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Catalogo Giornate del Cinema Muto 2012 - La Cineteca del Friuli

Catalogo Giornate del Cinema Muto 2012 - La Cineteca del Friuli

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type yet produced. The interest never flags; actors, titles, photography<br />

and story all blend together into a harmonious whole and make an<br />

outstanding success. Apart from this, the scenic value is great, and<br />

practically every shot has artistic merit of a high order and reveals the<br />

beauty of our English landscapes and old-world cottages… Perhaps<br />

from the criticism given above it may be assumed by some that this<br />

is a ‘super-film’ in the American sense. It is not; its simplicity is one<br />

of its greatest assets and Manning Haynes is to be congratulated<br />

on the way he has interpreted Jacobs to terms of the screen while<br />

keeping perfectly in tune with the author’s writings. … The casting<br />

could not have been better and every character is a study in itself.”<br />

(Kinematograph Weekly, 2 March 1922)<br />

Foxey is played by Ernest Hendrie (1859-1929), who had been a<br />

busy West End actor and writer since 1878 and had appeared in the<br />

original London productions of Ibsen’s The Pillars of Society (1889)<br />

and as Tylo in Maeterlinck’s The Blue Bird (1909), a part in which he<br />

toured Australia, and which he recreated for the 1910 film of the play.<br />

His only other film appearances were in Thomas Bentley’s 1918 The<br />

Divine Gift and in a later title in this same Jacobs series, The Skipper’s<br />

Wooing (1922). The film also introduces three actors who were to be<br />

regulars in the Jacobs films. Cynthia Murtagh was to appear as female<br />

romantic lead in five of the Jacobs films and seems at some point to<br />

have married Manning Haynes: in her final film, Dinah Shurey’s The<br />

<strong>La</strong>st Post (1929), she was billed as Cynthia Murtagh Haynes.<br />

Charles Ashton (1884-196?), the pleasantly rustic male romantic lead,<br />

had worked as a clerk and then a photographer before joining the<br />

Royal Field Artillery as a gunner in the First World War. He was<br />

invalided out of the army after suffering shell-shock at the Battle of<br />

Ypres (1917). His first film appearance was as Dick Alward in the 1920<br />

film of Pillars of Society, in which Lydia Hayward made her only film<br />

appearance. No doubt as a result of this meeting, he joined Haynes<br />

and Hayward for his next film role, in Monty Works the Wires, and<br />

subsequently five of the Jacobs films. From 1924 to 1929 he played<br />

leading roles in a number of other films, but after the coming of sound<br />

he turned to writing crime novels, which he continued into the 1950s.<br />

Johnny Butt (John William Butt, 1870-1930) played leading roles as<br />

character heavy in 11 of the Jacobs films: he is absent only from the<br />

cast of Dixon’s Return, no doubt because he was involved in six other<br />

films in 1924. Said to have been in films from 1897, Butt remained<br />

much in demand as a character actor throughout the rest of his life.<br />

At the Hepworth Studio he had his own comedy series, as Simkins<br />

(4 episodes, 1914) and Tubby (11 episodes, 1916). Butt and Haynes’<br />

evidently happy collaboration no doubt began when they appeared<br />

together as two of the Three Men in a Boat (1920).<br />

SAM’S BOY (Artistic Pictures, GB 1922)<br />

Regia/dir: Horace Manning Haynes; prod: George Redman; scen: Lydia<br />

Hayward, dal racconto di/from the story by W. W. Jacobs; f./ph: Frank<br />

Grainger; mont./ed:? ; cast: Johnny Butt (Captain Hart), Tom Coventry<br />

(Sam Brown), Bobbie Rudd (Billy Jones), Charles Ashton (Harry<br />

88<br />

Green), Toby Cooper (Charlie Legge), Mary Braithwaite (Mrs. Hunt),<br />

Kate Gurney (Mrs. Brown), Harry Newman (Mate), Montmorency (il<br />

cane/the dog); 35mm, 4300 ft., 57' (20 fps); fonte copia/print source:<br />

BFI National Archive, London.<br />

Didascalie in inglese / English intertitles.<br />

Sam’s Boy era apparso per la prima volta in volume nella raccolta<br />

Light Freights <strong>del</strong> 1901. Il protagonista è un orfano senzatetto, Master<br />

