The Oubliette

The Oubliette is a 1914 American silent historical drama film directed by Charles Giblyn, featuring Murdock MacQuarrie, Pauline Bush, and Lon Chaney. It is part one of a four-film series directed by Giblyn called The Adventures of François Villon. The Oubliette was written by Harry G. Stafford, based on a short story of the same name by George Bronson Howard published in The Century Magazine.

Of the four films in the series, Chaney appears only briefly in The Oubliette and reappeared as a completely different character in the second installment of the serial, The Higher Law, which is not known to survive in any archive. A still exists showing Chaney as Bertrand de la Payne moments before the character is killed in the swordfight. The film co-starred Millard K. Wilson, who became a lifelong friend of Chaney and later served as his director in films at M-G-M.

This film and By the Sun's Rays are two of Lon Chaney's earliest surviving films. The Oubliette was considered lost until the summer of 1983 when a nitrate print in excellent condition was discovered in Georgia. A couple rebuilding the steps of their front porch uncovered all three reels of the film, still in their metal cans.