Catalogo Giornate del Cinema Muto 2012 - La Cineteca del Friuli

“Men who go down to sea in ships of moderate tonnage” – Punch
“W. W. Jacobs has the satisfaction of knowing that he has only to leave one of his volumes in the same room with any normal English-speaking person
and that person, opening the b ok, will be compelled to settle himself down, neglect his busine s and enjoy to the end.” – J. B. Priestley
“The knowledge that Jacobs is the author lends the whole thing a glamour that will no doubt enhance its a peal to most … Use the author’s name
as much as you can. Jacobs’ fame is world-wide, and … should in itself suffice to draw the crowds.” – Kinematograph Weekly, 29 June 19 2
The latest revelation of the precious archaeological digs of the British Silent Film Festival – now entering its 16th year of excavating Britain’s longburied
riches – is the series of comedies adapted from the stories of W. W. Jacobs betw en 19 2 and 1927 by Horace Manning Haynes and the writer
Lydia Hayward. Disarmingly modest in their production values and, for the most part, no-star repertory casts, the films consistently boast wit, charm,
delight in human comedy, and an acute f eling for the social turbulence of small English villages and coastal communities. The mystery of why films
of such talent and appeal could lie forgotten for the best part of a century may reflect the dramatic change in the critical fortunes of W. W. Jacobs
himself, a victim, perhaps, of the decline of popular literacy. Ma sive bestsellers in the first half of 20th century, today only one or two of his b oks
remain in print, in paperback. If he has b en remembered, it is mostly for his thriller The Monkey’s Paw, with at least ten film adaptations, the
last in 2010. The tide though is turning: within the past months Project Gutenberg has completed its digital resurrection of Jacobs, BBC radio has
broadcast a series of adaptations of his stories, and since May 2012 he has made it to Kindle. The Giornate is proud to make its own contribution to
this overdue rediscovery.
William Wymark Jacobs (1863-1943) was born and grew up near the docks of Wapping, London, where his father was a wharf manager. He reluctantly
entered the civil service as a clerk at 16, but from the age of 20 began to write short stories, most recording the colour and comedy of the waterfront.
By the time he left the civil service in 1898, three volumes of stories had been published. The next decade or so saw a staggeringly prolific output; but
after the First World War his production slowed down markedly and for the last three decades of his life he mostly occupied himself with dramatizations
of existing works. Today we can still admire his easy literary style, economy, perfect dialogue, shrewd perception of character, skill in structure and the
surprise ending. He was known as “the O. Henry of the Waterfronts”. Admirers have not hesitated to compare his comedy to Aristophanes and Dickens; but
an internet students’ guide offers an appealingly cool contemporary assessment: “commentators assert that Jacobs’ humor was not intended to provide
psychological insight or social awareness, but rather to give simple amusement, and critics agree that he did this with great success”.
So far there is little evidence of what persuaded Jacobs, in 1922, to entrust this extended series of adaptations to relatively inexperienced film-makers. A
previous series of 12 Jacobs stories had been successfully produced in 1914-16 by London Film Productions, directed in turn by the experienced American
directors Harold M. Shaw (3 titles), George Loane Tucker (5 titles), and Frank Miller, then an untried, 25-year-old British debutant (4 titles). Only one
Jacobs title – Thomas Bentley’s A Master of Craft (1919) – was filmed in the intervening six years before Artistic Pictures embarked on this series. Set
up as a distribution company in 1916, Artistic moved into production in 1920 with Three Men in a Boat, in which Horace Manning Haynes (1889-1945),
who had been acting without much distinction since 1917 (The Lost Chord), not only played one of the Three, but also co-wrote the script with another
debutante writer, Lydia Hayward (1879-1957). Born in Sheffield and educated in France, Hayward had some previous flirtation with the performing arts:
in 1900 she married the actor Bernard Foster, and in 1920 made a single screen appearance, in Pillars of Society, starring Ellen Terry.
Embarking on his last film as actor and first work as director, Monty Works the Wires (1920), Haynes again called on Lydia Hayward as his co-writer.
