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Home , Adrian Brunel, A South Sea Bubble, Flames of Passion, Gainsborough Pictures, Islington Studios, Nell Gwyn

Timeline / ’s Hollywood: The Gainsborough Studio in the Silent Years 1 Timeline London’s Hollywood: The Gainsborough Studio in the Silent Years

1919

4/1919 Formation of Famous Players Lasky British Producers Limited 7/1919 Arrival of Albert A. Kaufman (production supervisor) Arrival of Richard Murphy (scenic artist) and others 8/1919 Arrival of Eve Unsell (head of scenario) 10/1919 Purchase of lease on building to be converted into studio 11/1919 Arrival of Milton Hoffman (general manager)

1920

2/1920 Appointment of Mde Langfier in to run wardrobe department 3/1920 Arrival of Adolph Zukor 4/1920 Arrival of director Hugh Ford 5/1920 Opening of the studio 5/1920 Filming of The Great Day (May-June) 5/1920 Major Bell promoted to studio manager 6/1920 Arrival of Jesse Lasky 7/1920 Major Bell to America for three months 8/1920 Appointment of Robert James Cullen as assistant director 8/1920 Filming of The Call of Youth (August - September) 9/1920 Filming exteriors of The Call of Youth in Devon 9/1920 Eve Unsell returns to America 9/1920 Arrival of Margaret Turnbull, Roswell Dague (Scenarists) & Robert MacAlarney (General Production Manager) 10/1920 Arrival of Major Bell & director Donald Crisp 10/1920 Milton Hoffman returns to America 10/1920 Major Bell appoints James Sloan (Assistant Manager) 10/1920 Filming Appearances (October - December) 10/1920 Arrival of Paul Powell 11/1920 Trade Show The Great Day Trade Show The Call of Youth 12/1920 Filming The Mystery Road (December – May) Exteriors on the Riviera (December -February) Interiors February - May 1921

1921

1/1921 Filming of Princess of New York (January - March) Exteriors on the Riviera (January) 1/1921 Arrival of Mary O’Connor (scenarist) 2/1921 Appointment of Alma Reville as floor secretary to Donald Crisp 4/1921 Appointment of in charge of art titles 5/1921 Filming Dangerous Lies (May - June) 5/1921 Arrival of director Robertson 6/1921 Trade show Appearances Trade show Princess of New York 6/1921 Filming Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush (June-Sept) Davild Powell and Mary O’Connor return to America 8/1921 Arrival of director George Fitzmaurice 8/1921 Arrival of Thomas Jefferson Geraghty (supervising editor) 8/1921 Filming London exteriors for Three Live Ghosts 6/8/21 8/1921 Filming exterior shots for Perpetua in France 13/8/21 9/1921 Trade show Dangerous Lies Timeline / London’s Hollywood: The Gainsborough Studio in the Silent Years 2

9/1921 Donald Crisp, Robert MacAlarney, Roswell Dague and Margaret Turnbull all return to America 9/1921 Filming interiors shots for Perpetua 10 September - 15 October 1921 9/1921 Filming Three Live Ghosts 10 September - 15 October 1921 10/1921 Trade show The Mystery Road 10/1921 Filming The Man From Home from 22 October - end December 10/1921 Filming Spanish Jade 29 October - end December 10/1921 Cutts and Wilcox film The Wonderful Story 11/1921 Trade show Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush 12/1921 Filming exteriors of The Man From Home December 1921 12/1921 Filming exteriors of Spanish Jade December 1921 / January 1922

1922

2/1922 Thomas Geraghty, George Fitzmaurice and Ouida Bergere return to America 3/1922 John Stuart Roberston returns to America 3/1922 Trade show Three Live Ghosts 3/1922 Cutts films Cocaine (through April) 5/1922 Trade show Perpetua 5/1922 Trade show of The Wonderful Story 5/1922 Trade show of Cocaine 5/1922 Jesse Lasky visits London on a European tour 6/1922 Trade show The Man From Home 6/1922 Cutts and Wilcox casting for 7/1922 Me Marsh arrives to star in Flames of Passion 7/1922 Cutts films Flames of Passion (through August) 7/1922 Formation of Graham-Wilcox Productions Ltd 8/1922 Trade show Spanish Jade 9/1922 Cutts films Paddy the Next Best Thing (through November) 11/1922 Trade show Flames of Passion Late 1922 Hitchcock works on Mrs Peabody (Number Thirteen)

