Zigomar (film)

At the start of the film, Paulin Broquet is going over police documents in his office while a servant cleans nearby. He leaves for a moment, and when he returns he finds that the documents have been replaced by a “thank you” card from Zigomar. The servant is gone too, as he was the thief in disguise.

Zigomar, disguised as an old man, buys flowers for a woman nicknamed Riri. She rejects him, however, and throws the bouquet into the street. A man walks up just in time to see the interaction and intervenes, after which Zigomar leaves them. Broquet arrives on the scene just in time to find a card dropped by Zigomar with directions for his Z Gang to meet him within St. Magloire Church. Intending on being present for the meeting, Broquet disguises himself as a tomb statue inside the church after inspecting the area ahead of time. When Zigomar and his gang arrive, they move a block which reveals a stairway under the building. They head down and Broquet sees they have been keeping Riri down there. Before he can head into the room he finds her in, he is captured and loaded on an outbound wagon that carries him off. The wagon gets into a crash, however, and the police arrive as the drivers of both wagons are fighting. As they open the crate Broquet is held captive in, the wagon driver from the Z gang attempts to flee on horseback, but is caught by the detective. He tells Broquet something which helps him track Zigomar down again.^[5]

Next, Zigomar attends a performance by the dancer Madame Sezes at Moulin Rouge to steal her $100,000 pearl necklace, and Broquet follows the criminal there. During the show, Zigomar sets fire to the venue as a diversion, but is captured by Broquet before he can take the pearls from the dying dancer. Zigomar, however, had a getaway planned, and slips away once again. As he slips away, the police arrive, and Riri is saved.^[6]

• Alexandre C. Arquillière (Zigomar)
• André Liabel (Paulin Broquet)
• Camille Bardou
• Paul Guidé
• Gilbert Dalleu
• Bataille^[7]
• Jacques Faure^[8]
• Esmée (Madame Sezes)^[9]

Léon Sazie, believing that film would revitalize interest in the theatre,^[10] he granted the film rights for the Zigomar serial to Éclair. He wrote the script and picked out several of the cast members.^[7] It was partially filmed at Epinay Studios in France, with The Alpine Death Struggle being filmed at Mer de Glace in the French Alps.^[8]

Although the film was officially released in France on 14 September 1911 in Paris, France, there was a private showing in Moscow on 14 August of the same year,^[11] in addition to being released in Denmark on the same day.^[12] A month after the official release, it was released in the provincial cities, and later had releases in other languages and countries.

On 24 October, 1911, the film premiered for the first time in New Zealand at the Colosseum Theatre.^[13]

By 11 November, 1911, the film had premiered at the Ideal Theatre in Manila, Philippines under the Spanish title La Z mysteriosa.^[14] On the same day, it premiered in Asakusa, Japan, at Kinryūkan theatre after being imported by the Fukuhōdo company.^[15]

Around November 1911, E. Mandelbaum struck a deal with Éclair which gave his then newly incorporated business, the Feature and Education Film Company, the rights to the film in America.^[16] The film premiered in the United States on the 20th of that month.^[17]

It premiered at the Theatre of Prince Alfonso^[18] in Madrid, Spain on 14 December, 1911 as Zigomar, rey de los ladrones.^[19]