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Pathé

From Alfawiki
Pathé SAS
Company typeSociété par actions simplifiée
IndustryFilm production, film distribution, cinema chains, television networks
FoundedSeptember 28, 1896; 130 years ago (1896-09-28) in Paris, France
FounderCharles Pathé, Émile Pathé, Théophile Pathé, Jacques Pathé
Headquarters
Paris
,
France
Area served
Europe (including cinema chains and television networks)
ProductsFilms, cinema exhibition, television programming
OwnerJérôme Seydoux (via family-owned Fornier SA)

Pathé SAS (; branded as PATHÉ!) stands as a prominent French enterprise specializing in film production and distribution, with ownership of cinema chains via its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and control over television networks throughout Europe.

Established in 1896 by the Pathé siblings—Charles, Émile, Théophile, and Jacques—the company swiftly rose to become the foremost global manufacturer of film equipment and a leading film production entity in the early 20th century, also venturing into phonograph record production. In 1908, Pathé pioneered the introduction of the newsreel, which was screened in theaters preceding feature presentations.

Ranking as the second-oldest film company still in operation after Gaumont, founded in 1895, Pathé holds a significant place in cinematic history.

History

Initially launched as Société Pathé Frères (; meaning "Pathé Brothers Company") in Paris on 28 September 1896, Pathé quickly established dominance in worldwide film equipment manufacturing and production throughout the early 1900s,[1] while simultaneously becoming a major producer of phonograph records.

Pathé Records

The phonograph and film divisions were overseen by Charles Pathé, who inaugurated a phonograph retail outlet in 1894 and set up a manufacturing plant in Chatou, near Paris. The Pathé brothers initially retailed Edison and Columbia phonographs alongside cylinder records but later developed their own designs that incorporated elements from competing brands. They also sold pre-recorded cylinder records. By 1896, Pathé operated offices and studios for recording in Paris, London, Milan, and St. Petersburg, producing cylinder records until approximately 1914. The company entered the disc record market with vertical-cut discs in 1905.

While Pathé became France’s leading distributor of phonographs and cylinder records, it faced challenges breaking into well-established markets such as the United Kingdom and United States.

In December 1928, the French and British Pathé phonograph operations were sold to the British Columbia Graphophone Company. Subsequently, in July 1929, American Pathé record holdings merged into the newly created American Record Corporation.

The Pathé and Pathé-Marconi brand names persist as labels under EMI and its successor Parlophone Records. In 1967, control of the catalog passed to EMI Italiana, which was later acquired by Universal Music Group in 2013.

Pathé films

Building on success in phonographs, Pathé broadened its scope to include the burgeoning motion picture sector. To support this expansion, the firm rebranded as Compagnie Générale des Établissements Pathé Frères Phonographes & Cinématographes (CGPC) in 1897 and issued shares on the Paris Stock Exchange. In 1896, Mitchell Mark became the first American to import films from Pathé, exhibiting them in Buffalo, New York.

In 1907, Pathé acquired patents from the Lumière brothers and advanced its technology by developing enhanced studio cameras and film stock. Equipped with state-of-the-art machinery, new processing plants at Vincennes, and an extensive distribution network, Pathé secured a substantial portion of the international market. The company expanded its presence to London in 1902 by establishing both production facilities and a cinema chain.

By 1909, more than 200 cinemas operated under Pathé across France and Belgium, with additional establishments in Madrid, Moscow, Rome, New York City, Australia, and Japan. Its American branch, Pathé Exchange, was part of the MPPC cartel. Although Pathé took part in the 1909 Paris Film Congress, which aimed to create a European production alliance, it withdrew early on, weakening those efforts. In 1906, it introduced upscale cinemas with Paris’s Omnia Cinéma-Pathé.

Prior to World War I, Pathé held a dominant position within Europe’s motion picture camera and projector markets; at one stage, approximately 60% of all films were produced using its equipment. The company distributed Excursion to the Moon (1908), a film inspired by Méliès's A Trip to the Moon, and collaborated with Georges Méliès in 1911. However, their partnership eventually soured; following Méliès's bankruptcy in 1913, his last film was never released by Pathé.

