1920s

Dorothy Gish in the British Silent Film Nell Gwyn (1926)

July 21st, 2014

Dorothy Gish was the star of Herbert Wilcox’s magnificent British silent film Nell Gwyn (1926) wearing incredible costumes designed by Doris Zinkeisen.

After filming Decameron Nights (1924) at UFA, Herbert Wilcox left Graham-Wilcox Productions and formed Herbert Wilcox Productions. His first production was The Only Way (1925), adapted from the stage show based on A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Distribution by the British arm of First National Pictures with a cash guarantee of £12,500, it initiated their British programme with a commitment to encouraging British production.

Wilcox was thinking of the next project and saw a theatre bill headlining Dolly Elsworthy, whom he had seen performing at the Camberwell Palace doing her famous ‘Orange Girl’ sketch. This gave him the idea to film Nell Gwyn but he needed a bright and vivacious actress to play the lead. He decided this should be the American star Dorothy Gish. A cable was sent and, since her career was in a bit of lull, she immediately accepted the offer, receiving a salary of £1,000 per week. Secure with the distribution deal from First National, Wilcox booked the Islington studio, forcing Michael Balcon and Graham Cutts to find another studio to film The Sea Urchin.

Dorothy Gish in the British Silent Film Nell Gwyn (1926) filmed at the Islington Studio, London (outfit designed by Doris Zinkiesen)

London’s Hollywood: The Gainsborough Studio in the Silent Years

Published 15th July 2014

A detailed look at the British Silent Film industry with this first ever evaluation of the history, output and achievement of the most iconic film studio in England during the silent era.

Available in the following formats:

Hardback, £27, ISBN 9781909230132
Paperback, £14.99,  ISBN 9781909230101
From Amazon.co.uk
From Amazon.com
From The Book Depository (hardback)
From The Book Depository (paperback)

Amazon Kindle ebook, £8.99,   ISBN 9781909230125
Apple ebook, £8.99,  ISBN 9781909230118
(Through Apple / iTunes – search for title on iTunes bookstore)

Tags: 1920s, 20s, British Silent Film, Doris Zinkeisen, Dorothy Gish, Gainsborough Studio, Graham Cutts, Herbert WIlcox, Islington Studio, London's Hollywood, Michael Balcon, Nell Gwyn, silent film
Posted in General | No Comments »

The ‘lost’ British silent film Woman to Woman

July 11th, 2014

Considered to be one of the most important ‘lost’ British silent films, Woman to Woman (1923) was directed by Graham Cutts for Balcon-Saville-Freedman.

The American actress Betty Compson was the star and here she is in her stunning ostrich-feather dress designed by Dolly Tree composed of over 200 ostrich feather plumes and 1,000 pearls.

Betty Compson in the ‘lost’ British silent film Woman to Woman (1923)

Filmed at the Islington studio in the summer of 1923 it had an estimated budget of £40,000 and when released was thought to be an outstanding British silent film and called a triumph.

Perhaps most poignantly the film did ‘one important thing astonishingly well – it forever blasts the delusion that a production, technically perfect, cannot come out of a British studio’.

Cutts liked music in the studio and was pleased that Betty was not just a tireless worker but also a wonderful violinist. She spent most of her time when she was not working playing the violin in a little orchestra, endeavouring to act as an inspiration to her director. The three-piece orchestra (piano, cello and violin) was there to aid Betty’s acting for she was incapable of registering emotion without the aid of it. Throughout the production the orchestra would play specific tunes such as ‘Mighty Like a Rose’ and then she could cry. But it didn’t go down well with Michael Balcon, who would wince whenever he heard the tune thereafter!

London’s Hollywood: The Gainsborough Studio in the Silent Years

will be published 15th July 2014

A detailed look at the British Silent Film industry with this first ever evaluation of the history, output and achievement of the most iconic film studio in England during the silent era.

