüchterne Peter (='The Shy Peter').
All the cast is composed of Parisian theatre actors of the period, and this is a very early film performance by Harry Baur (as Hector/Peter), who was a French actor of considerable note.
There are no known holdings in any FIAF archives for this title, and the Gaumont-Pathé archives likewise do not report any surviving copies. So this fragment could be quite an interesting discovery thanks in particular to the presence of Harry Baur.