Charles Pathé facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Charles Pathé
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Charles Pathé, June 1919
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Charles Morand Pathé
26 December 1863 Chevry-Cossigny, Seine-et-Marne, Second French Empire
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| Died | 25 December 1957 (aged 93) |
| Nationality | French |
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| Years active | 1889–1927 |
| Known for | Filmmaking |
Charles Morand Pathé (born December 26, 1863 – died December 25, 1957) was a very important person in the early days of French movies and music recording. He started a company called Pathé Frères in Paris, France, in 1896. He and his brothers helped create the first moving pictures.
Pathé used the Gallic rooster, which is a symbol of France, as his company's logo. His company, later known as Compagnie Générale des Éstablissements Pathé Frères Phonographes & Cinématographes, also invented the cinema newsreel, called Pathé-Journal. These newsreels showed current events in movie theaters.
Early Life
Charles Morand Pathé was born in a town called Chevry-Cossigny, in the Seine-et-Marne area of France. His parents, Jacques and Thérèse-Émélie Pathé, were butchers. They owned a deli in Chevry-Cossigny and later in Vincennes. Charles had three brothers and two sisters.
Starting Businesses
Charles left school at age 14 to become a butcher's helper in Paris. After serving in the military, he tried to be a meat seller in 1889. He then used his savings and help from his family to go to Buenos Aires, Argentina. He hoped to start a successful business there.
Pathé tried different jobs, like a laundry service, but they didn't work out. He had a tough time and often had to change jobs. After a failed attempt to sell exotic parrots, he got very sick and returned to France.
At age 30, Pathé got married in Paris. He worked as a clerk, earning only a small salary.
Recording Sound
In August 1894, Pathé saw Thomas Edison's phonograph at a town fair in Vincennes. A phonograph was a machine that could record and play sounds. Pathé was very interested in this new technology. He bought some of Edison's machines to sell them himself.
In 1896, Charles and his brothers Émile, Théophile, and Jacques started a company called Société Pathé Frères (Pathé Brothers) in Paris. This company made and sold phonographs and the wax cylinders used to record sound. His brother Émile Pathé was in charge of this part of the business.
Making Movies
While in London, Pathé saw Edison's Kinetoscope, which was an early device for watching moving pictures. He decided to expand his company to include movies. Pathé bought the rights to use Kodak film in Europe. This allowed his company to rent out movie projection equipment and film to theaters across France. Renting films was more profitable than selling them.
In 1896, Pathé opened a small factory in Vincennes. His company, Société Pathé Frères, started making its own films. Some of their first movies were Le Passage à niveau à Joinville le Pont and L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de Bel-Air. For several years, the money from the sound recording business helped support the new movie company.
Growing the Film Business
On December 28, 1897, Société Pathé Frères became a bigger company. It now included film production, film labs, technical services, and film distribution. From 1902 to 1904, Pathé opened offices in other parts of Europe and in the United States. Their famous Gallic rooster logo, created in 1905, became a symbol of one of the world's most important movie makers.
By 1906, Pathé Frères was becoming a global company. They opened a branch in Spain and, four years later, entered the US market with Pathé-America. They also opened offices in many other countries.
Pathé Frères first used cameras based on the designs of the Lumière brothers. Then, they designed their own improved studio cameras and made their own film. In 1901, Pathé started working with director Ferdinand Zecca. Zecca was in charge of creating and producing Pathé Frères films. After 1905, the company hired many specialized staff, including screenwriters, directors, and camera operators.
Ferdinand Zecca's Films
Zecca made movies about many different things, from everyday life to fantasy. In À la conquête de l'air (1901), a strange flying machine was shown flying over rooftops. This one-minute film was special because it was the first movie about aviation, made two years before the Wright Brothers flew their first plane.
Zecca also made one of the first crime dramas, Histoire d'un crime (1901). This film was new because it used a technique called superimposition. The story was about a man waiting to be executed, and his past crimes appeared on his cell wall. This was an early example of using flashbacks in a movie.
Other films Zecca made included:
- Comedies
- Trick films (movies with special effects)
- Fairy tales, like Les Sept châteaux du Diable (1901) and La Belle au bois dormant (1902)
- Social dramas, like Les Victimes de l'alcoolisme (1902)
- Recreations of real events, like La Catastrophe de la Martinique (1902)
Zecca often acted in his own films. In 1906, he worked with Segundo de Chomón, who helped with photography and special effects. Zecca continued to try new things. He co-directed La Vie et la passion de Jésus Christ (1903), which was 44 minutes long. This was one of the first longer films about Jesus. He also started making films in color.
Between 1900 and 1907, Zecca oversaw the making of hundreds of Pathé films. Many important directors worked for Pathé during this time. Zecca also acted, directed, produced, and sometimes wrote films. After Pathé bought the rights to Star films, Zecca also edited films by George Méliès. The number of films produced grew from 70 in 1901 to 500 in 1903. After 1906, fewer films were made, but they were longer.
Later Success and Retirement
Pathé Frères made many short films. Most of these were exciting crime stories, dramatic love stories, and comedies. In 1909, Pathé made his first "long film," Les Misérables. This movie was based on the famous book by Victor Hugo.
That same year, he created the Pathé Gazette in France. This was a newsreel that became very popular around the world. It was called Pathé News in the U.S. (starting in 1910) and in the U.K. (starting in 1911, now British Pathé). These newsreels continued until 1956.
In 1912, Pathé asked Alfred Machin to develop the first studio films in Belgium. In 1914, Pathé Frères studios in the United States released the first parts of The Perils of Pauline. This was one of the earliest and most famous movie serials, which were like TV shows with many episodes. The company also started publishing a movie magazine called Pathé Pictorial.
In 1929, Charles Pathé sold his share in his businesses. He then retired to Monaco. He passed away there on Christmas Day in 1957, just one day before his 94th birthday.
See also
In Spanish: Charles Pathé para niños
