Hammerfest
R / P: Robert W. Paul. UK 1903
Print: Nasjonalbiblioteket, Oslo

“Paul was one of the first English producers to realise the possibilities of cinema as a means of presenting short comic and dramatic stories and to this end he built the first studio in England, with an adjacent laboratory capable of processing up to 8,000 feet of film per day. He employed a staff of very able technicians, some of whom – G.H. Cricks, J.H. Martin, Jack Smith, Walter Booth and Frank Mottershaw – went on to achieve success in their own right. Paul’s films were some of the most technically advanced for the times, his trick films being extremely ingenious. His choice of subject matter was more varied than that of any of his contemporaries and his coverage of topical events, including the war in South Africa, was matched only by that of the Warwick Trading Company and the Mutoscope & Biograph Syndicate. By the turn of the century his film projectors were being exported to the Continent, as well as to Australia and other British Dependencies. He entirely dominated the home market and it is no wonder that he earned his title ‘Father of the British Film Industry.'”
John Barnes
Who’s who of Victorian Cinema

>>> LANDSCAPES, URBAN VIEWS

>>> more Paul films on this website: 1898: A Story to Continue, The First Sight, Dangerous Cars II