After World War I, Charles Pathé withdrew from his film ventures due to skepticism about the French industry's revival prospects. This decision contributed to the company's decline into primarily distributing short films with a diminished role in mainstream movie production.

Innovations

Pathé made substantial global investments in research, pioneering techniques such as hand-tinted films and synchronised film with gramophone audio. In 1908, it created the newsreel format, which was screened in cinemas prior to main features and prominently displayed the Pathé rooster emblem. By 1912, the company launched the 28 mm non-flammable film format along with related equipment under the Pathescope label. From 1910 through the 1970s, Pathé News produced cinema newsreels, eventually ceasing operations due to the rise of television.

In the United States, Pathé established production facilities in Fort Lee and Jersey City starting in 1914. The Jersey City studio notably produced the hit serial The Perils of Pauline. By 1918, Pathé's activities were divided into two branches: Emile Pathé managed Pathé Records, focusing on phonograph records and devices, while Charles oversaw Pathé-Cinéma, responsible for film production, distribution, and exhibition.

The year 1922 saw the introduction of the Pathé Baby home cinema system employing 9.5 mm film, which gained considerable popularity over the following decades. In 1921, Pathé divested its American motion picture production division, which was renamed "Pathé Exchange" and later merged into RKO Pictures, disappearing as an independent entity by 1931. Meanwhile, British studios were sold to Eastman Kodak in 1927, although theatre operations and distribution remained under Pathé's control.


From Natan to Parretti

Pathé encountered severe financial challenges when Bernard Natan assumed control in 1929. Founder Charles Pathé had previously liquidated assets to generate investor returns and cash flow, including licensing the Pathé brand name and "rooster" trademark for minimal royalties. Natan took charge amid the economic turmoil of the Great Depression affecting France.

Natan aimed to restore financial stability and modernize company operations. He acquired the Société des Cinéromans studio, expanded into manufacturing projectors and electronics, and purchased the Fornier cinema chain to extend national reach. Despite achieving profitability—earning approximately 100 million francs between 1930 and 1935 and producing over sixty feature films—Natan was subjected to intense criticism in French media, much of which was rooted in antisemitism.

Under Natan’s leadership, Pathé revived its newsreel production and invested significantly in research and development. The company embraced sound film technology in 1929, releasing its inaugural sound feature film and sound newsreel within months. To promote its films and boost market interest, Natan launched magazines such as Pathé-Revue and Actualités Féminines. Notably, Pathé financed Henri Chrétien’s development of anamorphic lens technology, a critical innovation underpinning widescreen formats like CinemaScope.

Beyond cinema, Natan diversified into broader communications sectors: he founded France’s first television company, Télévision-Baird-Natan, in 1929 and acquired a Paris radio station that became Radio-Natan-Vitus as part of building a radio network.

To support expansion plans, Pathé’s board approved a share issue worth 105 million francs in 1930; however, only half of these shares were sold due to worsening economic conditions during the Depression. The collapse of a major investor bank—unrelated to Pathé—forced costly acquisitions of additional cinema chains beyond what was financially sustainable. Although overall profitable, these acquisitions led to net losses. By 1936, Pathé declared bankruptcy and Natan was removed from his position. While studios continued producing films, companies entered receivership and were taken over by the state.

French authorities charged Natan with fraud—accusing him of financing acquisitions without adequate collateral and creating shell companies to deceive investors—and alleged he concealed his Romanian-Jewish heritage by changing his name. Arrested in 1938 and sentenced to four years imprisonment in 1939, he was detained during Nazi occupation. After release in 1942, he was deported to Auschwitz, where he perished.

In 1943, under new leadership by Adrien Ramauge, the firm reorganized as Société Nouvelle Pathé Cinema. Over subsequent decades it diversified into television programme production; by the 1970s theatre operations had become its primary revenue source surpassing film production.

