Zigomar

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Movie
German title Zigomar / The Secrets of the Catacombs of Paris
Original title Zigomar / Zigomar, roi des voleurs
Country of production France
original language French
Publishing year 1911
length approx. 51 minutes
Rod
Director Victorin Jasset
script Victorin Jasset based on the detective novel of the same name (1910) by Léon Sazie
camera Lucien Andriot
occupation

Zigomar is a French crime and detective silent film from 1911.

action

Zigomar, the title hero, is the head of a Paris gang called the bonds of Z . His trademark is the red cape, with which he mostly hides his face. His worst opponent is the smart police detective Paul Broquet.

first act

Zigomar and his gang of thieves are currently keeping the police in suspense with raids. Once again the gang has struck, this time all rooms of the Grand Hotel have been broken into. Each time the door was emblazoned with the mysterious “Z” sign, signature and signature of the master burglar. Shortly afterwards there is another break-in, this time a bank has been hit, where the crooks have bored through the masonry. The trademark can also be found here, a receipt signed with a "Z". Paul Broquet from the French criminal police hardly keeps up with his investigation when a Lilly Guyon from the Théâtre des Arts reports to him: all of her jewelry had been stolen in her box, and she found this note with the "Z" in her handbag ! Broquet follows the traces and, given the study of the files on Zigomar, is certain that Zigomar must be the head of the Z gang . Obviously he can't prove anything to the master thief at the moment, because when he sees Zigomar again flirting with the "beautiful Riri", as she is called everywhere, he doesn't intervene. A little later, the chief policeman is called to the Saint Magloire church at midnight. A “Z” has also been found there. Meanwhile, the "Z" gang members in their mysterious robes take new orders from Zigomar. Soon afterwards, beautiful Riri is kidnapped in the salon of the dressmaker Raquin. Broquet's attempt to take the alleged “Z” lair in the church fails; he falls temporarily into the hands of Zigomar. After his liberation, the blows between the crooks and the police become harder. In the last scene, Zigomar appears disguised as an Armenian and meets with his disciples for communion in the abbey.

Second act

Broquet disguises himself as a gypsy and in this mask begins to watch Zigomar. His next disguise is that of a bandmaster. The moment seems propitious to arrest Zigomar, but he escapes at the last moment. This goes underground for a while, but Broquet picks up his trail again a few weeks later, and the “Z” gang is active again in a winter health resort. Several hotel break-ins are committed. Broquet approaches to arrest Zigomar this time. He plans to take a trip to the mountains in the masquerade of a wealthy tourist to recover from the tough everyday burglars and is looking for a guide. But this time Broquet is not deterred and joins the mountain excursionist. In the midst of the mountains on the edge of an abyss, Broquet wants to arrest his archenemy. But this takes advantage of a difficult mountain passage and pushes Broquet away, who then falls into the depths. Again, Zigomar, the master criminal, escapes.

Third act

A grand, grand ball is planned for the Moulin Rouge in Paris. The so-called will-o'-the-wisps dance is planned as the artistic highlight, performed by the beautiful dancer Esmée. On that occasion she will wear a precious pearl necklace, valued at around $ 100,000. Paul Broquet rightly assumes that his eternal adversary Zigomar will not miss this opportunity and also goes to the ball. But Zigomar, anticipating Broquet's presence, comes up with something so that Broquet cannot get in his way. Then Esmée appears and attracts everyone's attention. Immediately after their performance, the ballroom is on fire. Zigomar set it on fire to take advantage of the confusion of going on a big foray. Even as the ruins of the structure fall down, the master criminal continues his raid. But then suddenly Broquet rushes towards him and forces Zigomar to tell him where the Riri he kidnapped is. Zigomar escapes the detective again and buries himself under the smoking rubble of the ballroom.

Production notes

Zigomar premiered in Paris on September 14, 1911. One day later the film was shown in Vienna, another day later, on September 16, 1911, the German premiere took place. Here Zigomar got the second title The Secrets of the Catacombs of Paris , had a length of 938 meters and thus had an unusually long length for that time.

The cameraman Lucien Andriot , who was only 18 years old when filming , started his long career here, which would later lead him to Hollywood.

With Zigomar , the genre of the detective film was founded in France, about two and a half years before the start of the Stuart Webbs detective film series in the German Reich. The Zigomar film was so successful that a sequel was shot in a very short time, Zigomar contre Nick Carter , which was released on March 22, 1912 in French cinemas. This film, in which another figure from French trivial literature, the master detective Nick Carter, was contrasted with the Zigomar, was called The Secrets of the Catacombs of Paris 2 Part in the Wilhelmine Empire , or: The fateful Devil's Cave and started there at the beginning of April 1912 at the latest.

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