Billy Jones, che, facendo tesoro <strong>del</strong>la soffiata di un vagabondo, avvicina<br />

affabilmente il marinaio Sam Brown affermando, con ingiustificata<br />

sicurezza, di essere suo figlio. L’entusiastica propensione <strong>del</strong> capitano<br />

<strong>del</strong>la nave e dei suoi compagni di bordo a dare credito alle parole<br />

<strong>del</strong> ragazzo crea un certo imbarazzo a Sam, che suona l’harmonium<br />

nell’Esercito <strong>del</strong>la Salvezza. Quando poi, in preda alla disperazione, Sam<br />

abbandona la nave, Master Jones non fa una piega: ha già adocchiato<br />

qualche altro “padre”.<br />

Il film fu girato in inverno, e a fare da controfigura a “Withersea” e<br />

“Dimport” furono due non meglio identificati villaggi <strong>del</strong> Kent sulle<br />

rive <strong>del</strong> Tamigi, mentre le sequenze iniziali furono girate nel porto di<br />

Londra.<br />

The Bioscope dichiarò che Bobbie Rudd, che qui interpreta Billy<br />

Jones – e che nuovamente apparirà in The Skipper’s Wooing – aveva<br />

“assicurato un futuro di sicuro successo”. Al contrario, Rudd riuscì a<br />

sparire quasi <strong>del</strong> tutto, al punto che, fatta salva una menzione, elude<br />

anche l’esaustivo saggio di John Holmstrom The Moving Picture Boy<br />

(1996). Kinematograph Weekly rilevava con acume che “il personaggio<br />

<strong>del</strong>l’orfano abbandonato, pur introducendo una certa dose di pathos,<br />