1923

Early 1923 Hitchcock works on Always Tell Your Wife Early 1923 Formation of Balcon-Saville-Freedman 1/1923 Trade show of Paddy the Next Best Thing 3/1923 George Pearson films Love, Life and Laughter 3/1923 leaves for trip to USA to secure Betty Compson 4/1923 Cutts films some scenes of Woman to Woman 5/1923 Trade show Love, Life and Laughter 5/1923 Betty Compson arrives in London 5/1923 Cutts films Woman to Woman (through June) 6/1923 Squibs MP (interiors at Craven Park) 7/1923 Squibs MP (interiors at Islington) 8/1923 Cutts films The White Shadow 8/1923 Balcon visits America 9/1923 Trade show Squibs MP 10/1923 Squibs Honeymoon (interiors at Islington) 10/1923 The Money Habit (interiors at Islington) 11/1923 Trade show of Woman to Woman 12/1923 Trade show Squibs Honeymoon

1923

1/1924 Pearson writes script of Reveille on the Riviera 1/1924 Trade show of The Money Habit 2/1924 Pearson films Reveille at Craven studios then Islington (through March) 2/1924 Dissolving Balcon-Saville-Freedman 2/1924 Trade show of The White Shadow Timeline / London’s Hollywood: The Gainsborough Studio in the Silent Years 3

2/1924 Formation of (Cutts & Balcon) 3/1924 Myron Selznick, Marjorie Daw & Alice Joyce arrive in London 3/1924 Filming The Passionate Adventure (March / May) 6/1924 Filming Human Desires (interiors Islington / exteriors Paris) 6/1924 Balcon & Selznick visit & UFA 6/1924 filming Decamaron Nights at UFA (June / July) 6/1924 Jesse Lasky visits Europe & London 7/1924 Clive Brook arrives in America & travels to Hollywood 7/1924 Trade show Reveille 8/1924 Trade show The Passionate Adventure 9/1924 Cutts, Hitchcock & Reville arrive in Berlin to film (September / December) 11/1924 Jane Novak arrived in Berlin from New York

1925

1/1925 Trade show Human Desires 1/1925 Early production on The Prude’s Fall 2/1925 Trip to film exteriors /scouting on The Prude’s Fall 3/1925 Filming The Prude’s Fall at Islington 4/1925 Trade show The Blackguard 5/1925 Cutts films The Rat (May – July) 6/1925 Hitchcock & Reville arrive Munich to film The Pleasure Garden 8/1925 Charles Lapworth joins Gainsborough as Editorial director 9/1925 Trade show The Rat 9/1925 Hitchcock & Reville back in London for 4 weeks (September) 9/1925 George A. Hopton appointed General Manager of Gainsborough 9/1925 Cutts begins work on Sea Urchin 9/1925 Wilcox films Nell Gwyn at Islington (through December) 9/1925 Wilcox signs to the newly formed British National Pictures 10/1925 Cutts filming exteriors in Paris for Sea Urchin 11/1925 Cutts films Sea Urchin at Alliance studios (completed by December) 11/1925 Gainsborough’s deal with Lawson-Harris Productions and Lee-Bradford Corporation 11/1925 Balcon appoints W.J. O’Bryen to handle story selection 10/1925 Hitchcock in Munich to film (there by 1/10/25) 10/1925 Negotiations with Carlyle Blackwell to join Gainsborough 10/1925 Inaugural meeting of the Film Society (25/10/25) 11/1925 FBI & CEA findings regarding legislation 11/1925 Gainsborough contract for 6 pictures in USA 11/1925 produces 5 short Burlesques 12/1925 Gainsborough produce 6 Steve Donoghue racing shorts 12/1925 Announcement that Hitchcock’s next film would be The Lodger

1926

1/1926 Wilcox in New York to promote Nell Gwyn 1/1926 Hitchcock & Reville return to London from Germany 1/1926 Brunel Burlesques released 1/1926 First Donoghue Racing film released 1/1926 Formation of Piccadilly Pictures and Piccadilly Studios 1/1926 Gainsborough agrees to buy the Islington studio 1/1926 Balcon buys the 1/1926 Wilcox and JD Williams begin construction of studio at Elstree 2/1926 Trade show Sea Urchin 3/1926 Trade show Nell Gwyn 3/1926 Trade show Pleasure Garden 2/1926 Hitchcock casting The Lodger 2/1926 signs contract with Gainsborough 2/1926 Balcon takes on George A. Cooper as director Timeline / London’s Hollywood: The Gainsborough Studio in the Silent Years 4

