CAPELLANI, ALBERT

(1870-1931)

Actor, director, and screenwriter. Albert Capellani was one of the few pioneers of cinema to have any formal training in the dramatic arts. He studied drama at the Paris Conservatoire d'art dramatique (whereCharles LeBargywas also a student) and went on to become a dramatic actor in the Parisian theater, and then later a stage manager and theater manager, lastly at the Alhambra Music Hall. In 1905, Capellani abandoned the stage for the cinema on the conviction that the cinema would become the dominant art.

He went directly toPathé, where he worked and trained underFerdinand Zecca.Capellani also distinguished himself early as a talented director of the melodrama, which was emerging as a genre. His 1906 filmLa Loi du pardonwas hailed by his contemporary Victorin Jasset as one of the first great films and one of the first commercial successes in the genre, and hisPauvre mère, from the same year, did nearly as well.

In 1907, Capellani directedLa Légende de Polichinelle, the story of a robot who falls in love with a doll. The film, which starred film iconMax Linder, was an enormous success. And as a result,Charles Pathémoved Capellani over to the newly createdSociété Cinématographique des Auteurs et Gens de Lettres(SCAGL), which Pathé had created to makefilms d'art. As a director for this series, Capellani brought to the screen a number of French classics, ranging from fairy tales to histories. These includedLe Chat botté(1908);La Belle au bois dormant(1908), codirected withLucien Nonguet;L'Assommoir(1909), codirected with Michel Carré;Germinal(1912), an adaptation of the novel by Émile Zola; and a sweeping, four-part adaptation of Victor Hugo'sLes Misérables(1912), which is still regarded as a masterpiece of cinema. Capellani's films elevated the cinema from a popular distraction toward an art form, and his longer-than-average films are seen to have established the trend toward feature-length films.

Capellani is also credited with bringing a number of talented actors and directors to the filmmaking industry. He cast the great stage performerMistinguettinLes Misérables, her first film, and established her as a silent-film star. He also brought theater actors such as Paul Capellani (his brother) and Berthe Bovy to film. The directors he helped to train includeGeorges Moncaand Michel Carré.

In 1914, when the war began to interfere with French film production, Capellani left France for the United States. He remained in the United States for several years, making films there for various studios, including Pathé Exchange, Metro Film, and World Film. Capellani fell ill in 1923 and returned to France with the intention of going back to the United States when he recovered. His health deteriorated, however, and he became paralyzed and was forced to give up film-making altogether.