The Man

Filmmaker, inventor, producer, director, writer, artist, scenic photographer and author Cecil M. Hepworth was a pioneer of early pre-WWI British cinema. He survived in the film business longer than any other British pioneer film-maker. In the course of his career, Hepworth became one of the most respected, if not the most dynamic, figures in British cinema.

Cecil Hepworth was born on 19 March 1874 in Lambeth, South London, the son of celebrated showman T.C. Hepworth who made a living lecturing about magic lanterns, a subject that fascinated young Cecil who frequently toured along with his father on the lecture circuit whilst still a child. This fascinated the young Cecil, and he often cited it as an influence on his later inventions in pre-World War I British cinema. In 1896 he followed his father's footsteps and began touring with his own mixed slide and film show.

Hepworth invented a type of arc lamp for Robert Paul in 1895, assisted Birt Acres in the following year, and in 1897 wrote the first book on the cinema, "Animated Photography, The ABC of the Cinematograph" in 1897. In the early days of cinema, he worked on the periphery of the industry, assisting Birt Acres in a royal command cinematograph performance. After being sacked by Charles Urban from Maguire and Baucus, Hepworth and his cousin Monty Wicks set up their own company, Hepworth and Co, with their trade logo Hepwix, which lasted until about 1908.

His film-making career began when he set up a laboratory in Hurst Grove, Walton on Thames in 1896 (or 1899, according to some accounts), and converted the small house into a studio. Twenty-five years later it would be the over-ambitious expansion of the studio that would drive him out of business. What happened during the intervening years was an immense achievement.

By 1900 he was releasing a hundred films a year. In 1899 he made a film of aspects of the Boer War, which survives. Their first popular success came with the filming of the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901, which bankrolled the company and permitted further development.

He was primarily a producer more than an actual film-maker but did on occasion, write, direct, edit, photograph and star in many films. Hepworth was instrumental in developing the British film industry through his use of cutting to produce a coherent film narrative. However many of the films credited to him were in fact the work of his associated Percy Slow and Lewin Fitzhamon.

In 1905 he presented the first British movie star, his family collie with the stage name of Rover. "Rescued by Rover" (co-d. Lewin Fitzhamon, 1905) was an enormous popular success and had to be remade several times because the negatives wore out making prints for distribution. Rescued by Rover" is notable for its efficient style, using consistency of direction from one shot to the next to clarify the action, yet Hepworth showed little interest in the development of film language. Indeed, he was to speak out against the narrative system of classical Hollywood films in later years. His interest remained in scenic photography and he brought this pictorial style into his films.

The following year he presented a new star - a horse - in Black Beauty (1906), which was then teamed with "Rover in Dumb Sagacity" (1907). Around the same time he presented other inventive comic films such as 'The Other Side of the Hedge' (1905) and 'That Fatal Sneeze' (1907).

During this time they were clearly heavily involved in the rapid development of the film industry, which was based in Cecil Court, London (later known as "Flicker Alley"). He probably helped a number of other pioneering film makers for example Alfred J. West of Gosport.

Over the next few years Hepworth and Co made a steady stream of scenic films and actualities, with Hepworth as cameraman/director.  In 1904 (some sources say 1908) the company was renamed the Hepworth Manufacturing Company, and Hepworth stopped directing, handing the reigns over to others such as Lewin Fitzhamon. It's not clear what drove this, or what happened to Monty Wicks at the time. Conscious of the need to maintain a recognisable brand, the logo did not change a lot!

The company began to develop a house style, based on simple stories told with high photographic quality. At this time, Hepworth produced on average three films a week, ranging from melodramas and slapstick comedies to scenics and travel films. He also made an annual pilgrimage to the Brighton area and the south coast in Dorset to shoot on location.

The UK's first purpose-built cinema opened in 1909. Film Distribution developed rapidly.

By 1910 Hepworth had recognised the growing cult of personality in the cinema, and was promoting two series featuring recurring comic characters, "Mr. Poorluck", played by Harry Buss, and "Tilly the Tomboy", featuring Alma Taylor and Chrissie White.

In 1911, after the US market had closed to British films owing to the formation of the Motion Picture Patents Corporation, and sales in the UK had dwindled, Hepworth returned to directing, adapting famous authors and using famous actors in an attempt to revitalise his product. He presented several Dickens adaptations, including Oliver Twist (d. Thomas Bentley, 1912), and a version of Hamlet (d. Hay Plumb, 1913) starring Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson, probably the longest film that had been made at the time. Silent Shakespeare is an interesting concept.

