Silents in the Hills - A Cottage on Dartmoor

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Title

The Fourth Wiveliscombe Festival of Silent Cinema

About the Event

Anthony Asquith’s impressive film is part of the on-going 4th Wiveliscombe Festival of Silent Cinema. In this vivid, tense tale of jealousy, the vibrant use of cinematic techniques still surprises, challenging the idea that British silent films were stiff and unconvincing.

Event Type

Community

Disciplines

Photography/Film/New Media

Telephone

01984 629114

Email

barry@witherden2.freeserve.co.uk

Booking Contact

Wiveliscombe Community Office

01984 624777

communityoffice@wiveliscombe.com

Booking Info

£7 each

Opening Times

2009-09-12 00:00:00	2009-09-13 00:00:00	2009-09-14 00:00:00	2009-09-15 00:00:00	2009-09-16 00:00:00	2009-09-17 00:00:00	2009-09-18 00:00:00	2009-09-19 00:00:00	2009-09-20 00:00:00
Closed	Closed	Closed	Closed	Closed	Closed	Closed	2009-09-19 19:00:00 - 2009-09-19 22:30:00	Closed

Further Info

This screening of Anthony Asquith’s impressive 1929 film, made when “talkies” were displacing the silents, is part of Silents in the Hills, the on-going 4th Wiveliscombe Festival of Silent Cinema. Asquith’s vibrant use of techniques such as flashbacks, jump-cuts and his imaginative use of light and shade still surprises, and challenges the received wisdom that British films in the 20s were stiff and unconvincing.

Joe, a young hairdresser, falls in love with fellow-employee Sally, a manicurist. He asks her out one evening but, although she accepts, it is clear she does not return his feelings. She is much more interested in Harry Stevens, a well-to-do young farmer who frequently comes to the salon. Harry takes Sally out (to a “talkie”) and Joe, filled with jealousy, follows them. Sitting in the row behind them he is tortured by seeing them so happy together.

Harry proposes to Sally and she accepts. Joe is racked with jealousy when he sees that Sally is wearing an engagement ring, and when Harry comes in for a shave, Joe first threatens him with the razor, then cuts him in a struggle. Sally testifies that Joe tried to murder her fiancée, and Joe is sent to Dartmoor. Some years later he escapes and goes to the cottage where Sally and Harry, now married, are living …

Shot at British Instructional Films' new Welwyn Studios, A Cottage on Dartmoor is a beautifully realised tale of sexual jealousy. Asquith draws on techniques more commonly associated with European cinema. His adept use of shadows in the scene where Sally realises Joe's is in the house achieves a genuinely chilling effect, whilst the early stages of the story, relayed in flashback, are introduced by a particularly modern-seeming device. As the BFI Screenline observes, “this is no one-dimensional story of good v evil. Asquith builds many layers of ambiguity, acknowledging that it is possible to be torn between two people, that happiness is relative, while touching on themes of loneliness, lust and mental illness. Ultimately, however, this is a film about love: its joys as well as its ravages.”

Made just when the talkies were about to inhibit the ability of films to appeal across language-barriers, Asquith’s drama uses a pan-European cast, and the film was co-produced by the Swedish Biograph company. The Devonian characters are portrayed by English actress Norah Baring, Swedish actor Uno Henning and the German Hans Schlettow.

The Wiveliscombe Festival of Silent Cinema (known to its friends as Silents in the Hills --- a slight misquote from Tennyson, but it sums up what we are and do) began in 2006. It was a real leap in the dark, but was a greater success than we dared hope, and we were encouraged to continue. Usually the Festival takes place over a single weekend, with four or five public screenings and a free show for the pupils at the Primary School, but this year we are trying something different, spreading various events throughout the year, including this screening of A Cottage on Dartmoor to coincide with the 10 Parishes Festival.

This show takes place on Saturday 19th September at the New Hall at Wiveliscombe Primary School, North Street, Wiveliscombe. Doors open at 7.00 and the film starts at 7.30. Refreshments, including wine, ice-cream, tea, coffee and cakes, will be available at the screening. Tickets are £7 and will be available from the Community Office, The Square, Wiveliscombe (01984 624777 – mornings only). You can also make reservations and get further information from silent film festival organiser Barry Witherden on 01984 629114.