|
The Malvern Hills is one part of a long-running series, the so-called
Stereo-scenics, issued occasionally by the Hepworth Company and filmed by Gaston
Quiribet. About 30 to 40 titles are listed in the trade press from 1909 until
Hepworth ceased trading in 1923. The use of the description 'stereo' is intended
to evoke the 'stereoscopic' cards that were popular at the time. These were
pairs of high quality photographs mounted on board and viewed through a pair of
lenses to create a slight 3-D effect. Sets of such cards were produced giving
views of famous beauty spots and tourist attractions.
Cecil Hepworth, with his love of high quality photography, exploited the
demand for such views by making a moving image equivalent of the cards. The
subjects are relatively free from comment (just a few poetic intertitles) and
contain people only as part of the landscape to provide scale or interest.
Movement is provided by the use of slow panning shots and travelling shots from
a motor vehicle of some sort. The treatment of the Malvern Hills region is
conventional - it admires its rolling hills, the views from the beacons and the
wooded lanes with picturesque thatched cottages. Google 'Malvern Hills' today
and you get a similar experience including the panoramas and views. The final
intertitles quote from the modern poet John Davidson; the verse's reference to
the 'crimson bands' of the sunset indicates that original prints of the film
were tinted.
Bryony Dixon
| 
Complete film (9:35)
