A Chronological, International Film History Podcast.
Titians of Early French Film 1: Pathé
Charles Pathé
While there were many French filmmakers working even before Pathé, none of there were what he was: A film Magnate. Pathé represents the beginnings of industrialized film production in Europe.
While today the name "Pathé" is primarily associated with French cinema, for much of his career Pathés mega film production companies made movies around the world. This includes The United States, where one of the most famous films ever made, Safety Last, was distributed by a Pathé company, among many others. You can watch it above!
(It is worth noting that the film depicts racist depictions of both Jewish and Black People)
Ferdinand Zecca
Ferdinand Zecca (pictured above, left) was one of Pathé most important and influential directors. You can watch some of his movies below.
Max Linder
Linder was Pathé's biggest star, and directed his won films. You can learn all about him in episode 10. Below is what is credited as his debut satring role.
Newsreel
One of Pathés most important contributions to film history is his company's production of the fries newsreels. Newsreels proved to be among the most important forms of visual media in the 21st Century. The Pathé Companies produced and distributed these newsreels across the world form the early 1900s to as late as 1980. Below is an example from Canada.
Pathee-Baby 9.5mm Film
One of the worlds first home video film formats, the Pathé Baby was, according to Pathé, a great success in its early years. The System Ultimately lost to Kodaks soon to be ubiquitous 8mm film format.
Image taken from the article "Pathé Baby Collection" by Rubén Gallo, published by Princeton University Library - Rare Books and Special Collections.