Ballet des sylphides (1902) watch online HD

This is a showy piece directed by Ferdinand Zecca. Although it's only two minutes long, it features Pathe's corps de ballet doing ballet (although I didn't care for the prima ballerina). In addition the print was decorated in Pathe's patented stencil-color process; although the tinting has faded a bit in almost twelve decades, it's still impressive. Less impressive is the mise-en-scene; an immobile camera frames the dancers securely within a proscenium arch.

Zecca was born into a show biz family in 1864. He first encountered the movies with Gaumont, then almost immediately went to Pathe, where he swiftly became indispensable in production. He not only directed a lot of their movies, he supervised their other directors. By 1906 he was Pathe's managing director. In 1913, he was sent to America to run the company's branch. He returned to France in 1919 and managed the Pathe-Baby division (home equipment and exhibition) until his retirement in 1939. He died in 1947.