Billancourt Studios was a film studio in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

which operated between 1922 and 1992. Located in Boulogne-Billancourt, it was one of the leading French studios. It was founded in the silent era by Henri Diamant-Berger. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

the studio was used by

Continental Films Continental Films was a German-controlled French film production company. It stood as the sole authorized film production organization in Nazi-occupied France. Established in October 1940, it was entirely bankrolled by the German government, and ...

, a company financed by the German occupiers. They are also known as the Paris-Studio-Cinéma.

History

Henri Diamant-Berger set up his studios in the buildings sold by the aircraft cabin builder Niepce and Fetterer, taking advantage of the infrastructure left behind and the immensity of the buildings. He thus created the first modern French studio, including on the same place restaurant, workshops, dressing rooms. A clean power plant produces lights of unrivaled power. In 1926, the studios were bought by Pierre Braunberger and Roger Richebé under the name Paris Studios Cinéma. They know with talking pictures their real start thanks to the Western Electric sound recording system. In 1933, a fire provided an opportunity to rebuild better and bigger. A room of fifteen meters high under ceiling is traversed by modular metal walkways. Set designers Alexandre Trauner and Eugène Lourié, cinematographer Henri Alekan and unique technical know-how propel the studios to first place in Europe.

References

Bibliography

* Crisp, C.G. ''The Classic French Cinema, 1930-1960''. Indiana University Press, 1993. * Petr Szczepanik, Patrick Vonderau. ''Behind the Screen: Inside European Production Cultures''. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. French film studios {{film-studio-stub