Léon POIRIER and the Citroën expedition of La Croisière Noire.

Léon POIRIER (1884-1968)

Signed autograph letter.

A page in-4°. Paris, March 29, 1926

Beautiful letter from the French director relating to the Citroën expedition of La Croisière Noire and the film he made from it.

« Sir, I do not only want, on the occasion of the admirable article that you were kind enough to devote to La Croisière Noire, to express to you all my gratitude but also all my congratulations for the mastery of your style. Better than any other, no doubt, you understood my film , because you brought out its essence like no one had ever done before. I have the great desire to get to know you and allow myself your question: “Does he want to continue? – All of Overseas France extends its arms to him. » – I will allow myself in a while to ask you for an appointment to present to you, if they take shape, certain projects for the future. Please accept, Sir, with the renewed expression of my gratitude, the assurance of my best and most distinguished feelings. »

The Black Cruise took place from October 28, 1924 to June 26, 1925 and is also known as the Citroën Center Africa Expedition . Launched by André Citroën in order to promote his brand and open a regular motorized line on the African continent, the half-track expedition crosses Africa, from Timbuktu to Madagascar, over twenty-eight thousand kilometers

Léon Poirier made a silent film of the expedition which was shown for the first time on March 2, 1926 at the Paris Opera and which enjoyed great success, as did the expedition as a whole.

The director Léon Poirier is the nephew of the painter Berthe Morisot. He began his career as secretary of the Théâtre du Gymnase before creating two Parisian theaters himself: Le Théâtre and La Comédie des Champs Élysées .

He remains one of the most original directors of pre-war French cinema. A man of action and reflection, an adventurer, he has always expressed his interest in the Outlands.