si distanzia dalle ‘storie strappalacrime’ almeno quanto l’Inghilterra si<br />

distanzia dall’America. Questo tipo di film … accrescerà il prestigio<br />

dei produttori inglesi in tutto il mondo”.<br />

Sam’s Boy appeared in the collection Light Freights in 1901. The<br />

protagonist is homeless orphan Master Billy Jones, who, picking up<br />

a useful tip from a stray dog, amiably accosts seaman Sam Brown,<br />

confidently, if quite unjustifiably, claiming him as his father. Sam’s<br />

captain and shipmates’ enthusiastic willingness to believe the child<br />

proves some embarrassment to Sam, who plays the harmonium at the<br />

Salvation Army. When the desperate seaman flees the ship however,<br />

Master Jones is unfazed: he has other fathers in view.<br />

The film was shot in winter, and “Withersea” and “Dimport” are<br />

represented by as yet unidentified villages on the Kent coast of the<br />

Thames, with opening shots of the Port of London.<br />

The Bioscope proclaimed that Bobbie Rudd, who plays Billy Jones,<br />

and was to appear again in The Skipper’s Wooing, was “assured of<br />

future success”. On the contrary, he disappeared so successfully that,<br />

apart from a mention, he even eludes John Holmstrom’s exhaustive<br />

The Moving Picture Boy (1996). Kinematograph Weekly shrewdly<br />

pointed out that “there is a certain amount of pathos introduced by<br />

the character of an orphan waif, but it is as far removed from ‘sob<br />

stuff’ as England is from America. This type of film … will raise the<br />

prestige of English producers the world over.”<br />

THE SKIPPER’S WOOING (Artistic Pictures, GB 1922)<br />

Regia/dir: Horace Manning Haynes; prod: George Redman; scen:<br />

Lydia Hayward, dalla novella di/from the novella by W. W. Jacobs;<br />

f./ph: Frank Grainger; mont./ed: ?; cast: Gordon Hopkirk (Captain<br />

Wilson, the Skipper), Cynthia Murtagh (Annie Gething), Charles<br />

Levey (Captain Gething), Ernest Hendrie (“Slushy” the cook), Tom<br />

Coventry (the Mate), J. T. MacMillan (Jim Salter), Mary Price (Mrs.<br />

Gething), Johnny Butt (Fat Sam), Moore Marriott (Dick), Bobbie Rudd<br />

(Henry Atkins), Jeff Barlow (Mr. Dunn), Roy Travers (Mr. Glover), Jeff<br />

Barlow (Mr. Dunn), Violet Aubert (Miss Harcourt); 35mm, 5200 ft.,<br />

69' (20 fps); fonte copia/print source: BFI National Archive, London.<br />

Didascalie in inglese / English intertitles.<br />

The Skipper’s Wooing, pubblicato per la prima volta nel 1897 e<br />

poi incluso nella raccolta At Sunwich Port <strong>del</strong> 1902, rappresenta<br />

un’eccezione nella produzione di Jacobs, che lo scrisse sotto forma di<br />

romanzo breve in 13 capitoli. <strong>La</strong> vicenda narra le peripezie affrontate<br />

dalla ciurma <strong>del</strong> “Seamew” per rintracciare il capitano Gething, che si è<br />

dato alla macchia credendo erroneamente di aver ucciso un uomo, ma<br />

che, per giunta, è anche il padre di Annie, di cui è innamorato il loro<br />

capitano, “Skipper” Wilson. <strong>La</strong> spiccata attitudine <strong>del</strong>la Hayward per<br />

gli adattamenti è particolarmente evidente qui. <strong>La</strong> forma riassuntiva<br />

<strong>del</strong> racconto è infatti sostituita da una struttura narrativa lineare che<br />

visualizza brillantemente gli avventurosi imprevisti affrontati dalla<br />

ciurma, insidiata da scambi d’identità, da un mozzo malandrino e<br />

dall’odioso rivale di “Skipper” per la mano di Annie.<br />

Il film segna la probabile prima apparizione nella serie da Jacobs di<br />

Moore Marriott (1885-1949), che sarebbe apparso in 6 di questi film,<br />

ma qui figurante col nome di George Marriott (era incline a costanti<br />

variazioni <strong>del</strong> suo nome originale: George Thomas Moore-Marriott).<br />

Con Johnny Butt e Gordon Hopkirk fu uno dei tre attori che apparvero<br />

al fianco di Manning Haynes in Three Men in a Van (1921) di Hugh<br />

Croise. <strong>La</strong> carriera muta di Marriot durò a lungo, coprendo il primo<br />

decennio <strong>del</strong> secolo, ma trovò una sua nicchia anche dopo l’avvento<br />

<strong>del</strong> sonoro, sviluppando il proprio personaggio di decrepito, sdentato<br />

e tuttavia malizioso Pantalone. Una maschera che gli valse la massima<br />

popolarità col personaggio di Jeremiah Harbottle nelle commedie di<br />

“Will” Hay.<br />

Il film segnò anche la seconda e ultima apparizione sullo schermo di<br />

Bobbie Rudd, nel premiante ruolo <strong>del</strong> mozzo di bordo, Henry.<br />