3/1926 Balcon & Lapworth in New York (through April) 3/1926 First National Pictures offer a deal to Balcon 3/1926 Hitchcock begins filming The Lodger (through April) 5/1926 Cutts films exteriors of Triumph of the Rat in Paris 6/1926 Hitchcock to start on Huntingtower 6/1926 Cutts films Triumph of the Rat in the Islington Studios (June-August) 6/1926 Gainsborough announce The Silent Warrior with Blackwell for Cutts 7/1926 Private screening of The Lodger 7/1926 Hitchcock given contract by BNP 7/1926 Re-organisation of Gainsborough Pictures with Balcon and Carlyle Blackwell as joint managing directors on the commercial and production side Cutts no longer on the directorate and Lapworth leaves 7/1926 Angus Macphail joins Gainsborough? 8/1926 Cutts takes final exteriors of Triumph of the Rat in Dieppe 8/1926 Cutts begins on 8/1926 Balcon negotiates deal with Noel Coward – announces filming Easy Virtue 8/1926 Rumours that Cutts will make a film with Lily Damita 8/1926 Balcon asks Brunel to make Apres La Guerre / Blighty 9/1926 Cutts films exteriors of the Rolling Road in Devon 9/1926 Trade show The Lodger 9/1926 Trade show Triumph of The Rat 9/1926 Mr Lee from Lee-Bradford USA visits 10/1926 New film Apres La Guerre / Blighty announced 10/1926 Cutts films interiors of the Rolling Road (through early December) 10/1926 Cutts filming The Rolling Road in Great Yarmouth 11/1926 Brunel begins filming Apres La Guerre / Blighty 12/1926 Balcon secure rights to The Queen Was in the Parlour and The Vortex 12/1926 Ivor Novello signs another contract with Gainsborough for 1/1/27 – 1/9/27 12/1926 Cutts goes to Berlin to film The Queen Was in the Parlour (finished by end of February 1927) 12/1926 Hitchcock and Reville marry 2/12/26 and go to Paris & St Moritz for honeymoon

1927

1/1927 Cutts will leave Gainsborough when his contract expires 1/1927 Hitchcock begins filming Downhill (17/1) 2/1927 CM Woolf buys screen rights to The Ghost Train 3/1927 Cutts returns from Germany 3/1927 Cutts joins First National 3/1927 John Maxwell takes over BNP – JD Williams ousted BNP re-formed into BIP 3/1927 Trade show Blighty 3/1927 Studio party at completion of filming Downhill (17/3) 3/1927 Announcement that Basil Dean to direct The Constant Nymph 3/1927 Hitchcock in Nice filming Easy Virtue (late March) 3/1927 Gainsborough secure Clifford Pember as Art Director 3/1927 Formation of the combine of big British firms – Gaumont, W&F, Ideal and Gainsborough 4/1927 Exteriors of The Ghost Train filmed with Southern Railways 4/1927 Gainsborough buy rights to play The White Chateau 4/1927 Gainsborough commission Michael Morton to make a sequel to WtoW 4/1927 Ivor Novello contract with Gainsborough for 1/1/28 – 31/12/28 4/1927 Trade show The Queen Was in the Parlour 4/1927 Announcement of Gainsborough working with Fellner and Somlo of Berlin 4/1927 Filming exteriors for The Ghost Train with Southern Railways 5/1927 Dorothy Gish engaged to play Tessa in The Constant Nymph 5/1927 The Ghost Train being filmed in Berlin 5/1927 Trade show The Rolling Road 5/1927 Trade show Downhill 5/1927 Hitchcock completes Easy Virtue 5/1927 Gainsborough buy rights to Timeline / London’s Hollywood: The Gainsborough Studio in the Silent Years 5

