Gaumont Film Company
Encyclopedia
Gaumont Film Company is a French
film production company founded in 1895 by the engineer-turned-inventor, Léon Gaumont
(1864–1946). Gaumont is the oldest continously operating film company in the world.
Originally dealing in photographic apparatus, the company began producing short films in 1897 to promote its make of camera-projector. Léon Gaumont's secretary Alice Guy-Blaché
became the motion picture industry’s first female director. From 1905 to 1914, its studios "Cité Elgé" (from the normal French pronunciation of the founder's initials L-G) at La Villette, France
, were the largest in the world.
The company manufactured its own equipment and mass-produced films until 1907, when Louis Feuillade
became the artistic director of Gaumont. When World War I
broke out, he was replaced by Léonce Perret
, who continued his career in the United States a few years later. The company headquarters are in Neuilly-sur-Seine
.
; the comic Onésime series, starring Ernest Bourbon; the comic Bébé series, starring five-year-old René Dary; and the newsreel
s of the Gaumont Actualities. Directors such as Abel Gance
, Alfred Hitchcock
, and the early animator Emile Cohl
worked for this studio at one time or another.
, which later notably produced several Hitchcock films such as The 39 Steps
(1935
) and The Lady Vanishes
(1938
). Along with its giant competitor Pathé Frères, Gaumont dominated the motion-picture industry in Europe
until the outbreak of World War I
in 1914. Gaumont also constructed the Lime Grove Studios
.
After significant post-war losses to American productions in market-share/competition, Gaumont experienced the subsequent business reversals of technological change (the advent of sound) and financial depression, and was eventually merged with Franco-Film Aubert in the early 1930s.
In 1975, media tycoon and French Old money
heir, multillionaire
Nicolas Seydoux started managing Gaumont of which he personally owns 60% of the shares and 70% of the votes.
In 2005, Gaumont's revenues were over $200 million.
, The Fifth Element
). The company has also produced television shows, including four animated series: Highlander: The Animated Series
, Dragon Flyz
, and Sky Dancers
(the second and third are based on their respective toy lines) and the very popular Oggy and the Cockroaches
.
On February 2, 2000, Philippe Binant, technical manager of Digital Cinema Project at Gaumont, realized the first digital cinema projection in Europe
with the Texas Instruments
prototype projector. From January 2004-2007 the company had a partnership with Sony for producing films and for theatre and DVD distribution worldwide. Together with Pathe they operate their own cinemas across France. For many years, Gaumont's home video division was a joint venture with Sony Pictures Entertainment
. Currently, Gaumont distributes its films through Paramount Pictures
on video in France. In 2008 Gaumont took over French animation studio, Alphanim
and renamed it Gaumont-Alphanim.
selected the daisy as the company logo to pay homage to his mother, whose first name was Marguerite (Daisy). Today, in spite of regular modifications of the drawing, the daisy is always present even if its significance is forgotten.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
film production company founded in 1895 by the engineer-turned-inventor, Léon Gaumont
Léon Gaumont
Léon Gaumont was a French inventor, engineer, and industrialist who was a pioneer of the motion picture industry....
(1864–1946). Gaumont is the oldest continously operating film company in the world.
Originally dealing in photographic apparatus, the company began producing short films in 1897 to promote its make of camera-projector. Léon Gaumont's secretary Alice Guy-Blaché
Alice Guy-Blaché
Alice Guy-Blaché was a French pioneer filmmaker who was the first female director in the motion picture industry and is considered to be one of the first directors of a fiction film.-Early years:...
became the motion picture industry’s first female director. From 1905 to 1914, its studios "Cité Elgé" (from the normal French pronunciation of the founder's initials L-G) at La Villette, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, were the largest in the world.
The company manufactured its own equipment and mass-produced films until 1907, when Louis Feuillade
Louis Feuillade
Louis Feuillade was a prolific and prominent French film director from the silent era. Between 1906 and 1924 he directed over 630 films...
became the artistic director of Gaumont. When World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
broke out, he was replaced by Léonce Perret
Léonce Perret
Léonce Perret was a prolific and innovative French film actor, director and producer. He also worked as a stage actor and director...
, who continued his career in the United States a few years later. The company headquarters are in Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Although Neuilly is technically a suburb of Paris, it is immediately adjacent to the city and directly extends it. The area is composed of mostly wealthy, select residential...
.
Films
Among some of the most notable films produced were the serials Judex and FantômasFantômas
Fantômas is a fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre .One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, Fantômas was created in 1911 and appeared in a total of 32 volumes written by the two collaborators, then a subsequent 11...
; the comic Onésime series, starring Ernest Bourbon; the comic Bébé series, starring five-year-old René Dary; and the newsreel
Newsreel
A newsreel was a form of short documentary film prevalent in the first half of the 20th century, regularly released in a public presentation place and containing filmed news stories and items of topical interest. It was a source of news, current affairs and entertainment for millions of moviegoers...
s of the Gaumont Actualities. Directors such as Abel Gance
Abel Gance
Abel Gance was a French film director and producer, writer and actor. He is best known for three major silent films: J'accuse , La Roue , and the monumental Napoléon .-Early life:...
, Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, and the early animator Emile Cohl
Émile Cohl
Émile Cohl , born Émile Eugène Jean Louis Courtet, was a French caricaturist of the largely forgotten Incoherent Movement, cartoonist, and animator, called "The Father of the Animated Cartoon" and "The Oldest Parisian".-Biography:Émile's father Elie was a rubber salesman, and his mother, Emilie...
worked for this studio at one time or another.
History
Gaumont opened foreign offices and acquired theatre chains Gaumont BritishGaumont British
Gaumont-British Picture Corporation was the British arm of the French film company Gaumont. The company became independent of its French parent in 1922, when Isidore Ostrer acquired control of Gaumont-British....
, which later notably produced several Hitchcock films such as The 39 Steps
The 39 Steps (1935 film)
The 39 Steps is a British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on the adventure novel The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan. The film stars Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll....
(1935
1935 in film
-Events:*Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .*Seven year old Shirley Temple wins a special Academy Award.*The Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment started in order to educate the Bantu peoples.-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:...
) and The Lady Vanishes
The Lady Vanishes (1938 film)
The Lady Vanishes is a 1938 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and adapted by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder from the 1936 novel The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White...
(1938
1938 in film
The year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...
). Along with its giant competitor Pathé Frères, Gaumont dominated the motion-picture industry in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
until the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in 1914. Gaumont also constructed the Lime Grove Studios
Lime Grove Studios
Lime Grove Studios was a film studio complex built by the Gaumont Film Company in 1915 situated in a street named Lime Grove, inShepherd's Bush, west London, north of Hammersmith and described by Gaumont as "the finest studio in Great Britain and the first building ever put up in this country...
.
After significant post-war losses to American productions in market-share/competition, Gaumont experienced the subsequent business reversals of technological change (the advent of sound) and financial depression, and was eventually merged with Franco-Film Aubert in the early 1930s.
In 1975, media tycoon and French Old money
Old Money
Old money is "the inherited wealth of established upper-class families " or "a person, family, or lineage possessing inherited wealth." The term typically describes a class of the super-rich, who have been able to maintain their wealth across multiple generations.- United States :American locations...
heir, multillionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
Nicolas Seydoux started managing Gaumont of which he personally owns 60% of the shares and 70% of the votes.
In 2005, Gaumont's revenues were over $200 million.
Current events
Gaumont is still independent and has been recognized as one of the largest producers and distributors of films in France (LéonLéon (film)
Léon is a 1994 French thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson...
, The Fifth Element
The Fifth Element
The Fifth Element is a 1997 French science fiction film directed, co-written, and based on a story by Luc Besson, starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, and Milla Jovovich...
). The company has also produced television shows, including four animated series: Highlander: The Animated Series
Highlander: The Animated Series
Highlander: The Animated Series is a Canadian-French animated television series which premiered on September 18, 1994. It is a loose spinoff of the cult classic 1986 film of the same name. The series was produced by Gaumont Multimedia with the worldwide distribution rights owned by Bohbot...
, Dragon Flyz
Dragon Flyz
Dragon Flyz is a television program created by Gaumont Pictures that ran for approximately two or three years, accompanied by a line of toy action-figures. The program centered on a coalition known as the Dragonators , who are primarily humans who ride on Dragon-back for the purposes of...
, and Sky Dancers
Sky Dancers
Sky Dancers is the name of a line of toys that were popular in the mid-1990s. The toys were constructed of a pull-string base and a doll with foam wings. When the doll was inserted into the base and the string pulled, the doll would launch into the air, spinning its wings like a propeller as it flew...
(the second and third are based on their respective toy lines) and the very popular Oggy and the Cockroaches
Oggy and the Cockroaches
Oggy and the Cockroaches is a French animated comedy series produced by Gaumont Film Company, creator of the popular series Space Goofs.-Synopsis:...
.
On February 2, 2000, Philippe Binant, technical manager of Digital Cinema Project at Gaumont, realized the first digital cinema projection in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
with the Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
prototype projector. From January 2004-2007 the company had a partnership with Sony for producing films and for theatre and DVD distribution worldwide. Together with Pathe they operate their own cinemas across France. For many years, Gaumont's home video division was a joint venture with Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony...
. Currently, Gaumont distributes its films through Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
on video in France. In 2008 Gaumont took over French animation studio, Alphanim
Alphanim
Alphanim was a French independent animation production and distribution company, founded in 1997, with a catalogue ranging from pre-school through teens and family properties...
and renamed it Gaumont-Alphanim.
Logo
Léon GaumontLéon Gaumont
Léon Gaumont was a French inventor, engineer, and industrialist who was a pioneer of the motion picture industry....
selected the daisy as the company logo to pay homage to his mother, whose first name was Marguerite (Daisy). Today, in spite of regular modifications of the drawing, the daisy is always present even if its significance is forgotten.