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The Most Important Man in the History of Cinema That You've Never Heard of

If you don't truly get excited about seeing a classic movie there's no need to continue. Stop reading this now and turn on your television and watch a sitcom where a father with two kids has married a mother of three kids, and enjoy the resulting mayhem. If you really treasure the legendary greats of cinema history, continue reading.

Imagine there was no Chaplin, or Keaton, or Murnau, or Lang, or Bergman, or Stroheim, or Truffaut... If it wasn't for Henri Langlois you and I probably never would have seen any of their work. After seeing Henri Langlois: Phantom of the Cinémathèque (a.k.a. Fantôme d'Henri Langlois, Le) I felt embarrassed about not knowing of him or his importance to every single fan of classic cinema.

Meticulously put together by director Jacques Richard, this fascinating story unfolds before us in what seems an almost surreal story. Henri Langlois was the first and the greatest of all preservationists of film. You would think that this would have led him to fame and fortune. Some fame, yes, a resounding no on the fortune part. In fact, Langlois died penniless and debt-ridden in his Paris apartment, with no heat or electricity, in 1977.

Henri Langlois single-handedly saved tens of thousands of films from being burnt to cinders ao that we could have the privilege of being able to still view them today. Studios used to routinely get rid of films after they had outlived their "usefulness." That alone would make him a man without equal in cinema history, but there's more. Langlois also opened a theater in Paris where struggling unknowns could have their work shown. He did this with zero profit motive. He just loved movies. Langlois viewed film as history, a glimpse into the era it was created in, and felt compelled to preserve this history.

In the late 1930's, Langlois formed the Cinémathèque, where he stored every movie he could get his hands on, good or bad. He also screened movies for the public, often until the wee morning hours. There were a few rooms there to screen them and if there was not enough space on a particular evening they'd show films in the hallways to standing audiences.

Langlois looked like a disheveled art professor who was always smoking or lighting one up. Late in his life he actually was appointed a professor, although not in France where the government thought him a bit of an ass. He helped launch the careers of Godard, Truffaut, Rohmer and many other directors. Filmmakers and actors from around the world visited him every chance they got. He eventually realized his dream when he built the first museum devoted to cinema. The government was embroiled with him in an effort for him to move it elsewhere and it wound up being destroyed by fire. Results of the arson investigation were never made public.

Before then, governement paper pushers tried to replace Langlois and in 1968, Langlois was fired. Rioting cinephiles clashed with police and Langlois was eventually reinstated, but the fight took its toll on the man. Through the many interviews here we learn that it personally devastated him.

This movie contains so much more than what is written here but you should know that for his efforts, Langlois was awarded a much deserved honorary Oscar in 1974. See this movie and find out all of the rest of this incredibly engrossing tale. Or you could just watch a "Three's Company" rerun if you prefer, but if you made it this far you're unlikely to do that.