Alice Guy-Blaché

Alice Guy-Blaché

Alice Guy-Blaché (July 1, 1873 – March 24, 1968) is generally considered to be the world's first female director. French-born Alice Guy entered the film business as a secretary at Gaumont-Paris in 1896. The next year Gaumont changed from manufacturing cameras to producing movies, and Guy became one of its first film directors. She impressed the company so much with the output (she averaged two two-reelers a week) and quality of her productions that by 1905 she was made the company's production director, supervising the company's other directors. In 1907 she married Herbert Blaché, an Englishman who ran the company's British and German offices. The pair soon went to the U.S. to set up the company's operations there. In 1910 she set up her own production company in New York and built a studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey. After a period of critical and financial success, her company's fortunes declined and she eventually shut down the studio. Although she secured work directing films for several major Hollywood studios, she returned to France in 1922 after her divorce from Blache. She was never able to secure any directorial jobs there, and never made a film again. In 1964 she returned to the U.S. and lived in Mahwah, New Jersey - not far from where her original studios were - with her daughters, where she died in 1968.
7.2
Alice Guy, the First Female Filmmaker
2021
Alice Guy, the First Female Filmmaker
When You and I Were Young
1917
When You and I Were Young
Behind the Mask
1917
Behind the Mask
5.4
The Empress
1917
The Empress
6.8
The Adventurer
1917
The Adventurer
5.7
House of Cards
1917
House of Cards
The Scarlet Woman
1916
The Scarlet Woman
What Will People Say?
1916
What Will People Say?
6.3
The Ocean Waif
1916
The Ocean Waif
6.9
The Vampire
1915
The Vampire
Heart of a Painted Woman
1915
Heart of a Painted Woman
The Song of the Wage Slave
1915
The Song of the Wage Slave
My Madonna
1915
My Madonna
The Woman of Mystery
1914
The Woman of Mystery
The Monster and the Girl
1914
The Monster and the Girl
The Tigress
1914
The Tigress
The Dream Woman
1914
The Dream Woman
1.0
The Lure
1914
The Lure
Burstup Homes
1913
Burstup Homes
5.0
Officer Henderson
1913
Officer Henderson
7.0
A Severe Test
1913
A Severe Test
Napoleon
1913
Napoleon
The Rogues of Paris
1913
The Rogues of Paris
The Thief
1913
The Thief