The Dreyfus Affair (1899 film)

The Dreyfus Affair French Laffaire Dreyfus , also known as Dreyfus CourtMartial, is an 1899 series of short silent docudramas, conceived and directed by Georges Mlis. Released by Mliss Star Film Company and numbered 206217 in its catalogs, each of the eleven oneminute installments reconstructs an event from the historical Dreyfus affair, which was still in progress while the series was being made.

In 1894, Armand du Paty de Clam suspects the French military captain Alfred Dreyfus of being a spy for Germany. Paty de Clam demands a sample of Dreyfuss handwriting, to see if it matches the writing on the Bordereau an anonymous letter to the German Embassy that has been discovered by French counterintelligence. Finding that Dreyfus seems nervous, Paty de Clam accuses him outright of having written the Bordereau, and offers a gun so that Dreyfus can commit suicide on the spot. Dreyfus protests that he is innocent, and is arrested. At the cole Militaire, Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and honors, and he is sent to be clapped in irons in prison on Devils Island.Four years later, Colonel HubertJoseph Henry, who had accused Dreyfus publicly, is arrested he has admitted to having forged the Faux Henry, a false document designed to act as evidence against Dreyfus. Henry commits suicide in ChercheMidi prison. The next year, in 1899, Dreyfus is transferred from Devils Island via Quiberon to Rennes, where he will be tried by courtmartial now that further evidence has surfaced. His defense attorneys Fernand Labori and Edgar Demange visit him, as does his wife Lucie. Later, when walking with Georges Picquart, Labori is struck down by a bullet. Labori survives, but the shooter escapes. ........

Source: Wikipedia