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