{{short description|Belgium-born cinema pioneer and animal trainer (1883–1940)}} thumb|Paul Sablon aka Paul Bourgeois in ''Motion Picture News'', 1915 '''Paul Sablon''' (6 November 1888 – 3 November 1940), later '''Paul Bourgeois''', was a Brussels-born actor, director, cinematographer, writer and animal trainer, who worked in the early film industry, including for Pathé Frères in Europe and Universal in the United States.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2011-04-12 |title=Paul Sablon |url=https://filmdatabase.eyefilm.nl/en/collection/film-history/person/paul-sablon |access-date=2022-12-14 |website=DEV EYE Filmdatabase |publisher=Eye Filmmuseum |language=en}}</ref>
While working in the Netherlands, "Sablon became the regular cameraman for Alfred Machin’s tiger Mimir."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Engelen |first=Leen |title=ON THE TRAIL OF THE TIGRESS {{!}} Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival |url=https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/en/film/on-the-trail-of-the-tigress/ |access-date=2022-12-14 |language=en-US}}</ref> He later toured with the Circus Hagenbeck, developing his animal training skills.<ref name=":0" /> During his American era he seems to have been a combination animal trainer, critically and commercially successful director, con man and workplace predator.<ref name=":13">{{Cite news |last=Johnston |first=Keith |date=2021-10-03 |title=He made history as Hollywood's first animal trainer. Then he scammed L.A. with 'iceless ice' |language=en-US |website=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2021-10-03/hollywood-animal-trainer-paul-bourgeois-los-angeles-iceless-ice-scam |access-date=2022-11-25}}</ref> “Bourgeois and his wife, actress Rosita Marstini, arrived in Hollywood in summer 1915” after he had worked with animals in New York and New Jersey.<ref name=":13" /> He was head animal trainer and Universal City Zoo superintendent from approximately 1915 to 1916.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Motion Picture News (Nov-Dec 1916) - Lantern |url=https://lantern.mediahist.org/catalog/motionpicturenew14moti_4_0251 |access-date=2022-11-25 |website=lantern.mediahist.org}}</ref> In 1916, he defrauded investors with an ice rink scheme and then absconded to Arizona with the money and his 19-year-old stenographer.<ref name=":13" /> He spent time in both Canada and the United States but died in his home country of Belgium.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":13" />
==Filmography== Actor: * 1912: ''Het vervloekte Geld'' (The Curse of Money) * 1913: ''Beasts of the Jungle''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Silent Era : Progressive Silent Film List |url=https://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/B/BeastsOfTheJungle1913.html |access-date=2022-12-14 |website=www.silentera.com |language=en}}</ref> * 1915: ''The Prisoner of the Harem''<ref>{{Cite book |last=McMahan |first=Alison |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mqIMBAAAQBAJ&dq=%22paul+sablon%22&pg=PA270 |title=Alice Guy Blaché: Lost Visionary of the Cinema |date=2014-08-22 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-5013-0269-5 |language=en}}</ref> * 1916: ''Hungry Happy’s Dream''<ref>{{cite web|title=Hungry's Happy Dream|website=ECHO (Early Cinema History Online)|access-date=December 14, 2022|url=https://echo.commarts.wisc.edu/items/show/114363}}</ref>
Director or cinematographer, in Europe: * 1912: ''Babylas va se marier'' * 1912: ''L'Âme des moulins''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Paul Sablon |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba1addee8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214145728/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba1addee8 |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 14, 2022 |access-date=2022-12-14 |website=British Film Institute |language=en}}</ref> * 1912: ''Calvaire du mousse'' * 1912: ''L'Or qui brûle'' * 1912: ''De Molens die juichen en weenen'' * 1912: ''La Peinture et les cochons''
Director, working in the United States under the name Paul Bourgeois: * 1915: ''Joe Martin Turns 'Em Loose''<ref>{{cite web|title=Joe Martin Turns Them Loose|website=ECHO (Early Cinema History Online)|access-date= December 14, 2022 | url=https://echo.commarts.wisc.edu/items/show/97084}}</ref> * 1915: ''The Tiger-Woman''<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JBIXAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22paul+Bourgois%22+animal+film&pg=RA8-PA127 |title=Greenroom Jottings|magazine=Motion Picture|page=127|date=1915 |publisher=Macfadden-Bartell. |language=en}}</ref> * 1916: ''Nadine of Nowhere''<ref>{{cite web|title=Nadine of Nowhere|website=ECHO (Early Cinema History Online)|access-date=December 14, 2022|url=https://echo.commarts.wisc.edu/items/show/116425}}</ref> * 1916: ''The Whole Jungle Was After Him''<ref>{{cite web|title=Whole Jungle Was After Him, The |website=ECHO (Early Cinema History Online)| access-date= December 14, 2022 |url= https://echo.commarts.wisc.edu/items/show/120235}}</ref> * 1916: ''On the Trail of the Tigress''<ref>{{cite web|title=On the Trail of the Tigress|website=ECHO (Early Cinema History Online)|access-date=December 14, 2022|url=https://echo.commarts.wisc.edu/items/show/116774|archive-date=December 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214173252/https://echo.commarts.wisc.edu/items/show/116774|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Further reading== * {{Cite book |last=Donaldson |first=Geoffrey |title=Of joy and sorrow : a filmography of Dutch silent fiction |date=1997 |publisher=Stichting Nederlands Filmmuseum |isbn=90-71338-10-X |location=Amsterdam |oclc=39197409}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0754823/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 IMDb: Paul Bourgeois] * [https://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?t=19093 Nitrateville: The 1910s animal films of Paul Bourgeois]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sablon, Paul}} Category:1888 births Category:1940 deaths Category:Belgian male film actors Category:Animal trainers Category:Zoo directors Category:Belgian film directors Category:20th-century American people