PFA presents highlights from a major retrospective of the pioneer film company, Pathé, that was presented this year at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
Adventurer, businessman, “film capitalist,” “the Napoleon of the film industry,” born from a humble family that traveled from fair to fair selling sausages, against all expectations Charles Pathé brought fortune and worldwide fame to his family. Unlike his contemporaries, Méliès, Lumière, even Gaumont, he never had a great passion for cinema but he had a shrewd sense of opportunity and great business acumen. At the age of 31, in August 1894, he discovered by chance at the Vincennes fair Edison's phonograph. Interested in the profit potential of the machine more than in its intrinsic merit, he computed that he could make from 1,50 to 2 francs profit per minute of its use. He borrowed enough money to buy a machine and in less than 2 weeks returned from his first “show” with a profit of 200 francs....
From then on, Pathé seized every occasion to maximize his profits by exploiting new technologies, encouraging talent or creating new demand by innovative and aggressive strategies. However, more than a shrewd sense of timing, what differentiates him from other moguls is his insistence on quality. This led him to streamline every facet of film production, exercising artistic control over genres, choice of subjects, shooting and editing, even the design and comfort of his movie theaters.
As more of the early films of Pathé are recovered, historians are beginning to reassess its place in the development of cinema. Charles Pathé never missed an opportunity, except one, the coming of sound, but by then he was ready to retire. Unexpectedly, this fierce entrepreneur also helped many who did not share his business approach to cinema: Zecca, Méliès, Max Linder, Antoine, Perret, Grémillon, Gance, Epstein, Tourneur. His successor Bernard Nathan pursued the Pathé vision but, less scrupulous and principled than him, managed to plunge the enterprise into bankruptcy in 1936. It survived, and after the war produced Carné, Ophuls, Visconti, and of course films like Les Portes de la nuit and its greatest success, Les Enfants du paradis, the fiftieth anniversary of which we celebrate on the opening weekend of PFA's Pathé tribute.
Bertrand Augst
Bertrand Augst is Professor Emeritus of French, UC Berkeley.
