Mabel Lilian Poulton was an English film actress, popular in Britain during the era of silent films.
Betty Balfour was an English screen actress, popular during the silent era, and known as the "British Mary Pickford" and "Britain's Queen of Happiness". She was best known to audiences for her Squibs series of films.
Hugh E. Wright was a French-born, British actor and screenwriter. He was the father of actor Tony Wright.
Children of Chance is a 1930 British comedy crime film directed by Alexander Esway and starring Elissa Landi, Mabel Poulton, John Stuart and John Longden.
The Sea Urchin is a 1926 British drama film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Betty Balfour, George Hackathorne and W. Cronin Wilson. It was made at Gainsborough Studios with Michael Balcon as producer.
Squibs is a 1921 British silent comedy film directed by George Pearson and starring Betty Balfour, Hugh E. Wright and Fred Groves. It was followed by three sequels starting with Squibs Wins the Calcutta Sweep and a 1935 remake.
The Glad Eye is a 1927 British silent comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Estelle Brody, Mabel Poulton and Jeanne de Casalis. It was a remake of The Glad Eye, a 1920 film based on the play Le Zebre by Paul Armont. It was made at Twickenham Studios.
Garryowen is a 1920 British silent sports film directed by George Pearson and starring Fred Groves, Hugh E. Wright and Moyna Macgill. It was based on a novel by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. It concerns an impoverished Irish gentleman who tries to rescue his family from ruin by running his horse Garryowen at The Derby.
Squibs Wins the Calcutta Sweep is a 1922 British silent comedy film directed by George Pearson and starring Betty Balfour, Fred Groves and Hugh E. Wright. It was the sequel to the 1921 film Squibs.
The Ball of Fortune is a 1926 British silent sports film directed by Hugh Croise and starring Billy Meredith, James Knight and Mabel Poulton. Based on the 1925 novel of the same title by Sydney Horler, the film is set against the backdrop of professional football. Top player Billy Meredith appears as himself. It was produced by an Leeds-based independent film company and involved footage shot at the city's Elland Road Stadium. It is now considered a lost film.
Bed and Breakfast is a 1938 British drama film directed by Walter West and starring Daphne Courtney, Barry Lupino and Frank Miller. It depicts the lives of the inhabitants in a boarding house. It was the last appearance of the silent star Mabel Poulton in a feature film as well as the last to be directed by West. The film was made at Southall Studios, with production beginning in May 1936.
Troublesome Wives is a 1928 British silent comedy film directed by Harry Hughes and starring Eric Bransby Williams, Mabel Poulton and Lilian Oldland. It was based on the play Summer Lightning by Ernest Denny. The screenplay concerns two housewives who become embroiled with a foreign spy network.
The Old Curiosity Shop is a 1921 British silent drama film directed by Thomas Bentley and starring Mabel Poulton, William Lugg and Hugh E. Wright. It is based on the 1841 novel The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens. Bentley remade the novel as a sound film in 1934.
The Hellcat is a 1928 British silent romance film directed by Harry Hughes and starring Mabel Poulton, Eric Bransby Williams and John F. Hamilton. It was based on a play by Florence Kilpatrick and made at the Nettlefold Studios in Walton-on-Thames.
Mary-Find-the-Gold is a 1921 British silent drama film directed by George Pearson and starring Betty Balfour, Tom Coventry and Hugh E. Wright.
Number, Please is a 1931 British crime film directed by George King and starring Mabel Poulton, Warwick Ward and Richard Bird. It was a quota quickie made at the Nettlefold Studios in Walton-upon-Thames.
Wee MacGregor's Sweetheart is a 1922 British silent romance film directed by George Pearson and starring Betty Balfour, Donald Macardle and Nora Swinburne. The plot is based on two of the "Wee Macgreegor" books by John Joy Bell; Oh Christina and Courting Christina.
Squibs M.P. is a 1923 British silent comedy film directed by George Pearson and starring Betty Balfour, Hugh E. Wright and Fred Groves.
Squibs' Honeymoon is a 1923 British silent comedy film directed by George Pearson and starring Betty Balfour, Hugh E. Wright and Fred Groves. It was the last of the silent film series featuring the character, although Balfour returned to play her in the 1935 sound film Squibs. Both Pearson and Balfour were particular favourites of the British film critic, and later leading screenwriter, Roger Burford. In his first article for the magazine Close Up Burford would write "Not long ago a film of the Squibbs series was reported to be on at a small cinema in a slum district. It was a rare chance, and we went at once. We were not disappointed: the film was English, with proper tang; the tang of Fielding or Sterne.' Burford's comments help place the Squibbs films perfectly in British culture between the wars. They were very much working-class comedy, drawing on a vernacular, performative tradition, but at the same time their "Englishness" is characteristic of the kinds of satirical comedies found in the novels of Henry Fielding and Laurence Sterne. That earthy satire, based on everyday life, made these comedies unpalatable to middle class audiences but the Squibbs films were amongst the most interesting, and well shot, films in Britain in the 1920s.
The Maid at the Palace is a 1927 French silent film directed by Louis Mercanton and starring Betty Balfour, Lucy Sibley and Irene Tripod.
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