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The Studios
Tracing the history of the Hepworth film studios from pioneering in the 19th century through the 1960's to today.
1900
The studios started life in March 1896 (some say 1899?), when Cecil Hepworth (1874 – 1953) leased a house called "The Rosary" in Hurst Grove, Walton on Thames, for £36 a year. Here he installed electric lighting and set up one of the first film laboratories in the country.
Together with his cousin Monty Wicks, (hence their trading name "Hepwix") they began to make short films of everyday events, starting with "Express Trains In A Railway Cutting", lasting about 45 seconds, which simply showed two trains passing in a cutting at nearby Byfleet. Other ‘actualities’ were from local news items such as ‘The Ladies Tortoise Race’ and ‘Procession of Prize Cattle’. These were all 50ft short films shot locally - probably to keep costs low. They built a 15ft x 18ft stage in the back garden and among the first films to be made at the new "studio" with its one stage were "The Egg-Laying Man" (1896), and "The Eccentric Dancer".
By the turn of the century the expanded Studios were producing over a hundred
short subjects a year. Hepworth filmed the
funeral of Queen Victoria (on right) at Marble Arch, London in 1901 which gained a great
deal of publicity for the Studio.Cecil Hepworth committed all of the small
resources at his disposal to cover the route at various points, and the
resulting sales secured the future of his company. The company worked 24 hour
shifts for several days to process all the orders that came in for film of the
funeral from around the world. At some point "Hepwix" became known as "Hepworth Picture Plays".
1905
In 1905 Hepworth built his first indoor studio, still relying on daylight and therefore situated on the first floor where more natural light was available, with laboratories for processing, cutting etc. beneath.
In the early days he made much of the documentary, filming scenes of British troops departing for and returning from the Boer War, and perhaps one of the earliest films of British politicians and of the Royal Family. During this time Hepworth presented the first cinema Royal Command Performance.
His studios made Documentaries, Classics, Melodrama, Horror, Scenic films, Comedies (notably the "Tilly" series), Heritage films, Location films in Brighton and Ireland, you name it!
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Above is a black and white sketch of the First "Laboratory and Studios" at Walton on Thames, sketched by Cecil Hepworth himself. It is not known when the sketch was made so the accuracy of it is unknown, (it could have been done over 40 years later from memory when writing his autobiography). This, and other images appear in Hepworth's Autobiography, "Came the Dawn", showing him to be a very competent artist among his numerous other accomplishments. This sketch bears a strong architectural resemblance to the surviving houses in Hurst Grove today. It is not known whether the house survives and attempts to identify the exact house number and location have not yet been successful. The book on the right contains a range of early photographs of the town, some from the same era - and because Hepworth often used to shoot his films outdoors on location locally in Walton and Shepperton, some of the scenes may have been rather familiar to him! |
Hepworth was primarily a producer more than an actual film-maker but did on occasion, write, direct, edit, photograph and star in many films, however many of the films credited to him were in fact the work of his associated Percy Slow and Lewin Fitzhamon, the latter co-directed perhaps Hepworth's most celebrated work 'Rescued by Rover' (1905) as well as other inventive comic films such as 'The Other Side of the Hedge' (1905) and 'That Fatal Sneeze' (1907). Alice in Wonderland, an 800 foot film produced in 1904, was the largest such project that had been attempted at the time. It was shot at Mount Felix, Walton, just round the corner from Hurst Grove.
As mentioned in the autobiography, the studios were destroyed by fire in 1907, killing a young technician, an event which clearly affected Hepworth deeply. The risks associated withNitrate Film are huge - it is a mixture of guncotton and camphor and can burn spontaneously!
Apart from his base in Walton on Thames, Hepworth shot extensively on location, and used Bognor Regis as his base during the summer filming periods of 1907-1909. Chrissie White said the company also used to regularly spend time in the summer at Lulworth Cove, Dorset.
1910
The Hepworth Manufacturing Company became Britain's most distinguished film
company of the pre-war period. By 1914 and the outbreak of World War One,
Walton had become one of the three major film studios in Britain. Unlike other
studios, production continued at Walton-on Thames through the First World War,
both by making propaganda films and by renting to visiting companies.
There is a photo of Hepworth in military uniform. His health did not permit him to do active service, but according to Chrissie White he supported the war effort as a transport driver - it is not known whether he was personally involved with making films during WW1 but his company was very active, as the studio publicity indicates.
As the studios expanded, Hepworth acquired a number of properties in Walton On Thames for the use of his stars and staff. Some were used as residences.
1914-18
The Studios made a number of "shorts" to support the war effort. They were clearly very active at this time as the catalogues of the time indicate. Sadly not much survives.
British film policy began to develop after World War I, when the cultural domination of British cinemas by Hollywood films became apparent. By the 1920s, restricted access to cinema screens in Britain for UK films was an acute problem; they represented just 5% of all releases in 1926. The 1927 Cinematograph Films Act established a progressively increasing quota for UK films. Quota regulation remained in place until it was finally phased out in the early 1980s.
As an aside, local man, R.C. Sherriff, recorded his memories of life as an officer on the Western Front in his play, 'Journey's End', which later became a major theatrical success, making so much money that even today a local trust established in his name is supporting the arts from the proceeds.
1920
Later on, as the studios expanded further, attempts were made to build a new studio in Walton. A design for the new studio made in 1922 is also included in the autobiography - below - very impressive it is too.
This development did not take place and instead Hepworth acquired the Lodges of Oatlands Park (now Oatlands Park Hotel). According to Chrissie White, the intent was to build a new studio in the grounds. The legal Deeds associated with this transaction came up for sale in 2005 or so but sadly I was not able to secure them for display on this site. It seems he did not own the Lodges for long.
After World War I, when the US emerged as the dominant force in world cinema, many European countries took steps to protect their domestic film industries from aggressive American policies. Most of these national schemes involved some form of distribution or exhibition quota, linking the number of imported US f