Share of 100 francs issued in Paris in 1937.

Aubert Company

Louis Aubert bought most of its major Parisian cinemas from Serge Sandberg and created the Omnium Aubert Cinémas, a subsidiary specializing in the operation of cinemas. The network has 20 theaters, including very large theaters in major French cities.

Aubert also launched into the manufacture of projection and printing equipment, then into production. But in this area, it faces competition from the Cinéromans company of Jean Sapène.

He became Vice-President of the French Chamber of Cinematography in 1910, then President in 1926, to the detriment of Jean Sapène. Charles Delac then replaced him in 1928.

Aubert is preparing the merger of his group with Franco-Film by Robert Hurel, a growing production and distribution company, and concludes an agreement with Gaumont for the operation of its theaters. The Aubert-Franco-Film group was thus formed.

Gaumont Company

The Gaumont company was founded in 1895 by Léon Gaumont who bought the Comptoir Général de Photographie from the Richard brothers. It initially manufactured binoculars and projection and shooting devices. The company then diversified into film production.

Gaumont uses the daisy as his company logo, in homage to his mother's first name. The first cinemas opened from 1911, notably with the Gaumont Palace.

Gaumont-Franco-Film-Aubert (GFFA)

Gaumont and Aubert came together to found the Gaumont-Franco-Film-Aubert (GFFA) company in 1930, which mainly produced comic films. The company goes bankrupt and is taken over by Havas under the name Société Nouvelle des Etablissements Gaumont, until 1975 when it takes over the name of Gaumont.

In 1969, the Company takes over the Société Française des Films et Cinématographes Éclair and takes a stake in the newspaper Éclair-Journal, owner of the Eclair films.

It was bought in 1938 by a group led by Havas to become the Société nouvelle des Ets Gaumont, until 1975 when it simply took the name of Gaumont.

Gaumont is still today one of the biggest producer and distributor of films. The cinemas are managed by the company Cinémas Gaumont Pathé.

Aubert then left the film industry for good to pursue a political career and became a member of Parliament for Vendée.