Cecil M. Hepworth

Production

Cecil M. Hepworth

Born — Died

1873-03-19 — 1953-02-09

Place of birth

Lewisham, London, England, UK

Known for

Production

Credits

48 titles

Cecil Milton Hepworth (19 March 1874 – 9 February 1953) was a British film director, producer and screenwriter. He was among the founders of the British film industry and continued making films into the 1920s at his Hepworth Studios. His works include Alice in Wonderland (1903), the first film adaptation of Lewis Carroll's children's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Known for

Alice in Wonderland poster
6.0

This is the first movie version of the famous story. Alice dozes in a garden, awakened by a dithering white rabbit in waistcoat with pocket watch. She follows him down a hole and finds herself in a hall of many doors.

Alice in Wonderland

1903

Oh'phelia: A Cartoon Burlesque poster
5.0

Cut-out animated parody of Hamlet by pioneering British animator Anson Dyer.

Oh'phelia: A Cartoon Burlesque

1919

Tansy poster
8.0

'Devon. Farming brothers give home to orphan shepherdess evicted for suspected immorality.' (British Film Catalogue)

Tansy

1921

No artwork available
9.0

Molly Bawn. British silent drama movie. Directed by Cecil M Hepworth. Starring Alma Taylor, Stewart Rome an Violet Hopson. adaptation of the1878 Irish novel of the same name by Margaret Wolfe Hungerford. Molly Bawn the novel by M. W. Hungerford contains her most famous idiom: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." It is also referenced in chapter 8 of James Joyce's Ulysses.

Molly Bawn

1916

Helen of Four Gates poster
5.8

HELEN OF FOUR GATES was made in Hebden Bridge in 1920 by silent film pioneer Cecil M. Hepworth, based on a popular novel of the same name. Reportedly highly successful when it first opened, the film would later fall into obscurity, with all copies believed to be destroyed. In 2007, a print was discovered in a vault in Canada.

Helen of Four Gates

1920

Mist in the Valley poster
7.5

Young heiress Margaret Yeoland is found unconscious on the Devonshire moors by a disillusioned author, Denis Marlowe. She tells him she has run away from her family, but is reluctant to reveal the full story. Intent on concealing her identity from her pursuers, Denis coerces her into marrying him. But when the body of Margaret's missing father is discovered, it leads Denis to suspect his wife of murder.

Mist in the Valley

1923

Film credits

1900s · 8 titles

Alice in Wonderland poster
6.0

This is the first movie version of the famous story. Alice dozes in a garden, awakened by a dithering white rabbit in waistcoat with pocket watch. She follows him down a hole and finds herself in a hall of many doors.

Alice in Wonderland

1903

No artwork available
6.3

Dog Rover, from Rescued by Rover fame, chases a kidnapper's car and while he is in a pub, drives it safely home and thus saves the baby.

The Dog Outwits the Kidnapper

1908

Rescued by Rover poster
6.1

A dog leads its master to his kidnapped baby.

Rescued by Rover

1905

No artwork available
6.2

A policeman is run over by an automobile

How to Stop a Motor Car

1902

No artwork available
4.0

A professor eating his lunch at his work table becomes suspicious of the taste of his cheese. He puts a slice under the nearby microscope. But the crawling creatures thus revealed aren't quite what one might expect. Parody of 'The Unseen World: The Urban-Duncan Micro-Bioscope' series.

The Unclean World: The Suburban-Bunkum Microbe-Guyoscope

1903

Explosion of a Motor Car poster
6.1

An early trick film where a car explodes and body parts fall from the sky. A policeman witnesses and attempts to piece the remains back together.

Explosion of a Motor Car

1900

How It Feels to Be Run Over poster
6.0

As the camera looks down an open road, a horse and carriage approaches, and passes by to one side of the field of view. Soon afterwards, an automobile comes up the road, straight towards the camera. As it gets nearer, the occupants start to wave frantically, but can a collision be avoided?

How It Feels to Be Run Over

1900

The Bathers poster
7.0

TRICK. Two bathers arrive at a river, disrobe at the water's edge and dive in. The action is then reversed and the men are seen leaving the water feet first and their clothes fly back on their bodies.

The Bathers

1900

Behind the camera

Alice in Wonderland poster
6.0

This is the first movie version of the famous story. Alice dozes in a garden, awakened by a dithering white rabbit in waistcoat with pocket watch. She follows him down a hole and finds herself in a hall of many doors.