During the late 1980s, Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti attempted to acquire Pathé via purchasing Cannon, rebranding it as Pathé Communications with plans for full studio ownership. However, concerns regarding Parretti’s background caused French authorities to block this acquisition—a fortunate intervention since Parretti later merged Cannon with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer forming MGM-Pathé Communications in 1990 before his bankruptcy ended his control in 1991.

Jérôme Seydoux

In 1990, the French conglomerate Chargeurs, under the leadership of Jérôme Seydoux, gained control of the company. After the deregulation of the French telecommunications sector, Pathé merged with Vivendi in June 1999, with an exchange rate of three Vivendi shares for every two Pathé shares. The transaction was valued at approximately US$2.59 billion by The Wall Street Journal. Post-merger, Vivendi maintained Pathé’s interests in British Sky Broadcasting and CanalSatellite, subsequently divesting all other holdings to Fornier SA, a family-owned firm controlled by Seydoux, which was later rebranded as Pathé.

Current assets

  • Pathé Cinémas (cinema chain)
  • Pathé Films (film production and distribution operations in France and Switzerland; catalogue exceeding 800 titles)
  • Pathé BC Afrique (film distribution across the Maghreb region and French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa)
  • Pathé Live (distributor specializing in event cinema)

Former assets

France

In France, Pathé manages its own film distribution through Pathé Films (previously known as AMLF). Home video distribution is conducted via Fox Pathé Europa, a joint venture involving Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Pathé, and EuropaCorp.

United Kingdom

In August 1992, Chargeurs—then parent company of Pathé—acquired Guild Entertainment, establishing it as Pathé’s distributor within the UK market. Initially, Guild’s VHS releases were distributed by PolyGram Video until March 1995, when Chargeurs collaborated with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment to form Fox Guild Home Entertainment focused on home video rentals.

Following Chargeurs’ demerger in 1996, the Guild brand was gradually phased out; the theatrical division was rebranded first as Guild Pathé Cinema and then as Pathé Distribution in June 1997 after securing film production agreements within the UK. The home video segment was similarly rebranded from Fox Guild Home Entertainment to Fox Pathé Home Entertainment. Guild Home Video remained inactive until it was officially closed in December 2019.

On March 12, 2009, Pathé ceased its UK/Ireland theatrical distribution operations and formed a partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures for theatrical releases within the UK. This strategic shift allowed Pathé to concentrate more on production rather than film acquisitions. Concurrently, Pathé continued functioning as an international sales agent while home video distribution was managed by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Some films initially planned for acquisition by Pathé were instead transferred to Revolver Entertainment.

Effective February 1, 2011, theatrical distribution responsibilities for Pathé UK were assumed by 20th Century Fox, simplifying licensing processes alongside home video distribution. After Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox on March 20, 2019, distribution of Pathé’s titles such as Misbehaviour and The Human Voice was handled by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, with home video managed by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. The agreement between Fox/Disney concluded on June 30, 2021 without renewal; Cameron McCracken, managing director of Pathé UK, commended Disney’s management of their film slate.

On June 7, 2021, Pathé UK resumed direct distribution through a renewed partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures, starting with releases including Parallel Mothers and The Duke. Unlike the prior Warner Bros. arrangement, this new deal encompassed home video and digital rights alongside theatrical distribution.

On November 15, 2023, Pathé UK announced it would pause film distribution activities to prioritize premium television content. This decision was attributed to structural shifts within the industry following the COVID-19 pandemic, difficulties faced by independent distributors in the UK market—which had led competitors like Entertainment One to close their local divisions—underperformance at the box office, and the retirement of Cameron McCracken. Subsequently, home video distribution responsibilities were transferred to StudioCanal UK, operating through its Elevation Sales joint venture with Lionsgate UK.

See also

Bibliography

  • Abel, Richard. The Red Rooster Scare: Making Cinema American, 1900–1910. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999. .
  • Gant, Tina. International Directory of Company Histories, Volumes 8 & 29. Farmington Hills: Gale, 1999. .
  • Researcher's Guide to British Newsreels. London: British Universities Film & Video Council, 1993. .


External links

  1. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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