5/1927 Cutts films Chance the Idol for W&F in Berlin & Monte Carlo (May –July) 6/1927 Hitchcock joins BIP 6/1927 Brunel begins filming The Vortex (June-July) 6/1927 Gainsborough buy rights to Somerset Maugham’s Our Betters 6/1927 Gainsborough buy rights to ’s play Common People 7/1927 Land of Hope & Glory being filmed at Worton Hall & Islington (July –Sept) 7/1927 Gainsborough appoint director T. Hayes Hunter 7/1927 T. Hayes Hunter begins filming One of the Best 7/1927 Herbert Wilcox forms British Dominion Films with Nelson Keys 8/1927 Trade show Easy Virtue 8/1927 Mabel Poulton appointed for The Constant Nymph 8/1927 Filming begins on The Constant Nymph with exteriors in the Tyrol (filming August –September) 8/1927 Gordon Conway accepts commission to costume Confetti 8/1927 Cutts leaves to film Confetti in Nice (18/8/27) 9/1927 Cutts begins filming Confetti (1/9 through early November) 9/1927 T. Hayes Hunter films at Hounslow Barracks for One of the Best 9/1927 Basil Dean filming The Constant Nymph at Islington 9/1927 Trade show The Ghost Train 9/1927 Trade show Chance the Idol 9/1927 Walter West locations / pre-production on Marie Marten 10/1927 The Jazz Singer shown in New York (6/10) 10/1927 Basil Dean filming The Constant Nymph at The Queen’s Hall 10/1927 Walter West begins filming Maria Marten (October - December) 11/1927 Walter West filming exteriors of Maria Marten at Alfriston, Sussex 11/1927 Gainsborough have secured Lord Dunsany’s play ‘If’ 11/1927 Trade show Land of Hope and Glory 11/1927 Trade show One of the Best 12/1927 T. Hayes Hunter begins work on A South Sea Bubble 12/1927 John Maxwell (of BIP) took part in a merger of FN & Pathe 12/1927 Formation of Burlington Films by Victor Saville 12/1927 Cinematograph Films bill debated in House of Lords - becomes law 1/1/28 12/1927 Plans for ‘If’ postponed 12/1927 Gaumont group (W&F & Ideal) formed an alliance with UFA

1928

1/1928 Guy Newell for Fellner production with W&F - to film Number 17 in Berlin 1/1928 T. Hayes Hunter’s A South Sea Bubble unit leave for Algiers 27/1/28 1/1928 Wilcox announces big plans – new studio & flotation of B&D 2/1928 Trade show The Constant Nymph 2/1928 Cutts films God’s Clay exteriors at mill & Cornwall / interiors at Elstree 2/1928 Sidney Olcott plans to film The Ringer at Islington (but then transferred to Beaconsfield) 2/1928 Welsh Pearson Elder Film Company formed 2/1928 Cutts films God’s Clay at Elstree (through March) 3/1928 AV Bramble films Chick at Islington (through May) 3/1928 Trade show Marie Marten 3/1928 T. Hayes Hunter’s A South Sea Bubble unit arrive back 3/1928 Formation of New JD Williams Company called ‘United Motion Picture Producers Ltd 4/1928 Cutts films Eileen of the Trees at Elstree and in Minehead 4/1928 Gainsborough Pictures (1928) Ltd registered as a public company on 27/4 4/1928 Gainsborough announce working relationship with Fellner & Somlo in Berlin 4/1928 Gainsborough acquire The Brethern 4/1928 Brunel leaves for Spain to film A Light Woman (4/4 thro May) 4/1928 Walter West begins filming Sweeney Todd (9/4 thro May) 4/1928 Party for completion of A South Sea Bubble at T. Hayes Hunter’s flat 4/1928 Gainsborough acquire rights to Arnold Ridley’s The Wrecker 4/1928 Ivor Novello leaves for Budapest to film The Gallant Hussar 5/1928 Miles Mander films The First Born / Common People at Elstree (thro June) Timeline / London’s Hollywood: The Gainsborough Studio in the Silent Years 6

6/1928 Interiors for Brunel’s A Light Woman 7/1928 Gainsborough’s staff outing to Margate 7/1928 Trade show A South Sea Bubble 7/1928 Bolvary films The Wrecker 8/1928 Trade show Chick 8/1928 Trade show God’s Clay 8/1928 Maxwell group / BIP bought 51% shares in First National / Pathe 8/1928 Cutts Returns to Gainsborough 9/1929 Premiere of the sound version of The Jazz Singer in London 9/1928 Trade show Sweeney Todd 9/1928 Trade show The Gallant Hussar 9/1928 Maurice Elvey begins filming Balaclava (through November) 9/1928 James A Fitzpatrick filming The Lady of the Lake in Scotland 10/1928 Brunel films The Crooked Billet (through November) 10/1928 Cutts films exteriors in Paris for The Return of the Rat 11/1928 Cutts films interiors in Paris for The Return of the Rat (through 1/29/28) 11/1928 Elvey films reconstruction of charge of the light brigade at Aldershot / Long Valley 12/1928 Trade show A Light Woman