Alice in Wonderland

1903

Alice in Wonderland poster
6.0

This is the first movie version of the famous story. Alice dozes in a garden, awakened by a dithering white rabbit in waistcoat with pocket watch. She follows him down a hole and finds herself in a hall of many doors.

Alice in Wonderland

1903

Alice in Wonderland poster
6.0

This is the first movie version of the famous story. Alice dozes in a garden, awakened by a dithering white rabbit in waistcoat with pocket watch. She follows him down a hole and finds herself in a hall of many doors.

Alice in Wonderland

1903

Oh'phelia: A Cartoon Burlesque poster
5.0

Cut-out animated parody of Hamlet by pioneering British animator Anson Dyer.

Oh'phelia: A Cartoon Burlesque

1919

Tansy poster
8.0

'Devon. Farming brothers give home to orphan shepherdess evicted for suspected immorality.' (British Film Catalogue)

Tansy

1921

No artwork available
9.0

Molly Bawn. British silent drama movie. Directed by Cecil M Hepworth. Starring Alma Taylor, Stewart Rome an Violet Hopson. adaptation of the1878 Irish novel of the same name by Margaret Wolfe Hungerford. Molly Bawn the novel by M. W. Hungerford contains her most famous idiom: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." It is also referenced in chapter 8 of James Joyce's Ulysses.

Molly Bawn

1916

Helen of Four Gates poster
5.8

HELEN OF FOUR GATES was made in Hebden Bridge in 1920 by silent film pioneer Cecil M. Hepworth, based on a popular novel of the same name. Reportedly highly successful when it first opened, the film would later fall into obscurity, with all copies believed to be destroyed. In 2007, a print was discovered in a vault in Canada.

Helen of Four Gates

1920

Helen of Four Gates poster
5.8

HELEN OF FOUR GATES was made in Hebden Bridge in 1920 by silent film pioneer Cecil M. Hepworth, based on a popular novel of the same name. Reportedly highly successful when it first opened, the film would later fall into obscurity, with all copies believed to be destroyed. In 2007, a print was discovered in a vault in Canada.

Helen of Four Gates

1920

Mist in the Valley poster
7.5

Young heiress Margaret Yeoland is found unconscious on the Devonshire moors by a disillusioned author, Denis Marlowe. She tells him she has run away from her family, but is reluctant to reveal the full story. Intent on concealing her identity from her pursuers, Denis coerces her into marrying him. But when the body of Margaret's missing father is discovered, it leads Denis to suspect his wife of murder.

Mist in the Valley

1923

Mist in the Valley poster
7.5

Young heiress Margaret Yeoland is found unconscious on the Devonshire moors by a disillusioned author, Denis Marlowe. She tells him she has run away from her family, but is reluctant to reveal the full story. Intent on concealing her identity from her pursuers, Denis coerces her into marrying him. But when the body of Margaret's missing father is discovered, it leads Denis to suspect his wife of murder.

Mist in the Valley

1923

The Heart of a Fishergirl poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Heart of a Fishergirl

—

No artwork available
8.0

A rich man's son loves a nature girl loved by a gypsy who is really her half brother.

Wisp o' the Woods

1919

No artwork available
NR

A schoolgirl annoys the new teacher by getting her friends to answer an inspector incorrectly.

Schoolgirl Rebels

1915

The Doll's Revenge poster
6.4

A boy breaks his sister's doll and it mends, grows, tears him up and eats him.

The Doll's Revenge

1907

Alf's Button poster
5.5

A soldier's tunic button, made from Aladdin's lamp, grants his wishes.

Alf's Button

1920

Alf's Button poster
5.5

A soldier's tunic button, made from Aladdin's lamp, grants his wishes.

Alf's Button

1920

No artwork available
7.0

An Essec sailor helps a girl save an heir from his crooked uncle.

The House of Marney

1927

No artwork available
10.0

The story of a small valley community that is narrow minded and those who wish to leave it on the train that regularly hurries from the narrow valley.

The Narrow Valley

1921

No artwork available
10.0

The story of a small valley community that is narrow minded and those who wish to leave it on the train that regularly hurries from the narrow valley.

The Narrow Valley

1921

An Engagement of Convenience poster
6.0

A man fakes an engagement to a typist to please his rich aunt.

An Engagement of Convenience

1914

Comin' Thro the Rye poster
10.0

A jealous girl breaks up a friend's engagement with a fake wedding announcement.