The two were to work as a team throughout the Jacobs series, and Hayward should be credited with the outstanding su ce s with which Jacobs’
literary style has b en translated visually. Hayward’s career as a scr enwriter continued su cessfully until the 1940s, including a collaboration with
Noël Coward on Bitter Sweet (19 3). From time to time she was reunited with Haynes, their last film together being The Man at the Gate (1941),
starring her second husband, William Freshman, 28 years her junior, whom she had married in 1938 (they had met on an earlier Haynes-Hayward
film, the 1929 Those Who Love).
The full repertoire of the Haynes-Hayward films, in presumed production order, is as follows (titles marked with an asterisk had also been filmed
by London Film Productions): Sam’s Boy (1922), A Will and a Way (1922), The Skipper’s Wooing (1922), The Head of the Family (1922), *The
Monkey’s Paw (1923), The Constable’s Move (1923), *An Odd Freak (1923), The Convert (1923), *Lawyer Quince (1924), Dixon’s Return (1924),
*The Boatswain’s Mate (1924), Passion Island (1927; produced after the disappearance of Artistic Pictures, by the Film Manufacturing Company,
whose few films were directed by Jack Raymond or Manning Haynes – including Haynes’ most admired film, the 1928 version of The Ware Case
– and scripted by Lydia Hayward).
DAVID ROBINSON (with thanks to Bryony Dixon, Christine Gledhill, Janice Healey, Laraine Porter, Ann Ramsden, Alex Rock)
86
A WILL AND A WAY (Artistic Pictures, GB 1922)
Regia/dir: Horace Manning Haynes; prod: George Redman; scen: Lydia
Hayward, dal racconto di/from the story by W. W. Jacobs; f./ph: Frank
Grainger; mont./ed: ?; cast: Ernest Hendrie (Foxey Green), Polly
Emery (Mrs. Pottle), Johnny Butt (Joe Chambers), Cynthia Murtagh
(Flora Pottle), Charles Ashton (George Smith), Ada Palmer (Eliza
Collins), Agnes Brantford (Mrs. Walker), Peggie Beans (Jennie Pottle),
Maisie Beans (Lettie Pottle); 35mm, 3570 ft., 48' (20 fps); fonte copia/
print source: BFI National Archive, London.
Didascalie in inglese / English intertitles.
A Will and a Way uscì in volume nella raccolta Light Freights del 1901,
dopo essere già apparso sulle pagine di The Strand Magazine nel marzo
dello stesso anno. La vicenda si svolge in un immaginario villaggio
dell’entroterra che Jacobs chiama Claybury, la cui controfigura nel film
fu però il villaggio di Loughton, nei dintorni della foresta di Epping. Il
protagonista della vicenda è Foxey Green, il più orrendo misogino di
Claybury, che eredita una fortuna da uno zio purché si sposi con la
prima donna che glielo chieda. Il denaro suscita gli appetiti delle donne
(e dei travestiti) dell’intero villaggio, raggiungendo picchi di parossismo
che anticipano Seven Chances di Keaton.
L’entusiasmo della stampa inglese di categoria era più che giustificato: “La
maggiore difficoltà nel recensire questo film sta nel doversi trattenere
dall’eccesso di lodi. Molti ricorderanno sicuramente la storia di A Will
and a Way… basti solo aggiungere che quella deliziosa commedia sulle
vicende di un piccolo villaggio inglese mantiene inalterata l’atmosfera
creata dall’autore e che i suoi personaggi rivivono mirabilmente sullo
schermo. Dopo tutta una serie di storie piccanti o strappalacrime,
il film, una commedia nel senso compiuto del termine, e non una di
quelle che i produttori americani pretendono di ammannirci come
tali, arriva come una gradita novità: un netto passo avanti per l’arte
cinematografica inglese, e probabilmente il migliore fin qui prodotto
nel suo genere. L’interesse non viene mai meno; attori, didascalie,
fotografia e trama si fondono in un unicum armonico di straordinaria
efficacia. Inoltre, la qualità visiva del film è magnifica e praticamente
ogni singola sequenza ha pregi artistici di primordine e rivela tutta la
bellezza del paesaggio inglese con i suoi cottage d’altri tempi… Forse,
dalle lodi appena espresse qualcuno potrebbe pensare che si tratti di
un ‘super-film’ nel senso americano del termine. Ma non è così; uno