Available in the following formats:

Hardback, £27, ISBN 9781909230132
Paperback, £14.99,  ISBN 9781909230101
From Amazon.co.uk
From Amazon.com
From The Book Depository (hardback)
From The Book Depository (paperback)

Amazon Kindle ebook, £8.99,   ISBN 9781909230125
Apple ebook, £8.99,  ISBN 9781909230118
(Through Apple / iTunes – search for title on iTunes bookstore)

Tags: 1920s, 1920s fashion, 20s, Alfred Hitchcock, Betty Compson, British Silent Film, Dolly Tree, Gainsborough Studio, Graham Cutts, Islington Studio, Jazz Age, London's Hollywood, Michael Balcon
Posted in General | No Comments »

John Stuart and Virginia Valli in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Pleasure Garden (1926)

July 4th, 2014

A picture that missed getting into London’s Hollywood is this charming portrait of John Stuart and Virginia Valli in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Pleasure Garden (1926) filmed in Munich at the Emelka Studios.

Regarded as Hitchcock’s first ‘true’ feature film in a directorial capacity it was filmed in the summer of 1925 and also starred Carmelita Geraghty and Miles Mander. Despite overall praise for the finished picture things were not all rosy, and at the time there was much internal politics at Gainsborough Pictures which led to complications for Hitchcock that held up the national release.

London’s Hollywood: The Gainsborough Studio in the Silent Years

will be published 15th July 2014

A detailed look at the British Silent Film industry with this first ever evaluation of the history, output and achievement of the most iconic film studio in England during the silent era.

Available in the following formats:

Hardback, £27, ISBN 9781909230132
Paperback, £14.99,  ISBN 9781909230101
From Amazon.co.uk
From Amazon.com
From The Book Depository (hardback)
From The Book Depository (paperback)

Amazon Kindle ebook, £8.99,   ISBN 9781909230125
Apple ebook, £8.99,  ISBN 9781909230118
(Through Apple / iTunes – search for title on iTunes bookstore)

Tags: 1920s, 20s, Alfred Hitchcock, British Silent Film, Carmelita Geraghty, Gainsborough Pictures, Gainsborough Studio, Islington Studio, Jazz Age, London's Hollywood, Miles Mander, The Pleasure Garden, Virginia Valli
Posted in General | No Comments »

Digital Sampler for London’s Hollywood

July 2nd, 2014

Take a look at the digital sampler for

London’s Hollywood: The Gainsborough Studio in the Silent Years to be published 15th July 2014

http://bit.ly/1o25Rh8

Tags: 1920s, 20s, Alfred Hitchcock, British Silent Film, Gainsborough Studio, Gary Chapman, Graham Cutts, Islington Studio, Ivor Novello, Jazz Age, London's Hollywood, Michael Balcon
Posted in General | No Comments »

Betty Balfour in Squibs Honeymoon (1923)

June 26th, 2014

The screen farewell to one of Britain’s most loveable characters – Betty Balfour in Squibs Honeymoon (1923)

Many of the big scenes for Squibs Honeymoon (1923) were taken by George Pearson at the Islington studio in early October 1923.

Betty Balfour looked divine in her bridal outfit and the whole of the big floor at the Islington studio was taken up with a lovely old village church set with real shady trees and bushes and laid lawn, cobbled path leading up to the church through a lychgate with perched doves. The church in the crest of the slope seemed centuries old but had in fact been erected in just a few hours. Among the spectators were a number of uniformed policemen all ‘attending’ the wedding, including husband-to-be Fred Groves and Hugh E. Wright as Squibs’ father in his comic Sunday best. There were cheers from the crowd when Squibs arrived and Betty Balfour looked radiant in a cream wedding dress. Accompanying her were a few young girls in plain black straw hats and shawls, attire that was practically the insignia of the Piccadilly Circus flower seller.

It was a slow motion wedding for Betty Balfour as Squibs for she must have gone into the church at least twenty times and came out six. Each time the bodyguard of flower girls and ‘bobbies’ threw confetti and cheered; each time Balfour had to be dusted over with a big feather duster to remove all the confetti for retake after retake.