1929

1/1929 signed contract with Gainsborough 1/1929 Gainsborough plan to film Ivor Novello’s play Symphony in Two Flats 1/1929 Alexander Elway films 2/1929 Gainsborough sign with World Wide Pictures, the new American distribution company (directors JD Williams and John Maxwell) 2/1929 Clift looking at locations for City of Play in Berlin & Vienna 3/1929 Bill O’Bryen secured as publicity Chief for Fox Films 3/1929 George Hopton (General Manager at Gainsborough) dies, O’Bryen stays 3/1929 Balcon on continental trip with other executives of Gaumont British Another deal with Fellner & Somlo to make Bride 68 & The Hound of the Baskervilles 3/1929 Clift announces his next picture will be 100% talkie 3/1929 Clift films City of Play 4/1929 Clift films City of Play in Paris 4/1929 Gainsborough announce future pictures to be synch sound & talkies Studios being converted to sound 4/1929 Gainsborough tie-up with Greenbaum Films 4/1929 HG Boxhall made general manager of Gainsborough 4/1929 Trade show of Eileen of the Trees 5/1929 Balcon goes to New York arriving 17/5/29 5/1929 Gainsborough looking at the RCA sound system 5/1929 Balaclava renamed The Valley of Death & talking sequences to be added 5/1929 Trade show Return of the Rat 5/1929 Wilcox & B&D new studios at Elstree being constructed 5/1929 Cutts to remake The Wonderful Story as a talkie with British Talking Pictures in association with Gainsborough 5/1929 Journey’s End to be made by Gainsborough & Welsh Pearson Elder 5/1929 Filming Second Kiss in Berlin (through September) 6/1929 Balcon arrives back from New York 14/6/29 6/1929 Cutts making talkie version of Return of the Rat 6/1929 Gainsborough & Tiffany in USA – working arrangement announced 6/1929 Victor Saville to direct talkie version of Woman to Woman in USA 6/1929 Islington studios being made ready for sound – RCA to be adopted 7/1929 Trade show The Wrecker 7/1929 Talkie version of The Return of the Rat released 7/1929 RCA apparatus now being installed in the Islington studios 8/1929 Clift begins talking sequences on Taxi for Two 8/1929 Clift begins talking sequences of City of Play Timeline / London’s Hollywood: The Gainsborough Studio in the Silent Years 7

8/1929 Saville films talkie version of Woman to Woman in New York (through September) 8/1929 Broomhead Brothers leave Gaumont 8/1929 First board meeting of Gainsborough Pictures (1928) Ltd 9/1929 Assistant Art Director Bert Evans leaves Gainsborough 9/1929 Location scouting for Gypsy Melody in Hungary 9/1929 Gainsborough announce they will make A Bill of Divorcement, Jack & Jill, Gainsborough Picture Show, A Night in Montmartre and Soho 9/1929 George Pearson arrives New York to discuss Journey’s End 9/1929 Denison Clift starts on talkie version of Taxi for Two 9/1929 Work begins on talkie version of Crooked Billet 10/1929 Alexander Oumansky filming Gainsborough Picture Show / Sugar & Spice 10/1929 V. Gareth Gundry signs contract with Gainsborough 10/1929 V. Gareth Gundry begins casting for Just for a Song / Variety 10/1929 Filming Just for a Song / Variety (through December) 11/1929 Trade show Taxi for Two 11/1929 Trade show City of Play 11/1929 Trade show Woman to Woman 11/1929 Trade show Armistice – musical short by Victor Saville 11/1929 Work on Journey’s End begins in USA – through December 12/1929 Islington studio – both floors finally finished & converted for sound

1930

1/1930 Valley Of Death (Balaclava) – being re-shot as a 100% talkie 1/1930 Rehearsals for Symphony in Two Flats 1/1930 Filming Gainsborough Gems for Jury-Metro-Goldwyn 1/1930 Sugar & Spice (six revuettes) ready for showing 1/1930 Gundrey due to film A Symphony in Two Flats 1/1930 Fire at Islington studios 2/1930 Filming on Balaclava finally finishes 2/1930 Bill O’Bryen quits Gainsborough 2/1930 Board meeting of Gainsborough Pictures 2/1930 takes trip to Madeira 3/1930 Trade show Just for a Song / Variety 3/1930 Trade show The Crooked Billet 4/1930 Trade show Second Kiss 4/1930 Trade show Balaclava 11/1930 The Lady of the Lake released in USA 5/1931 Trade show Lady of the Lake