Cecil Hepworth was born in London on 1874,
the son of magic lanternist T. C. Hepworth (author of the Book of the
Lantern). Cecil grew up travelling with his father and became obsessed
with the production of material to entertain audiences. At a young age,
he started developing his own story lines that he would present with his
sister Effie at the piano.
Cecil also had an aptitude for
inventing new mechanics and equipment to advance the industry.
He quickly became fasinated with the new growth of the cinema.
He became Birt Acres'
assistant, learning more about the fast growing industry.
In 1897 at the age of 23, while working
for Charles Urban,
another pioneer in the industry, Cecil published the first British
publication on the cinema, The ABC of the Cinematograph.
In 1899, Cecil decided to try film production
on his own. Cecil and his cousin, Monty Wicks, founded Hepwix Production
and leased a house for 36£ a year that he converted into a studio
called Walton-on-Thames and started production. Initially, he only produced
'actuality' films that were only about 50' in length. Cecil became famous
with his coverage of the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901.
With the tremendous acceptance
of the Melies
film Trip to the Moon in 1902, Cecil started experimenting
with story lines instead of documentaries.
With his background in the magic lantern,
it was easy to produce a new variety of films for the British market. He
used trick photography in the production of The Egg Laying Man.
He was the first in Britain to use slow motion on his film Eccentric
Dancer and in The Bathers, he reversed the film to have the
diver jump out of the water and back onto the diving board.
In 1903, he produced Alice in Wonderland,
(with his wife as the White Rabbit) which was 800' in length,
a remarkable feat for his time, breaking away from the normal
50' films. Soon after, he filmed Rescued by Rover which
starred his 8 month old baby and the family dog making the rescue
(one of the most celebrated surviving films from that time).
The film was so popular that he had to shoot it 3 times because
the negatives would wear out from producing the 400 prints that
were made to satisfy the demand for the film.
Rover, the Hepworth's family
dog (who's real name was Blair), starred in at least 7 other
Hepworth films before he died in 1914, establishing him as the
first animal star in the world.
By 1905, he had expanded his
studio and was producing over 100 films a year. He added many
creations 
that
were the first for Britain, like a length of rail for a wheeled
camera stand (today these are called "track shots.")
He also included Drying Rooms with escape balconies around to
protect his employees from fires that were a problem at the
time, and 6 motor driven perforators because film suppliers
weren't perforating the films until many years later when the
industry cameras were standardized.
The actors for Hepworth (called the Hepworth
Picture Players) became so popular that without realizing it, Cecil had
developed Britain's first film stars. His stock company of players included
such notables as Henry Edwards, Violet Hopson, Stewart Rome and Chrissie
White and later to include Ronald Colman who became a star in the US.
In 1908, he invented the Vivaphone, which
was a recording device that he mounted on the camera. With this recording
he produced a record that was played along with the film creating sound.
He produced several hundred Vivaphone shorts before finally giving up from
the problems with amplification and difficulties in synchronizing the record
and the film.
By 1911, Cecil made the transition
to feature films. He concentrated on the beauty of the countryside
and became skeptical of some of the newer techniques of editing
and close-ups (which eventually was his downfall). Instead he
chose to do film "fade outs" and more stage presentations.
As
an alternative, Cecil did his own experiments. In the film,
The Jewel Thieves Outwitted, you see that he was one
of the earliest known to have used an airplane in the story.
This film was released in 1913.
When WWI broke out, Cecil was one of the
few film studios that continued to produce. He made some propaganda shorts
to help sales of war bonds and public safety. He also rented out his studio
to other production companies that were without facilities.
At the conclusion of the war,
many companies attempted to get back into film production. However,
besides having to salvage their pre-war equipment and facilities,
they also had to attempt to catch up with all the advancements
that the United States production companies had made during
the war.
To try to keep up, Cecil formed Hepworth
Picture Plays Ltd in 1919 to raise money for his new expansion
program. This was to be his downfall. His new films weren't
the same quality as those being released from abroad. He tried
his hand at more elaborate productions making several films
that were financial flops. In 1923 he spent £10,000 to
make a second version of Comin' Thro' the Rye. Six
months later he had to declare bancruptcy.
Creditors seized and liquidated his Walton-on-Thames
studio at a small fraction of its value.
Cecil went to work for National
Screen Service making trailers throughout the 1930s. During
WWII he also worked for the Ministry of Information making "Food
Flashes" for the government.
After the war, Cecil worked as chairman
of the History Research Committee for the British Film Institute. He died
in 1953.
