Marcel Proust does not appear in a 1904 wedding film.

Early 2017, in the Revue d'études proustiennes, Jean-Pierre Sirois-Trahan announced the appearance of Marcel Proust in a short film taken at an aristocratic wedding in 1904. His claim is an error based on an anachronism  which was quickly picked up on by Proustian specialists: at the end of 1904 the writer was no longer the young man familiar to us from his iconic image. Nevertheless the effect of the scoop was immediate and the analysis of the propagation of such an error, just as for other “appearances” of famous writers, called for theoretical study on the social perception of images.

JC Antoine's research, drawing upon public and private sources, makes it possible to go beyond the observation of the errors in Sirois-Trahan’s article and above all to reconstruct an interpretation of the film as a witness of a Society event, while repositioning Marcel Proust’s place in this context. Familiar with the fiancé, Proust offers an original wedding gift: a revolver, and he even approaches the Comtesse Greffulhe, mother of the bride and model of the Duchesse de Guermantes.

Starting from the desire to refute a socially consolidated assertion that testifies to the strength of beliefs in 21st century society, the article here attached takes the opportunity to dissect the marriage mores of Parisian aristocracy at the beginning of the 20th century in the manner of a micro-history. It then expands upon a demonstration aimed at proving that the flippant attitude of the young man seen in the film was incompatible with Proust’s habits.

This article was first published in French, under the title « Marcel Proust est de mariage », in the Bulletin Marcel Proust, 2018, by Société des Amis de Marcel Proust. Its translation has benefited from the invaluable help of Chris Taylor and "Marcelita Swann". Let us thank them for that, as well as the director of Bulletin Marcel Proust, Mireille Naturel.

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Dear Aurellyen (Jean-Christophe Antoine) ~

After all your hours of diligent, and exhausting, research, Mireille Naturel recognized that you were following Proust's own obsessiveness--in attempting to be as accurate as possible.
Proust could have easily asked, or followed, someone else's opinion, but no...he would drive everyone mad, with his attention to detail. 

Example: 
From William C. Carter’s biography, “ Marcel Proust: A Life:”

Proust’s ventures into the normal, daytime world remained complicated and rare. When he went out now it was often with the purpose of acquiring material for his book by pumping friends for information or researching details regarding art or fashion. A chance encounter with an old acquaintance whom he had not seen for a long time confirmed a detail about a hat. Proust went with the art historian Lucien Henraux to the Durand-Ruel Gallery to view an exhibition of Chinese paintings, lacquers, and screens. While there he met Georges Rodier, a rich dilettante who had been a regular at Mme Lemaire’s salon. Marcel told Reynaldo that he had consulted with Rodier about the way courtesans used to dress: “As soon as I mentioned a black hat worn by Clomesnil, he exclaimed, ‘That’s right, a Rembrandt hat.’ In short, I was overwhelmed with joy.” He had found the perfect hat for Odette de Crécy. Proust, who had used Laure Hayman as one of the models for Odette, feared that he had revealed too much and Rodier might later realize she had been the inspiration for this aspect of the novel’s cocotte. 82 Proust had also been struck at the exhibition by how old and nearly unrecognizable Rodier had grown, like so many people he now encountered. The ravages of time on the faces of people he had known when young always impressed him. Everything had become grist for Proust’s mill—not only the past he hoped to recapture but present encounters with people who offered bits to enrich his text. Rodier had provided two: confirmation about Hayman’s Rembrandt hat and a remark that revealed his unawareness that he had spent his life pursuing the idle, but highly seductive, pleasures of the Belle Époque. WCC

82. SL 3: 53, 55, n. 9. Léonie de Clomesnil, a celebrated courtesan, was one of the models for Odette. See Search 1: 340–41, where Swann sees Odette in a fashionable new outfit, “a cape trimmed with skunk, a Rembrandt hat, and a bunch of violets in her bosom.”


As an aside, Chris Taylor did 99.9% of the translation. 
For those of us who only read Proust in English, Chris' website has been invaluable to helping us become more passionate Proustians. 
http://www.yorktaylors.free-online.co.uk