Louis J. Gasnier

Louis J.Gasnier (15 September, 1875 - 15 February, 1963) was a French film director.

Born in Paris, Gasnier starting making films in the earliest days of cinema (1905), and directed the famous comedian Max Linder in many of his early short comedies. In the USA from 1912, Gasnier made his name in several fairly prestigious productions, most notably the serial "The Perils of Pauline", starring Pearl White, with whom he made several other star vehicles. Gasnier's career declined with the advent of sound in filming, and he was later confined to making low-budget 'B' pictures. Arguably his most famous film, though unfortunately not for the right artistic reasons, was the anti-marijuana opus "Reefer Madness", made in 1936. The film's over-preachy, over-the-top propaganda message has earned it a dedicated cult following, which remains strong to the present day. It is widely available in the public domain and on DVD, and has been frequently shown on many terrestrial and cable TV channels, quite remarkable for an ultra cheap exploitation movie of the 1930s that had apparently very scant distribution when it was originally released. After "Reefer Madness", Gasnier made a further eight films before retiring in 1941; he died in Hollywood aged 87.

elected filmography

* "Reefer Madness" (1936)
* "Mysterious Mr. Parkes" (1930)
* "Should Tall Men Marry?" (1928)
* "White Man" (1924)
* "The Tiger's Trail" (1919)
* "Hands Up!" (1918)
* "The Seven Pearls" (1917)
* "The Mystery of the Double Cross" (1917)
* "The Shielding Shadow" (1916)
* "The New Exploits of Elaine" (1915)
* "The Exploits of Elaine" (1914)
* "The Perils of Pauline" (1914)

External links

*imdb name|id=0309163|name=Louis J.Gasnier