Ferdinand Zecca

Ferdinand Zecca ( ​​born February 19, 1864 in Paris, † March 23, 1947 in Saint- Mandé ) was a French film director and pioneer of French cinema.

Life

He worked as a cafe entertainer before he came to the movie 1899. He was hired by Pathé as a director and made ​​his first film Le muet Melomane (1899 ). In addition to Georges Hatot and Lucien Nonguet he was the most important and successful director earlier Pathé productions. For the ideas of his films he used in that time not unusual manner with other film productions, such as those of Georges Méliès '. Zecca created public appeal commodity, including with Histoire d' un crime ( 1901), the first detective film in history. Also in 1901 he directed Les enfants du Capitaine Grant, the first film version of Jules Verne 's novel The Children of Captain Grant.

Occasionally Zecca also appeared as an actor and producer in appearance. His co-directed incurred with Nonguet film La vie et la passion de Jésus Christ from 1905 is one of his most important. With about 45 minutes playing time, it is the oldest surviving feature-length film. Zecca worked continuously until 1915, when he went as a manager of a branch of Pathé company in the United States. Back in France, he was no longer active after two more film control rooms in 1919 as a director.

In 1920 he took over the management of the short film equipment production at Pathé Frères, the increasingly withdrew from the film production itself, and went in 1939 to retire.