The Battle of Waterloo (1913 film)
| The Battle of Waterloo | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Charles Weston |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | George Foley |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
86 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | Silent |
| Budget | £1,800 |
The Battle of Waterloo is a 1913 feature film created by British and Colonial Films to dramatize the eponymous battle ahead of its centenary. Hailed as the "first British epic film", The Battle of Waterloo was much longer and more costly than contemporary films but went on to great commercial and critical success. Though the film was shown in theaters around the world, all copies were thought lost until 2002, when about 22 minutes of the hour-and-a-half production were rediscovered at the British Film Institute archives. Since then, two reels and a fragment have been compiled, representing about half the completed film.
The first two decades after the invention of the film camera were marked by a progression toward larger and more elaborate productions. From short vignettes of a single subject, films evolved to include multiple scenes, locations and actors. In 1910, Barker Motion Photography released Henry VIII, a 30-minute recreation of the Shakespearean play. The success of this movie, (the first lengthy production by a British film studio) and similar foreign productions encouraged British and Colonial Films to produce its own feature film. The company, based in East Finchley, London, had already created several short films and documentaries, but The Battle of Waterloo was its longest production to date.
To direct the film, British and Colonial Films hired American director Charles Weston. To raise money for the production, John Benjamin McDowell, one of the founders of British and Colonial, remortgaged the company for £1,800. Weston chose to film the production in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, a place the Duke of Wellington reportedly said reminded him of the terrain around Waterloo, Belgium. Hundreds of local residents were used as extras. Some were paid, while others volunteered. There were so many volunteers that two shoe factories in the town had to close for lack of workers. Subsequent advertisements indicated the movie contained 2,000 soldiers, 116 scenes, 1,000 horses and 50 cannons.
...
Wikipedia