dei maggiori pregi di A Will and a Way è proprio la sua semplicità; e
dobbiamo congratularci con Manning Haynes che ha saputo tradurre
Jacobs in termini cinematografici rimanendo in perfetta sintonia con la
prosa dell’autore … Il cast non avrebbe potuto essere migliore e ogni
singolo personaggio è degno d’attenzione.” (Kinematograph Weekly,
2 marzo 1922)
Foxey è interpretato da Ernest Hendrie (1859-1929), che era stato
uno scrittore e attore molto attivo fin dal 1878 sulle scene del West
End ed era apparso nelle prime produzioni inglesi di Le colonne della
società di Ibsen (1889) e, nel ruolo di Tylo, in L’uccellino azzurro di
Maeterlinck (1909), con cui andò in tournée in Australia, riprendendo
il ruolo anche nella versione filmata della pièce nel 1910. Le sue uniche
87
altre apparizioni sullo schermo furono in The Divine Gift di Thomas
Bentley (1918) e in un altro titolo di questa rassegna, The Skipper’s
Wooing (1922). Nel film compaiono anche tre attori che troveremo
regolarmente nelle future trasposizioni jacobsiane. Cynthia Murtagh
sarebbe apparsa come eroina romantica in cinque degli adattamenti
da Jacobs e a un certo punto parrebbe aver sposato Manning Haynes:
nel suo ultimo film, The Last Post (1929) di Dinah Shurey figura infatti
come Cynthia Murtagh Haynes.
Charles Ashton (1884-196?), eroe romantico di garbata rustichezza,
aveva lavorato in precedenza come impiegato e fotografo. Arruolatosi
nella Royal Field Artillery come artigliere allo scoppio della prima
guerra mondiale, fu congedato dall’esercito per motivi di salute dopo
aver sofferto di psicosi traumatica nella battaglia di Ypres (1917). Il
suo debutto sullo schermo fu nel ruolo di Dick Alward nel film del
1920 Pillars of Society, da Ibsen, dove fece la sua unica apparizione
cinematografica Lydia Hayward. E senza dubbio fu da quell’incontro
che nacque il successivo impegno di Ashton con Haynes e la Hayward
in Monty Works the Wires e nelle succcessive cinque trasposizioni.
Dal 1924 al 1929, Ashton fu il protagonista di numerosi altri film, ma
dopo l’avvento del sonoro si dedicò alla stesura di romanzi polizieschi,
continuando a scrivere fino agli anni ’50. Johnny Butt (John William
Butt, 1870-1930) interpretò importanti ruoli da villain in ben 11 dei
film ricavati dai lavori di Jacobs: è assente solo dal cast di Dixon’s
Return, probabilmente perché nel 1924 fu impegnato sul set di altri
cinque film. Apparentemente in attività fin dal 1897, Butt rimase un
caratterista molto richiesto fino alla fine dei suoi giorni. Per Hepworth
interpretò due serie comiche da protagonista: “Simkins” (4 episodi,
1914) e “Tubby” (11 episodi, 1916). La fortunata collaborazione tra
Butt e Haynes era nata quando avevano interpretato insieme due dei
Three Men in a Boat (1920).
A Will and a Way was published in the collection Light Freights in
1901, after originally appearing in The Strand Magazine in March of
that year. The setting is Jacobs’ fictional inland village of Claybury,
here played by the actual village of Loughton, near Epping Forest.
The story tells how Foxey Green, the ugliest misogynist in Claybury,
inherits a fortune from his uncle on condition that he marries the first
woman who proposes to him. The money excites female (and even
transvestite) Claybury to a furore that anticipates Keaton’s Seven
Chances.
The British trade press were justifiably ecstatic: “The great difficulty
in reviewing this picture is to keep oneself from exaggerated praise.
Most people will remember the story of ‘A Will and a Way’ … and
it is enough to say here that that charming comedy on life in a small
English village retains the complete atmosphere the author intended
and makes his characters live on the screen. After the continual round
of sex and ‘sob-stuff’, the picture, a true comedy in all senses of the
word, not what American producers have taught us to regard as such,
comes as a very welcome change: it is another distinct milestone in
the advancement of British screen art, and is probably the best of its
W.W. JACOBS