The story
Founding
The company produced many silent shorts in France starting in 1908, and soon thereafter in America. The American division produced films from 1911-1914 such as Robin Hood, one of the first filmed versions of the classic story in 1912.
Deutsche Eclair, later Decla-Film, was established as its German studio branch. In 1909, Eclair took part in the Paris Film Congress, an attempt by major European producers to form a cartel similar to the MPPC in America.
Originally a film production company, Eclair started building cameras in 1912.
Selected French filmography
1910–1916: Willy series, over 70 film shorts featuring child actor Willy Sanders
1911: Zigomar
Studios in the United States
An Eclair studio, the Eclair Moving Picture Company, was established in Fort Lee, New Jersey. It suffered a devastating fire in 1914 in which many early film prints were lost. A western studio set was also established in Tucson, Arizona. Jules Brulatour was involved with the company and Dorothy Gibson one of its stars.
Eclair films made in Tucson
Over the Cliffs, 1913
The Reformation of Calliope, 1913
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The Aztec Treasure, 1914
Mesquite Pete's Fortune, 1914
At the Crucial Moment, 1914
The Renunciation, 1914
The Jackpot Club, 1914
The Return, 1914
The Cross in the Cacti, 1914
The Dupe, 1914
The Caballero's Way, 1914
When Death Rode the Engine, 1914
The Heart of Carita, 1914
The Squatter, 1914
Dead Men's Tales, 1914
Within an Inch of His Life, 1914
The Stirrup Brother; or, The Higher Abdication, 1914
The Blunderer's Mark, 1914
A Tale of the Desert, 1914
The Bar Cross Liar, 1914
The Ghost of the Mine, 1914
Into the Foothills, 1914
Fate's Finger, 1914
Smallpox on the Circle U, 1914
The Line Rider, 1914
Till the Sands of the Desert Grow Cold, 1914
Whom God Hath Joined, 1914
The Girl Stage Driver, 1914
The Jewel of Allah, 1914
The Wondrous Melody, 1914
The Price Paid, 1914
The Yellow Streak, 1914
The Devil Fox of the Orth, 1914
The First Nugget, 1914
The Bar Crossed Lier, 1914
The Blunderer's Mark, 1914
Terror, 1915
The Thief and the Chief, 1915
Saved by Telephone, 1915
Romance in Bear Creek, 1915
The Oath of Smoky Joe, 1915
The Answer, 1915
Lure of the West, 1915
The Lone Game, 1915
The Zigomar Lawsuit
Between 1911 and 1913, Eclair released a series of films revolving around the fictional character Zigomar that had been created in 1909 by the French author Léon Sazie in the Paris-based newspaper Le Matin. The movies would go on to be very successful commercially, but Sazie came to feel that they were too different from his idea for the series, and so sued the director, Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset, and the Eclair company for excessive alteration of the source material. The courts ruled that 6,000 francs were to be paid to Sazie in damages, but Eclair appealed the case resulting in the amount to be paid increasing to 10,000 francs, with an additional 250 francs for any future violations.
Later company history
The company was acquired in late 1968 by UK-based Canadian film producer Harry Saltzman who then founded the Éclair-Debrie (UK) Ltd. company and moved production to the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, Soremec-Cehess took over the French side of the company and resumed production in France, so English Eclair cameras (similar to the French product with minor differences), were manufactured simultaneously for a few years until Éclair-Debrie (UK) Ltd ceased activities in 1973. Production then continued in France with a good degree of success, but the company eventually declined in the late-1970s and early-1980s until it was eventually sold to Aaton S.A. in 1986 who ceased all camera production, offering only a license for maintenance of the many existing cameras.
The film processing and post-production side of Éclair continues to operate.
From Wikipedia’s article on Eclair (company), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5