Cecil Hepworth (1874-1953) was one of the most accomplished people in the early British film industry, and sustained a successful career for longer than most of the pioneers. The son of a noted magic lanternist and scientific lecturer, he became well versed in photography and was involved in British filmmaking from 1896 both as a practitioner and writer. In 1898 Urban invited him to join Maguire & Baucus after Hepworth had made some practical improvements to the Bioscope projector. Hepworth shot the first films made by the Warwick Trading Company and constructed an automatic developing plant, before being sacked and his printing work being taken over by G.A. Smith. He then flourished as an independent film producer, based at Walton-on-Thames, and the Hepworth Manufacturing Company became Britain's most distinguished film company of the pre-war period, with a company of popular players such as Chrissie White, Alma Taylor and Henry Edwards. His company expanded into feature film production, but floundered with the rest of the British film industry in the early 1920s, and Hepworth went bankrupt in 1924. His pre-war films remain some of the most delightful of their period. Luke McKernan Continue your tour with the other
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