After the tremendous popular success of the<br />　　Fantômas novels, both of the major French<br />　　film studios — Pathé and Gaumont —<br />　　vied for the rights to produce films based<br />　　on the series. Gaumont won, and from<br />　　April 1913 to May 1914 Louis Feuillade<br />　　directed five Fantômas films which critic<br />　　David Thomson has described as &quot;the first<br />　　great movie experience.&quot;