It was not quite the end of Squibs, it was the end for the silent Squibs, but there was a talkie remake of Squibs in 1935.

London’s Hollywood: The Gainsborough Studio in the Silent Years

will be published 15th July 2014

A detailed look at the British Silent Film industry with this first ever evaluation of the history, output and achievement of the most iconic film studio in England during the silent era.

Available in the following formats:

Hardback, £27, ISBN 9781909230132
Paperback, £14.99,  ISBN 9781909230101
From Amazon.co.uk
From Amazon.com
From The Book Depository (hardback)
From The Book Depository (paperback)

Amazon Kindle ebook, £8.99,   ISBN 9781909230125
Apple ebook, £8.99,  ISBN 9781909230118
(Through Apple / iTunes – search for title on iTunes bookstore)

Tags: 1920s, 20s, Betty Balfour, British Silent Film, Gainsborough Studio, George Pearson, Islington Studio, Jazz Age, London's Hollywood, silent film
Posted in General | No Comments »

Betty Balfour in Love, Life and Laughter (1923)

June 24th, 2014

Betty Balfour in Love, Life and Laughter (1923) mostly filmed at the Islington studio by George Pearson

London’s Hollywood: The Gainsborough Studio in the Silent Years
will be published 15th July 2014

A detailed look at the British Silent Film industry with this first ever evaluation of the history, output and achievement of the most iconic film studio in England during the silent era.

Available in the following formats:

Hardback, £27, ISBN 9781909230132
Paperback, £14.99,  ISBN 9781909230101
From Amazon.co.uk
From Amazon.com
From The Book Depository (hardback)
From The Book Depository (paperback)

Amazon Kindle ebook, £8.99,   ISBN 9781909230125
Apple ebook, £8.99,  ISBN 9781909230118
(Through Apple / iTunes – search for title on iTunes bookstore)

Tags: 1920s, 20s, Betty Balfour, British Silent Film, Gainsborough Studio, Gary Chapman, George Pearson, Islington Studio, Jazz Age, Life and Laughter, London's Hollywood, Love
Posted in General | No Comments »

Timeline for London’s Hollywood: The Gainsborough Studio in the Silent Years

June 4th, 2014

London’s Hollywood: The Gainsborough Studio in the Silent Years
To be published 15th July 2014

Here’s is a PDF with all the major events, filming dates and trade shows for all the films made at the Gainsborough / Islington studio in the 1920s and other relevant incidents

Timeline London’s Hollywood: The Gainsborough Studio in the Silent Years

Tags: 1920s, 20s, Alfred Hitchcock, British Silent Film, Gainsborough Studio, Graham Cutts, Islington Studio, Ivor Novello, London's Hollywood, Michael Balcon
Posted in General | No Comments »

Mr Selfridge and the Dolly Sisters in the Daily Mail

January 28th, 2013

Another rather interesting story in the Daily Mail about Mr Selfridge and the Dolly Sisters. Glad I am quoted. But once again why blame the Dolly Sisters for ruining Mr Selfridge – did he have nothing to do with his own destiny? http://bit.ly/XEXWsj

Tags: 1920s, Delectable Dollies, Gordon Selfridge, Harry Selfridge, Jazz Age, Jenny Dolly, Rosie Dolly, Selfridge, The Dolly, The Dolly Sisters
Posted in General | No Comments »

Mr Selfridge and the Dolly Sisters

January 28th, 2013

Let’s get a few things straight immediately. Selfridge was obsessed with all things beautiful, this included glamorous women. He also had a passion for gambling and was quite reckless. Thankfully, all of these traits are vividily portrayed in the TV show Mr Selfridge. So why is his demise and eventually downfall blamed on others, specifically the beautiful Dolly Sisters?

Tags: 1920s, 20s, Gordon Selfridge, Harry Selfridge, Icons of the Jazz Age, Jazz Age, Jenny Dolly, Rosie Dolly, Selfridge, The Dolly Sisters, The Dolly Sisters: Icons of the Jazz Age
Posted in General | No Comments »