JASSET, VICTORINHIPPOLYTE

(1862-1913)

Director and film pioneer. Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset, like nearly all early film pioneers, started his career in the theater. His areas of expertise in the theatrical world were costumes and scenery, and he worked in that capacity before becoming a director at the Hippodrome Theater in Paris (which would later be turned into the Gaumont Palace). Jasset entered the cinema in 1906, whenAlice Guyasked him to do the costumes and scenery for her film,La Vie du Christ(1906). He worked for only a brief time atGaumontbefore being hired on at the newly establishedÉclairstudios, where he was paired with veteran film directorGeorges Hatot.Jasset and Hatot collaborated for approximately two years at Éclair, during which time the two produced a number of films, mostly film serials (although only Jasset is credited on most of these). Of these, the most famous are undoubtedly theRiffle Billseries, which ran in 1908, theNick Carterseries, which ran in 1908 and 1909, and theMorgan le pirateseries, which ran in 1909.Nick Carterwas, without a doubt, the most famous of these. Adapted from a dimestore detective serial, Nick Carter became the prototype for the detective film and enjoyed huge popular success. Other films Jasset made for Éclair includeLa Fille de la sorcière(1908),L'Honneur du corsaire(1908),Dragonades sous Louis XIV(1909),Fleur empoisonnée(1909),Le Vautour de la sierra:le Vautour et l'usurier(1909),Le Vautour de la sierra:un marriage mouvementé(1909),Le Vautour de la sierra:evasion audacieuse(1909), andGinhara ou fidèldejusqu'à la mort(1910).

In 1909, Jasset and Hatot went to North Africa to film and there made a number of films on location. These includeDans les ruines de Carthage(1910),La Résurrection de Lazare(1910), andLa Reconnaissance de l'arabe(1910). Jasset returned to Paris in the summer of 1910 and there madeL'Hériodade(1910) on his own. Jasset also directed independently theDocteur Phantomseries (1910) for the Société du film négatif studio, newly founded by Hatot. From that point on in his career, Jasset primarily worked alone, apart from a brief collaboration with director Émile Chautard in 1911.

Jasset's success with the serial continued when he createdZigomarin 1911.Zigomarwas a dark, somber, realist depiction of the criminal side of contemporary society. It was a precursor toLouis Feuillade'sFantômasand undoubtedly influenced it.Zigomaris often seen (as is Feuillade'sFantômas) as a precursor toRéalisme poétiqueor poetic realism.Zigomarwas so successful that it inspired two sequels,Zigomar contre Nick Carter(1912), which pit two of Jasset's most famous characters against one another, andZigomar peau d'anguille(1913).

Apart from serials, Jasset was able to direct a number of different types of film. His films include social dramas likeAu pays des ténèbres(1912), literary adaptations, such asLe Mystère de Notre Dame de Paris(1912), and epic adventures such asBalaoo(1912). He also made a female spy film,Protéa(1913), which was continued in sequel form after his death. When Jasset died in 1913, he had nearly single-handedly carried the Éclair studios for five years, and established his own reputation as a landmark film director, with a clear, no-nonsense style that had pushed the cinema that much closer to the inevitable dominance of narrative.