Silent Films by Cecil Hepworth

About the films

How it feels to be run over (1899)

One of the earliest Hepworth films, exploring the public suspicion of the new-fangled motor car and its unreliability.

The Dog Outwits the Kidnappers (1908)

This film is in essence a remake of one of Hepworth's most famous films Rescued by Rover (1905), with a similar story line - setting a general principle - if the public liked it, do it again with variations!

The Dog Outwits the Kidnappers tells essentially the same story as Rescued by Rover but this time, a car is involved - with the dog driving it!!! Bearing in mind the huge cost and suspicion attached to cars at the time, the impact of a canine driver on an audience can only be imagined!

Hepworth himself stars in this film, as the kidnapper. The dog in the film is the Hepworth family pet, Blair (who also starred in "Rescued by Rover"), and the child is Hepworth's daughter Barbara. Many scenes are still recognisable today, especially Church Square, Shepperton and the road between Shepperton and Walton along the riverbank.

Hepworth is best remembered for his innovative narrative short Rescued by Rover (1905). Perhaps this is the forerunner of the "Lassie" films! The film, that is the story of a family dog who saves a baby from gypsy thieves and that stars members of Hepworth's own family, was one of the first British films to utilize sophisticated film editing to advance the narrative; it was also one of the first to use advanced continuity techniques. The chase scene is particularly sophisticated.

Rescued by Rover (1905) is now considered a 'classic' of early narrative construction, containing some of the basic 'rules' about film storytelling. This was the most famous of all early British films. What the film lacks in special effects, it makes up for in the construction of a story which was such a success that it had to be remade several times when the original print wore out.

The film works on the basis of repetition and variation - we see the journey Rover takes to discover the whereabouts of the missing baby, raising questions in our minds about 'what will happen next'. We then see the same journey undertaken by Rover and his master in anticipation of the baby being discovered in time. In so doing, the story combines suspense with a happy ending, and an early example of the depiction of good versus evil, rich versus poor. You might say it is the model on which modern Hollywood cinema is based.

Tilly The Tomboy Visits the Poor (1910)

Tilly and her sister Sally cause chaos when they visit the elderly and ill Mrs Smith. Early British comedy made extensive use of the timeless 'trick' and 'chase' construction - ideas which Benny Hill continued nearly decades later. Directed by Hay Plumb and starring Chrissie White and Hay Plumb, this was one of a series of highly popular "Tilly" films may by the Hepworth Manufacturing Company.

Their father instructs them to visit Mrs. Smith who is ill. The girls set off and enter the house. The girls spin the bed as Mrs. Smith lies in it, then bounce up and down on it. They run from the house and come upon a workman with a ladder. Tilly and her sister bounce on the bed of the ill Mrs. Smith. They rush out of her house into the street. They come upon a workman carrying a ladder with a rope coiled at one end. The girls take the rope and tie it to the ladder. As the workman walks away they follow. Stretching the rope out, they trip up a man carrying baskets on his head. The two men fall over and begin to fight then realise they have been tricked and pursue the girls as they make their escape. The girls leap over a garden fence and steal a laundry van. The two men give chase as does the laundry van driver. One of the girls hurls out the laundry tripping up the pursuers. A woman sees her laundry in the street and complains to the driver; all give chase once more. The girls leap from the van down a side street but are followed by the crowd. The girls take refuge in a bakery, knocking one man into the dough and another into a vat of flour. The crowd rushes in only to trip over the men. In the chaos the girls make their escape. The crowd follow, only to be pelted with flour. The girls race back to Mrs. Smith and diligently attend her. The pursuers break into the house and see the charitable work of the two girls - Butter wouldn't melt in their mouths! The pursuers leave, shamed by their actions. [BFI]

Many of the scenes might be recognised by people who know the area, which seems to have been shot mainly on location in the Shepperton area as well as in the studio.

Click here to register and download this film for viewing - it's free!

Search the Internet Movie Database for Tilly The Tomboy Visits the Poor (1910)

Burnham Beeches (1909)

A trip through local beauty spot Burnham Beeches, the enormous trees in eerie isolation. Superb photographic quality and clever edits show the skill of Hepworth. There isn't a lot of action in this film - could there have been a Vivaphone soundtrack?

We don't think this rare film has been seen in public for a very long time!

Wife The Weaker Vessel (1915)

A henpecked husband has revenge on his bachelor friend by marrying him off to a physical education teacher. Lots of humour, deception, period costume, and sharply observed characterisation in this amusing comedy classic directed by Frank Wilson from the Hepworth Manufacturing Company and starring Arthur Staples, Ruby Belasco, Chrissie White, Lionelle Howard.

It is just possible that there was a soundtrack for many of Hepworth's films that were produced after about 1909-11, as Hepworth's Vivaphone system which synchronised film and gramophone records led to production of hundreds of synchronized (sound and picture) shorts, including actors lip-synching to popular records - the beginning of the talkies and the musical. Perhaps we shall never know....

Oh'Phelia

A spoof on Ophelia - featuring Am'let! An early colour animation silent, date unknown duration about 10 minutes. Good quality artwork (although the colour is a faded) with typical quirky humour. Watch out for an appeance by the Censor (incidentally, in 1912, Hepworth was responsible for the formation of the British Board of Film Censors, later renamed BBFC)

[Music by Rob Davies]

More information about other Hepworth Films (not in the show)

The Hepworth Filmography

screenonline: Tansy (1921)

screenonline: Hamlet (1913)

DVD: Cinema Europe - The Other Hollywood

Documentary (Movie History)

www.earlycinema.com/ pioneers/