Rescued by Rover (1905)

In 1903, Cecil Hepworth made a worthwhile attempt to film ’Alice In Wonderland’ featuring May Clark but it wasn’t until 1905 that he made the film now considered by many to be advanced for that period, with regard to structure and continuity. With a running time of six minutes. ’Rescued By Rover’, directed by Lewin Fitzhamon, was the first film for which Hepworth employed professional actors - in the persons of Mr. and Mrs. Sebastian Smith. Mrs. Smith played an old woman who steals a baby while its nurse (Mabel Clarke) is flirting with a soldier (Sebastian Smith). The eight-month old child was Barbara Hepworth and naturally, her distraught parents were played by Hepworth and his wife. The hero, Rover, was the family pet, Blair. (Extract from ’British Film Pioneers’ by Trevor Smith, published by Yesterday’s Cinema and available from Amazon.