Comin' Thro the Rye

1923

No artwork available
9.0

Two identical sisters are able to switch places, leading to a series of unfortunate incidents.

Anna the Adventuress

1920

No artwork available
9.0

Two identical sisters are able to switch places, leading to a series of unfortunate incidents.

Anna the Adventuress

1920

No artwork available
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Dollars in Surrey

1921

No artwork available
4.0

Cecil Hepworth’s Vivaphone film features Hay Plumb singing George Robins’ optimistic 1906 ditty concerning the mischievous responses of a poor family to regular visits from the bailiffs.

Are We Down-Hearted?

1911

Early British Films from the Filmoteca de Catalunya 1897-1909 poster
NR

A collection of early British Films from the Filmoteca de Catalunya. Films include: Brighton Seagoing Electric Car (1897), The Inexhaustible Cab (1899), From Dalmeny to Dunfermline, Scotland via the Firth of Forth Bridge (series) (1899), Review of Lord George Sanger's Circus by the Queen (series) (1899), Sanger Circus Passing Through Inverness (1900), The “Poly” Paper Chase (1900), The Wintry Alps (series) (1903), An Affair of Honor (1904), Perzina's Troupe of Educated Monkeys (1904), Elephants Bathing in Ceylon River (1904), [Drill of the Reedham Orphans] (c.1904–1912), Venice and the Grand Canal (1901?/1904?), Edge's Motor Boat. The Napier Minor (1904), Fixing the Swing (1904), Eccentric Burglary (1905), Her Morning Dip (1906), Automobile Fête Before King Alfonso and Princess Ena (1906), The Royal Spanish Wedding (series) (1906), Lace Making (1908), The Robber's Ruse, or Foiled by Fido (1909).

Early British Films from the Filmoteca de Catalunya 1897-1909

2023

Comin' Thro' the Rye poster
10.0

A girl wins her rival's fiancé with a fake marriage announcement.

Comin' Thro' the Rye

1916

No artwork available
NR

A man buys a magic powder that makes him invisible.

Invisibility

1909

No artwork available
NR

A man buys a magic powder that makes him invisible.

Invisibility

1909

Heart of Midlothian poster
8.0

A crofter's daughter has a child by an outlaw and is condemned to death when it is stolen by a midwife's mad daughter.

Heart of Midlothian

1914

The Magic Glass poster
4.7

A boy uses a professor's liquid to make objects transparent.

The Magic Glass

1914

No artwork available
NR

Some gossiping women exaggerate the priest’s gift to a little girl.

What the Curate Really Did

1905

Funeral of Queen Victoria poster
7.7

Actuality film documenting the funeral of Queen Victoria in February 1901. The footage captures the solemn processions and ceremonies that marked the end of her long reign, offering a rare moving-image record of a major state occasion. Widely circulated internationally, the film reflects both the global reach of British newsreel subjects and the early power of cinema to record historic events.

Funeral of Queen Victoria

1901

Broken in the Wars poster
7.0

'Lady introduces wounded cobbler to Minister of Pensions, who makes him gift from King's Fund.' (British Film Catalogue)

Broken in the Wars

1919

Prehistoric Peeps poster
9.0

A scientist dreams of prehistoric monsters. He awakes in a cavern. A dinosaur chases him, even though he tries to shoot it with his revolver. The chase continues onto the surface. The professor meets a group of prehistoric women, who flee when other monsters appear. The professor's wife finds him sleeping in the laboratory, surrounded by fossils, and wakes him with water from a siphon. Its generally believed to be the first film depiction of dinosaurs, here accomplished through the use of simple pantomime costumes. This short film was only viewable at the BFI until youtuber coldcrashpictures paid money to release it digitally on his channel.

Prehistoric Peeps

1905

Rescued by Rover poster
6.1

A dog leads its master to his kidnapped baby.

Rescued by Rover

1905

Queen Victoria's Visit to Dublin poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Queen Victoria's Visit to Dublin

1900

The Leopard's Spots poster
5.0

British propaganda piece warning against buying German goods after the war, summer 1918.

The Leopard's Spots

1918

The Jonah Man; or, The Traveller Bewitched poster
6.0

A man preparing for a trip encounters a series of mysterious problems.

The Jonah Man; or, The Traveller Bewitched

1904

Little Red Riding Hood poster
7.5

Anson Dyer's animation of the age-old fable, made for Hepworth.

Little Red Riding Hood

1922