13 Facts About Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset

Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset was an early film pioneer in France, active between the years 1905 and 1913.

Victorin Jasset was born to a pair of innkeepers in Fumay in the Ardennes region of France in 1862, and after studying painting and sculpture with Dalou, he began a career designing theatre costumes and as a decorator of fans.

Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset then became known as the producer and designer of spectacular ballets and pantomimes, notably Vercingetorix in 1900 at the newly built Theatre de l'Hippodrome in Paris.

Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset kept the name of the character but invented new adventures with a Parisian setting.

The first six sections that Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset directed were released at bi-weekly intervals in late 1908, and each one narrated a complete story.

In 1912 Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset turned from fantasy and spectacle to realism in making a Zola adaptation, as part of Eclair's new series of social dramas.

Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset had just embarked on adaptations of two novels by Jules Verne when in June 1913 he became seriously ill.

Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset entered hospital for an operation which initially appeared to be successful, but after a short revival he died in Paris on 22 June 1913.

Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset was buried in the vault of his wife's family in Pere Lachaise cemetery.

Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset made over 100 films, and explored many different genres apart from the crime serial.

Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset was remembered as a man of immense energy, versatility, and concern for detail, and he took particular trouble in his direction of actors.

The most immediate influence of Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset's work was seen in the films of Louis Feuillade, who was working at Gaumont and took the film serial to new heights with Fantomas, Les Vampires and Judex.

Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset contributed to early film theory with a journal article in which he analysed film style and the national characteristics of cinema.