Bernard Natan

French Romanian film director, actor, and Holocaust victim

Bernard Natan (born Natan Tannenzaft; 14 July 1886 – 1942) was a French Romanian film entrepreneur, director and actor of the 1920s and 1930s. Natan worked in cinema from a young age, working his way up from projectionist and chemist to cinematographer and producer. Despite being a Romanian, he volunteered to fight for France at the outset of World War I. He was cited twice, wounded, and awarded the Croix de Guerre,

Natan worked as a projectionist, film lab chemist, titles designer, cinematographer and producer during his early years in Paris. He was a publicity stringer for Paramount Pictures during the early 1920s. But by 1929, Natan's Rapid Film had become a major film producer and distributor. His reputation was such that in 1924 Natan became a member of the executive committee of the Cinematographic Employers' Federation. By 1926, his film laboratory was highly regarded, he had established a marketing firm, and he built two sound stages. Natan was also a film producer, helping finance and produce motion pictures at other studios.

In late February 1929, Bernard Natan acquired the production and exhibition businesses of Pathé, then the largest French motion picture company. He agreed to merge his own studio, Rapid Film (then worth 25 million francs), with Pathé in exchange for 50 million francs in shares. The remaining shares were purchased with funding from a consortium of banks, bonds (to be paid with income from Pathé), and a 10 percent ownership in Pathé by the banks. After the merger, Natan renamed the company Pathé Natan (sometimes also credited as Pathé Cinéma). Pathé was already in substantial financial trouble when Natan took control. Studio founder Charles Pathé had been selling assets for several years to boost investor value and keep the studio's cash flow healthy. The company's founder had even sold Pathé's name and "rooster" trademark to other companies in return for a mere 2 percent of revenues generated by them. Natan had the bad luck to take charge of the studio just as the Great Depression convulsed the French economy. Natan attempted to steady Pathé's finances and implement modern film industry practices at the studio. Natan acquired another film studio, Société des Cinéromans, from Arthur Bernède and Gaston Leroux, which enabled Pathé to expand into projector and electronics manufacturing. He also bought the Fornier chain of motion picture theaters and rapidly expanded the chain's nationwide presence. French authorities pursued charges of fraud against Natan, including financing the purchase of the company without any collateral, of bilking investors by establishing fictitious shell corporations, and financial mismanagement. He was also accused of hiding his Romanian and Jewish heritage by changing his name. Charles Pathé turned against him, claiming to be his victim. In 1938, Natan was arrested and imprisoned, never to regain his freedom. In 1939 he was indicted and sentenced to 4 years in jail. Some sources have claimed that Natan's career in pornography did not end there. Joseph Slade suggests that Natan may have directed at least one hardcore pornographic film in Romania Slade wrote that nearly all French pornographic films from this period which include bisexual and homosexual content were produced by Natan. The same source states that Natan himself was bisexual, connecting him to the adult film industry were false. Natan, a 2013 documentary film, compares stills from the adult films attributed to Natan with official headshots and shows that several pornographic actors have been mistaken for Natan but are not him. Before 2014 there was no public acknowledgement of Natan at La Fémis, the French national film school, despite it having moved into one of his former studios in 1999. A plaque commemorating his work, and his murder in Auschwitz, was unveiled in December 2014.