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After his military service, Capellani worked in a bank while his brother Paul was becoming a famous stage actor working with André Antoine. In 1904, Albert Capellani joined the world of entertainment by becoming the administrator of a famous Paris music hall, the Alhambra, run by a British manager.

Capellani was now director-general of the Clara Kimball Young Film Corporation, directed by Lewis J. Selznick (David O. Selznick’s father). He directed three features with the beautiful Clara, earning a reputation as a women’s director. By 1917, he decided to leave Selznick, probably to get more freedom.

Capellani’s last years back in France were lonely and aimless. He tried unsuccessfully to go back to filmmaking. His health was failing, and he suffered a stroke. By the time of his death, at age fifty-seven, he was already forgotten. His legacy remained unknown, as all family archives disappeared, leaving no trace of his former glory. His grandson started to research his career about twenty years ago, and prints of Germinal and Les Misérables were restored in the 1980s. Capellani was restored to the place he deserves in film history in 2010, when the Bologna Film Festival organized a retrospective of his films.

Capellani was born in Paris in a middle-class family in 1874. This chapter details his education and that of his brother Paul, who later became an actor in his brother’s films. The background of the Capellani family and the places where they lived are outlined here, giving hints to the future films Capellani was to direct.

Capellani and the rest of the Pathé studio had to stop all activities. He was mobilized, but by December 1914 he was discharged because of his chronic diabetes. His two brothers were also mobilized, and the younger brother died on the front line in September 1914, aged only 20.

Capellani’s brief stint at Mutual Corporation was the lowest point of his career. He made only two films, both with a poor reputation. At this point, his brother Paul, who had been working with him since his Pathé years, left for Argentina to become a director. The two brothers never worked together again. Paul was back in France by 1919.

Capellani was now the principal filmmaker at SCAGL. In 1913, he made a powerful adaptation of Zola’s Germinal, shot partially on locations. This film was particularly striking for the underplaying of its actors and its documentary style. He also adapted contemporary novels, such as La Glu (1913) with Mistinguett and his brother Paul Capellani, mixing tragedy and humor.