Walter R. Booth | |
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.jpeg) Photograph of Walter R Booth published in 1898 (Davenport Collection) | |
| Born | (1869-07-12)12 July 1869 |
| Died | 1938 |
| Occupation | Filmmaker |
Walter Robert Booth (12 July 1869 – 1938) was a British magician and early pioneer ofBritish film. Collaborating withRobert W. Paul and thenCharles Urban mostly on"trick" films, he pioneered techniques that led to what has been described as the first British animated film,The Hand of the Artist (1906).[1][2] Booth is also notable for making the earliest film adaptation ofA Christmas Carol with the silent filmScrooge, or, Marley's Ghost (1901).[3]
Booth was born in July 1869, the son of aporcelain painter. He followed his father with an apprenticeship at theRoyal Worcester porcelain factory in 1882, where he worked until 1890. He had been a keen amateur magician and subsequently he joined the magic company ofJohn Nevil Maskelyne andDavid Devant at theEgyptian Hall inPiccadilly,London, where he is presumed to have first encountered filmmakerRobert W. Paul, who exhibited some of his earliest films there in 1896.
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Booth went to work for Paul first devising and then later directing short trick films, beginning withThe Miser's Doom andUpside Down; or, the Human Flies (both 1899). Many of their early collaborations, such asHindoo Jugglers andChinese Magic (both 1900) were based on conjuring tricks, whilstA Railway Collision (1900) pioneered the use of scale models. They reached the height of their collaboration in 1901; with simpletrick films, such asUndressing Extraordinary,The Waif and the Wizard andAn Over-Incubated Baby which relied on jump-cuts,The Devil in the Studio andArtistic Creation which integrated hand drawn elements, andCheese Mites; or, Lilliputians in a London Restaurant which experimented with superimposition; as well as more complex films, such asThe Haunted Curiosity Shop,Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost andThe Magic Sword which has been compared to the work ofGeorges Méliès. Their collaborations continued for the next five years with such films asThe Extraordinary Waiter (1902),An Extraordinary Cab Accident andThe Voyage of the Arctic (both 1903), before culminating withIs Spiritualism A Fraud? andThe '?' Motorist (both 1906).[4]
In 1906, Booth went to work forCharles Urban and constructed his own outdoor studio in the back garden of Neville Lodge, Woodlands, Isleworth, London, where, with F. Harold Bastick, he madeThe Hand of the Artist (1906), which has been described as the first British animated film.[1] He went on to produce at least 15 films a year for Urban until 1915, including semi-animatedtrick filmsThe Sorcerer's Scissors (1907),When the Devil Drives (1907), and proto-science fiction invasion fantasiesThe Airship Destroyer (1909) andThe Aerial Submarine (1910), as well asThe Automatic Motorist (1911), a partial remake ofThe '?' Motorist (1906).
He subsequently went on to produce advertising films, includingA Cure for Cross Words for Cadbury's cocoa and chocolate and he invented an advertising method calledFlashing Film Ads, described asunique colour effects in light and movement. He died in Birmingham in 1938.
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