Dal racconto originale: “Se tu fossi mio figlio”, disse Sam ansimando,<br />

“te le suonerei di santa ragione”.<br />

“Se fossi tuo figlio, mi affogherei”, rispose senza esitazione Henry.<br />

Il padre di Henry aveva avuto spesso occasione di notare che suo figlio<br />

somigliava a sua madre, e sua madre aveva una lingua che era famosa<br />

in tutta Wapping, e otteneva una menzione onorevole anche nella<br />

lontana Limehouse.<br />

The Skipper’s Wooing is exceptional in Jacobs’ work, in taking the<br />

form of a 13-chapter novella, first published in 1897 and included in<br />

the 1902 collection At Sunwich Port. The story relates the efforts<br />

89<br />

of the entire crew of the Seamew to trace Captain Gething, who<br />

has gone into hiding in the mistaken belief that he has killed a man,<br />

but who is the father of Annie, for whom their own Captain Wilson<br />

yearns. Lydia Hayward’s bold skill in adaptation is especially evident<br />

here. The recapitulary format of the original is cleverly reshaped to a<br />

more progressive narrative structure which easily accommodates the<br />

incidental adventures of the crew, beset by mistaken identities, the<br />

mischievous ship’s boy, and the Skipper’s odious rival for the hand of<br />

Annie.<br />

This seems to have been the first appearance in the Jacobs series of<br />

Moore Marriott (1885-1949), who was to appear in six of the films,<br />

though here billed as George Marriott (he was inclined to use a number<br />

of variations on his original name of George Thomas Moore-Marriott).<br />

With Johnny Butt and Gordon Hopkirk he was one of three actors<br />

who had appeared alongside Manning Haynes in Hugh Croise’s Three<br />

Men in a Van (1921). Marriott had a long career in silents, stretching<br />

back to the first decade of the century, but found his true niche with<br />

the coming of sound, when he developed his character as a toothless,<br />

doddering but sly old pantaloon. In this guise he achieved his greatest<br />

popularity as Jeremiah Harbottle in the Will Hay comedies.<br />

This was the second and last screen appearance of Bobbie Rudd, in the<br />

rewarding role of the ship’s boy, Henry: in the original novella,<br />

“If you was my boy,” said Sam, breathing heavily, “I’d thrash you to<br />

within a inch of your life.”<br />

“If I was your boy I should drown myself,” said Henry very positively.<br />

Henry’s father had frequently had occasion to remark that his son<br />

favoured his mother, and his mother possessed a tongue which was<br />

famed throughout Wapping, and obtained honourable mention in<br />

distant Limehouse.<br />

THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY (Artistic Pictures, GB 1922)<br />

Regia/dir: Horace Manning Haynes; prod: George Redman; scen: Lydia<br />

Hayward, dal racconto di/from the story by W. W. Jacobs; f./ph: Frank<br />

Grainger; mont./ed: ?; cast: Johnny Butt (Green), Cynthia Murtagh<br />

(Betty Foster), Charles Ashton (Robert Letts), Daisy England (Mrs.<br />

Green), Bertie White (Henry Whidden), Moore Marriott (secondo/<br />

mate); 35mm, 5500 ft., 73' (20 fps); fonte copia/print source: BFI<br />

National Archive, London.<br />

Didascalie in inglese / English intertitles.<br />

The Head of the Family, che era apparso nella raccolta Sailors’<br />

Knot <strong>del</strong> 1909, fornì probabilmente i loro ruoli migliori agli attori<br />

<strong>del</strong>la compagnia “stabile” di Haynes, Johnny Butt, Charles Ashton e<br />

Cynthia Murtagh, e un buon ruolo secondario a Moore Marriott. Gli<br />

esperimenti culinari <strong>del</strong> marinaio Letts, cuoco di bordo <strong>del</strong>lo schooner<br />

“Curlew”, gli valgono l’immediata espulsione dal battello. Mentre vaga<br />

sconsolato sulla banchina, il marinaio s’imbatte in un’altra sventurata,<br />

Mrs. Green, il cui secondo marito tormenta lei e la figlia maltrattandole<br />

e appropriandosi dei loro beni di famiglia. Scoprendo che il figlio di<br />

Mrs. Green, scomparso in mare nove anni prima, avrebbe avuto la<br />

stessa età di Letts, i due ordiscono il piano di far apparire il mancato<br />

W.W. JACOBS

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