History of a Crime
About History of a Crime
A convicted man spends the night before his execution in a cell. Asleep, he sees the steps that brought him there, from small thefts to the murder. Morning comes and he is taken out.
Cast & crew
More about History of a Crime
Ferdinand Zecca wrote, directed, and photographed it for Pathé. Jean Liézer plays the murderer. Zecca is also in the cast. Wikidata gives 5 minutes. It was based on a tableau series, L'histoire d'un crime, at the Musée Grévin. A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Themes
Making
Zecca staged the cell and the dream from the Grévin waxwork series.
Look
Zecca photographed the cell and the dream of the crimes.
Preservation
A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Film histories call it the first crime film and the first to use a flashback.
- The dream is the past. The cell is the present.
- Don Fairservice called it very influential.
- Zecca used it to push Charles Pathé past travel films into staged subjects.
Scenes
- He dreams the thefts and the murder in the cell.
- He is led out in the morning.
Influenced by
- The Musée Grévin tableau L'histoire d'un crime