During World War 1, the Hepworth studios supported the war effort, and one example of the propaganda films of the period was his "Leopard's Spots" as featured in 'Pictures and Picturegoer', August 17, 1918 (page 189), a warning against buying German goods after the war. In "Old Mother Hubbard", Mac, the Hepworth collie, encourages the munitions effort. Another, "Anna" encourages the public to buy War Bonds. Another encourages people to grow food in their gardens. "Broken in the Wars" (1918) ia a public information film informing audiences of the loan scheme for discharged soldiers. There is a splendid photo of CMH in military uniform - did he actually serve in the forces, if so what did he do and where? If you know please contact us.

Hepworth still maintained the same style of film language which he fostered prior to 1910, frontal staging with action played out in pantomimic gestures in a single long-shot tableaux. Rarely was a space broken down in a Hepworth shot. Ultimately, as the classical narrative system took over, Hepworth films began to look more and more old-fashioned. They were, however, championed in the film press, and Hepworth's films were popular enough to turn both Chrissie White and Alma Taylor into major British stars. Hepworth Picture Plays, as the company became, continued making modestly successful films into the 1920s. His film subjects at this time were still mostly melodramas, although a foray into comedy with "Alf's Button" (1919) proved a massive popular hit, even in America. In Britain it was revived several times.

Buoyed up by this financial success, Hepworth planned to build a large studio complex and also bought a local country house with large grounds, Oatlands Lodge Estate, (now an hotel) to use for filming purposes. To fund this expansion, he released a share prospectus which was badly under subscribed, and Hepworth found himself unable to raise the capital he required to pay off what he already owed.

His company limped on, and Hepworth was able to complete his re-make of "Comin' Thro' The Rye" (1923), the film he regarded as his finest achievement. Unfortunately audiences didn't share his opinion and it failed to revive his fortunes. On 17 June 1924 a receiver was appointed who sold off Hepworth's company for a fraction of its worth. All of his original negatives were melted down to reclaim the silver.

Hepworth was a film-maker with a unique visual style which suffered badly in comparison to the Hollywood product. "Comin' Thro' the Rye" seemed, for all its thoroughly British character, outdated and outmoded. His presentation style barely changed from the early melodramas to the features of the 1920s, but it was a specific style which he deliberately fostered.

He was justifiably proud of his place in cinema history, and toured in later life with a lecture programme telling the story of the birth of cinema. As Variety said of him on 19 May 1922, "he was apt to allow the artist in his nature to conquer the commercialism of the showman, but his pictures were always worth watching".

He left the industry in the 1920's but returned to make films for the Ministry of Agriculture during the 1939-1945 war, notably "Food Flashes" propaganda. In recognition of his lifetime's work, Cecil Hepworth was one of the first six Fellows appointed by the The British Film Academy (now BAFTA) on Tuesday 2nd September 1950. The  other appointed Fellows were: Hon. Anthony Asquith Sir Michael Balcon, Sir Laurence Olivier George Pearson, and Carol Reed.

In the course of his career, Hepworth became one of the most respected, if not the most dynamic, figures in British cinema.

Cecil Hepworth was a fascinating man, an innovator, actor, inventor, director, businessman who inspired loyalty from all who worked with him during the early days of film before WWI, the Roaring Twenties, Charlie Chaplin and the rise of Hollywood changed the national identity of England forever.

He died on 9 February 1953 at Greenford, Middlesex.

• An Obituary was published in "Sight and Sound" April-June Edition 1953.
• An Obituary was published in "The Times"

Acknowledgements

• Short Biography (an introduction to Cecil Milton Hepworth) by Simon Brown,
  from "Reference Guide to British and Irish Film Directors" (with many additions from several sources)
• Private communication, Doreen Dean, Bafta.org

Other Biographies of Cecil Hepworth

There are numerous online biographies of Cecil Hepworth - all interesting, and many with additional detail about his life and works.
Some are listed below, but if you find a good one to add please tell us.

• Filmreference.com
• Victorian-Cinema.net
• Screenonline
• Wikipedia

Bibliography

• Hepworth, Cecil M., Came the Dawn (London: Phoenix House, 1951)

• Higson, Andrew, Waving the Flag (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995)

• Low, Rachael, The History of the British Film 1906-1914 (London: Allen and Unwin, 1973)

• Low, Rachael, The History of the British Film 1918-1929 (London: Allen and Unwin, 1971)

• See also our References