When Knights Were Bold (play)

Last updated

When Knights Were Bold is a comedy play by the British writer Harriett Jay writing under the pseudonym of Charles Marlowe which was first performed in 1906. [1] A British officer Guy De Vere returns home from service in India after inheriting an estate and a baronetcy in the village of Little Twittering where he encounters a number of eccentrics. His cousin Rowena, meanwhile, falls madly in love with him. It should not be confused with the 1898 novel When Knighthood Was in Flower by Charles Major which is sometimes known by this title.

Contents

Film adaptations

The film has been adapted into films on four occasions. The first was a 1908 Biograph short with D. W. Griffith appearing in an acting role. In 1916 a silent British film When Knights Were Bold was made by Maurice Elvey. The same year an Italian adaptation When Knights Were Bold was released by the Turin-based Aquila Films. In 1929 a third silent film When Knights Were Bold was made by Tim Whelan. In 1936 a sound version When Knights Were Bold was made by Jack Raymond and starred Jack Buchanan.

Related Research Articles

Jack Buchanan Scottish actor, singer, director and producer

Walter John "Jack" Buchanan was a Scottish theatre and film actor, singer, dancer, producer and director. He was known for three decades as the embodiment of the debonair man-about-town in the tradition of George Grossmith Jr., and was described by The Times as "the last of the knuts." He is best known in America for his role in the classic Hollywood musical The Band Wagon in 1953.

<i>The Ring</i> (1927 film) 1927 film by Alfred Hitchcock

The Ring is a 1927 British silent romance film written and directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Carl Brisson, Lillian Hall-Davis and Ian Hunter.

<i>When Knighthood Was in Flower</i> (novel)

When Knighthood Was in Flower is the debut novel of American author Charles Major written under the pseudonym, Edwin Caskoden. It was first published by The Bobbs-Merrill Company in 1898 and proved an enormous success.

Walter McNicoll Australian politician

Brigadier General Sir Walter Ramsay McNicoll, was an Australian teacher, soldier, and colonial administrator.

Silent Knight Comics character

The Silent Knight is a fictional medieval hero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #1, and was created by Robert Kanigher and Irv Novick. He was one of three historical fiction characters to premiere in the first issue.

Charles Paton English actor

Charles Ernest Paton was an English film actor. He joined the circus at 14, and had early stage and music hall experience. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1927 and 1952, including Freedom of the Seas. In 1927, he appeared in a short film, made in the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process, singing "If Your Face Wants to Smile, We'll Let It In" from the revue John Citizen's Lament. He was born in London and died from a heart attack, also in London.

Hayford Hobbs was a leading British film actor of the silent era and later became a film director. He was born in London, England, in 1891. He made his first screen appearance in the 1915 film The Third Generation and appeared in his last film High Treason in 1929. The following year he directed his first film, a documentary about London.

Jack Raymond (1886–1953) was an English actor and film director. Born in Wimborne, Dorset in 1886, he began acting before the First World War in A Detective for a Day. In 1921 he directed his first film and gradually he wound down his acting to concentrate completely on directing - making more than forty films in total before his death in 1953.

<i>When Knights Were Bold</i> (1936 film) 1936 British film

When Knights Were Bold is a 1936 British musical comedy film directed by Jack Raymond and starring Jack Buchanan, Fay Wray and Garry Marsh. Songs include "Let's Put the People To Work" sung by Jack Buchanan, "Onward We Go" sung by Buchanan & soldiers' chorus, and "I'm Still Dreaming" sung by Buchanan.

<i>David Copperfield</i> (1913 film) 1913 British film

David Copperfield is a 1913 British black-and-white silent film based on the 1850 novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. It is the second-oldest known film adaptation of the novel. Running six reels, it is significant as a very early British feature film at a moment when the world film industry was beginning its move away from traditional short films towards longer and more ambitious works.

When Knights Were Bold is a 1929 British silent adventure film directed by Tim Whelan and starring Nelson Keys, Miriam Seegar and Eric Bransby Williams. It was adapted from the 1906 play When Knights Were Bold by Harriett Jay and made at Cricklewood Studios.

When Knights Were Bold is a 1916 British silent comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Gerald Ames, Marjorie Day and Gwynne Herbert. It was based on the 1906 play When Knights Were Bold by Harriett Jay.

Harriett Jay

Harriett Jay was a British writer and playwright who often wrote under the pseudonym of Charles Marlowe. Several of her plays were turned into films. She is best known for her 1906 comedy play When Knights Were Bold.

The Tavern Knight is a 1920 British silent historical film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Eille Norwood, Madge Stuart and Cecil Humphreys. It was based on the 1904 novel The Tavern Knight by Rafael Sabatini. It is not known whether the film currently survives, and it may be a lost film.

The Bold Bank Robbery is a 1904 short crime film produced and distributed by the Lubin Manufacturing Company. The silent film depicts a group of burglars who plan and execute a successful bank heist. Company employee Jack Frawley was the film's director, also coming up with the story and serving as cinematographer; the cast's identities are unknown. The silent film was the first Lubin Manufacturing Company release to feature an original narrative.

Max Schach (1886–1957) was an Austro-Hungarian-born film producer. Schach is particularly associated with British cinema, where he was a leading figure in the boom of the mid-1930s.

The Two Sergeants is an 1823 play by the French writer Théodore Baudouin d'Aubigny. It is a melodrama set during the Napoleonic Wars. Numerous versions were made of it including an 1831 British play Comrades and Friends by Isaac Pocock and an Italian novel.

When Knights Were Bold is a 1916 Italian silent comedy film directed by Oreste Visalli. It is an adaptation of the 1906 play When Knights Were Bold by Harriett Jay.

The London Film Company was a British film production company active during the silent era. Founded in 1913, the company emerged as one of the dominant forces in production during the First World War. With strong financial backing the company constructed the Twickenham Studios, then the largest in Britain, and began production of features, which were then were displacing short films as the dominant form. Two of the company's key early directors were Americans: Harold Shaw and George Loane Tucker. Later, British director Maurice Elvey made a number of films for the studio.

<i>When Knights Were Bold</i> (1908 film) 1908 American film

When Knights Were Bold is a 1908 silent film short directed by Wallace McCutcheon and produced by the Biograph Company. It is based on a very successful 1906 Broadway play(over 500 performances by 1908) written by Harriett Jay(under the alias Charles Marlowe) and starred a young Pauline Frederick, George Irving and veteran comic Francis Wilson. The film survives today and is noteworthy for the appearance of D. W. Griffith in an acting role before he started directing for Biograph.

References

  1. Nicoll p.330

Bibliography