Legitimate Cinema: Theatre Stars in Silent British Films, 1908-1918

292 Pages·2003·3.313 MB·English

by  Jon Burrows

LEGITIMATE CINEMA
‘By focusing on British stage actors as they interact with the cinema,
Jon Burrows has challenged long-standing conceptionsabouttheatrein
the United Kingdom. Burrows combines stellar research with creative
historiographic insights and establishes his work as central to our
understanding of silent film.’
CharlesMusser,YaleUniversity
‘This study of theatre-film relationships and acting practices in the
teens offers a major contribution to British film history, rigorously
grounded in empirical research, compellingly argued and engagingly
written . . . It will make an invaluable contribution not only to
knowledge of the silent period of British filmmaking, but to the
increasing interchange between film and theatre scholarship.’
ChristineGledhill,StaffordshireUniversity
‘This book is well researched and makes an important intervention in
the field. It will be of interest to theatre historians, film historians
and cultural historians interested in British audiences and popular
amusements in the early twentieth century.’
LeaJacobs,UniversityofWisconsin-Madison
ExeterStudiesinFilmHistory
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ExeterStudiesinFilmHistoryisdevotedtopublishingthebestnewscholarshipon
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Published by University of Exeter Press in association with the Bill Douglas
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editors are Richard Maltby, Associate Professor of Screen Studies, Flinders
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theHistoryofCinemaandPopularCulture,UniversityofExeter.
ParallelTracks:TheRailroadandSilentCinema
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TheWorldAccordingtoHollywood,1918–1939
RuthVasey(1997)
‘FilmEurope’and‘FilmAmerica’:Cinema,Commerceand
CulturalExchange1920–1939
editedbyAndrewHigsonandRichardMaltby(1999)
APaulRothaReader
editedbyDuncanPetrieandRobertKruger(1999)
AChorusofRaspberries:BritishFilmComedy1929–1939
DavidSutton(2000)
TheGreatArtofLightandShadow:ArchaeologyoftheCinema
LaurentMannoni,translatedbyRichardCrangle(2000)
PopularFilmgoingin1930sBritain:AChoiceofPleasures
JohnSedgwick(2000)
AlternativeEmpires:EuropeanModernistCinemasand
CulturesofImperialism
MartinStollery(2000)
Hollywood,Westernsandthe1930s:TheLostTrail
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YoungandInnocent?TheCinemainBritain1896–1930
editedbyAndrewHigson(2002)
UniversityofExeterPressalsopublishesthecelebratedfive-volumeserieslooking
at the early years of English cinema, TheBeginningsoftheCinemainEngland, by
JohnBarnes.
LEGITIMATE
CINEMA
Theatre Stars in Silent British
Films, 1908–1918
Jon Burrows
Firstpublishedin2003 by
UniversityofExeterPress
ReedHall,StreathamDrive
Exeter,DevonEX44QR
UK
www.ex.ac.uk/uep/
©2003JonBurrows
The rightofJon Burrowstobeidentifiedasauthorofthiswork
hasbeenassertedbyhiminaccordancewiththeCopyright,Designs
andPatentsAct 1988.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritish Library
ISBN0859897257
Typesetin11/13ptAdobeCaslonby
KestrelData,Exeter,Devon
PrintedinGreat Britainby
AntonyRowe Ltd,Chippenham,Wiltshire
Contents
ListofIllustrations vii
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
1. ‘Only in England is Such Characterisation Possible’:
Class, Taste, National Values and the Edwardian
Stage Actor 27
2. British ‘Films d’Art’:
Theatre Stars in Transitional Cinema, 1908–1911 43
3. Patterns of ‘Convergence’ in Pre-war Entertainment:
Legitimate Actors in Music Halls 90
4. Lost in the Translation:
The Troubled Reception of Forbes-Robertson’s
Hamlet (1913) 112
5. Transferable Skills:
The Edwardian Character Actor on the Screen 141
6. ‘The Whole English Stage To Be Seen For Sixpence’:
Ideal’s ‘High-Class’ Wartime Films 180
Conclusion 225
Notes 232
Bibliography 263
Index 273

Illustrations
Plate2.1 AdvertisementforGaumont’s1908RomeoandJuliet 46
Source:KinematographandLanternWeekly,11June1908
Plate2.2 AllthatremainsofHenryVIII(1911) 64
Source:TheSketch,1March1911
Plate2.3 TheburningofHenryVIII(1911) 69
Source:ValentiaSteer,TheRomanceoftheCinema
(London:C.ArthurPearson,1913)
Plate2.4 CartoonofR.T.Jupp,managingdirectorofPCT 74
Source:TheBioscope,30March1911
Plate2.5 Pantomimechoreography 81
Source:framestillsfromRichardIII(1911)
Plate3.1 Cartoonofstageactorsenviouslyeyeingawealthycinema
actor 92
Source:TheBioscope,21December1911
Plate3.2 Detailfromcartoon imagining‘WhenSirHerbertSuccumbs
tothe‘‘Halls’’’ 99
Source:TheThroneandCountry,15March1911
Plate3.3 Cartoonshowingmusichallstarswatchingvisitorsfromthe
legitimatestage 105
Source:Punch,24April1912
Plate4.1 Souvenirmagazineissues 117
Source:PlayPictorial129(March1913)andTheTheatre,
22March1913
Plate4.2 Souvenirvignettes 119
Source:framestillsfromHamlet(1913)
Plate4.3 Shallowstaginginthe1913DruryLaneTheatre production
ofHamlet 121
Source:TheSketch,2April1913
Plate4.4 Deepstaginginthefilmadaptation 122
Source:framestillsfromHamlet(1913)
Plate4.5 Forbes-Robertson’soralfixation 125
Source:framestillsfromHamlet(1913)
Plate4.6 Thebookofthefilm 130
Source:Anon.,Shakespeare’sHamlet:TheStoryofthePlay
ConciselyTold (London:StanleyPaul&Co.,1913)
Plate4.7 Forbes-Robertson’slistlessness 132
Source:framestillfromHamlet(1913)
Plate4.8 AcinemafitforShakespeare lovers:theNewGallery 138
Source:TheCinema,8January1913
Plate5.1 Thecharacteractor’smasteryofmake-up 148
Source:BlackandWhite,3June1911andTheSketch,
26January1916
Plate5.2 Gesturesrepeatedfrom stagetoscreen 158
Source:publicityphotographfromthe1895Haymarket
Theatreproductionof Trilbyandframestillfromthe1914 film
Plate5.3 Thegesturesofaconnoisseurandavulgarian 161
Source:framestillsfromTrilby(1914)
Plate5.4 Addressingtheaudience 166
Source:framestillfromTrilby(1914)
Plate5.5 AHebraic‘shrug’ 175
Source:productionstillfromTheMerchantofVenice (1916)
Plate6.1 HeritagesettingsinTheGayLordQuex(1917) 189
Source:KinematographandLanternWeekly,26July1917
and30August1917
Plate6.2 MrsErlynnebegsafavour 199
Source:framestillfromLadyWindermere’sFan(1916)
Plate6.3 Cartoonshowingrespectablehousewifebeggingforsugar 200
Source:LondonOpinion,19May1917
Plate6.4 Thegesturalsymmetryofmotheranddaughter 202
Source:framestillsfromLadyWindermere’sFan(1916)
Plate6.5 AdvertisementforLadyWindermere’sFan (1916) 203
Source:KinematographandLanternWeekly,18May1916
Plate6.6 CorporatepublicityfortheBritishActorsFilm Company 210
Source:TheBioscope,31January1918