Following the lukewarm reception to his film Marnie in 1964 and with his health beginning to fail, Alfred Hitchcock returned to London to take a year off from filmmaking. However, he soon grew restless and began working on a script in secret, corresponding with his … Continue readingThe Mind Reels (1965)
Following the end of World War 2, Francis Amberton moved Halfpenny Pictures into the now-defunct airplane hangars at Halfpenny Green Airfield and wanted to show off the new studio space by producing musicals that involved large-scale Busby Berkeley-inspired dance numbers. Amberton tapped accomplished Broadway dancers … Continue readingDancing Delancey (1948)
In 1958, Carl Blackwell joined Halfpenny Pictures as executive producer of their horror movie division. Blackwell, like his contemporary William Castle, loved the idea of adding gimmicks to film screenings as a means of pulling the audience further into the action. The first film produced … Continue readingThe Blue Ghoul’s Inferno (1959)
Tempo Rubato (1933) is a pre-code romantic melodrama starring Jean Harlow and newcomer Walter Abel in his first starring role. Abel plays a music teacher who must compromise his own uptight morals in order to instruct a showgirl (Harlow) on how to play the piano … Continue readingTempo Rubato (1933)
In 1930, Halfpenny Orpheum produced Banish Not Jack, an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Henry IV told from the perspective of Falstaff (portrayed by Alec B. Francis). Apparently, this film was a favourite of Orson Welles, who is quoted as saying that it influenced his performance … Continue readingBanish Not Jack (1930)
Francis Amberton loved fantasy literature, and so he quickly leapt at the opportunity to adapt Lord Dunsany’s 1924 novel The King of Elfland’s Daughter, producing a feature length silent film only two years after its publication. Despite Amberton’s enthusiasm for the source material, the book … Continue readingThe King of Elfland’s Daughter (1926)
In 1912, Francis Amberton and Reuben Hardcastle formally founded their film production company under the banner Halfpenny Orpheum. They would later change the name to Halfpenny Pictures.
After making a few fictional short films, Amberton and Hardcastle ventured into documentary filmmaking with Air Devils! (1910), a 15 minute short film depicting early aviators’ attempts to recreate the Wright Brothers’ flight at Kittyhawk (including a test of the prototype Willoughby Hydro-aeroplane). These flights … Continue readingAir Devils! (1910)
Francis Amberton was a stage magician when his friend Reuben Hardcastle acquired designs for an early cinema camera and built one. After purchasing celluloid film through the mail, Hardcastle suggested to Amberton that they film Amberton’s popular stage magic routine “The Headsman’s Folly.” In 1908, … Continue readingThe Headsman’s Folly (1908)