''Becket'' is a 1924 British silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

George Ridgwell George Ridgwell (1867–1935) was a British screenwriter and film director of the silent film era. His name was sometimes spelt as George Ridgewell. He was born in Woolwich in 1867. He directed around 70 films including a series of adaptations of ...

and starring Frank R. Benson, A.V. Bramble and

Bertram Burleigh Bertram Burleigh (1890 – 1961) was a British actor of the silent era. Selected filmography * ''John Halifax, Gentleman'' (1915) * ''The Mother of Dartmoor'' (1916) * '' Trapped by the London Sharks'' (1916) * ''Mrs. Thompson'' (1919) * '' ...

. It depicts the fatal encounter between Henry II and the Archbishop of Canterbury

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

. The film is based on the 1884 play of the same title by

Alfred Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

. It was produced by Stoll Pictures, Britain's largest film company of the era, at the

Cricklewood Studios Cricklewood Studios, also known as the Stoll Film Studios, were British film studios located in Cricklewood, London which operated from 1920 to 1938. Run by Sir Oswald Stoll as the principal base for his newly formed Stoll Pictures, which als ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Walter Murton Walter Murton was a British art director, who worked from the 1920s until the 1940s. During his early career in the 1920s Murton was the regular set designer on the silent film series ''The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' and '' The Myst ...

Cast

* Frank R. Benson as Thomas Becket * A.V. Bramble as Henry II *

as Lord Leicester * Arthur Burne as Grim *

Mary Clare Mary Clare Absalom (17 July 1892 – 29 August 1970) was a British actress of stage, film and television. Biography Daughter of George Alfred Absalom, Clare was educated at Wood Green secondary school, first worked in an office but a loan ...

as Queen

Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor ( – 1 April 1204; french: Aliénor d'Aquitaine, ) was Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II, and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from ...

Clive Currie Clive James Currie (born 25 December 1955) is a former New Zealand rugby union player and cricketer. Rugby union A Rugby union positions#Full-back, fullback, Currie represented Wellington Rugby Football Union, Wellington and Canterbury Rugby ...

as Herbert of Bosham * Bert Daley as De Tracey * Sydney Folker as De Broc * Alex G. Hunter as John of Salisbury *

Gladys Jennings Gladys Jennings (1903–1994) was an English actress. Selected filmography * '' The Lady Clare'' (1919) * '' The Face at the Window'' (1920) * '' The Shuttle of Life'' (1920) * '' The Prey of the Dragon'' (1921) * '' Gwyneth of the Welsh Hills' ...

as Rosamund de Clifford *

William Lugg William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

as John of Oxford *

C. Hargrave Mansell C. or c. may refer to: * Century, sometimes abbreviated as ''c.'' or ''C.'', a period of 100 years * Cent (currency), abbreviated ''c.'' or ''¢'', a monetary unit that equals of the basic unit of many currencies * Caius or Gaius, abbreviated as ...

as Theobald of Canterbury * Sidney Paxton as Archbishop of York *

Percy Standing Percy Standing (26 October 1882 – 17 September 1950) was an English film actor of the silent era. He appeared in 42 films between 1913 and 1934. He was born in Lambeth, London and died in Placer County, California. Selected filmography ...

as Sir Reginald Fitzurse *

Harry J. Worth Harry J. Worth (6 February 1903 - 3 November 1975), was a British-born actor, appeared in British productions 1916-1929 and later appeared in a number of feature films after moving to Hollywood in 1935 to 1963. He was generally credited as Harr ...

as De Brito

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. * Low, Rachael. ''The History of British Film (Volume 3): The History of the British Film 1914 - 1918''. Routledge, 2013.

External links

* 1924 films British historical drama films 1920s historical drama films Films based on works by Alfred, Lord Tennyson Films directed by George Ridgwell Films set in London Films set in Kent Films set in the 12th century Cultural depictions of Thomas Becket Cultural depictions of Eleanor of Aquitaine British black-and-white films British silent feature films Martyrdom in fiction 1924 drama films Stoll Pictures films Films shot at Cricklewood Studios 1920s English-language films 1920s British films Silent drama films {{1920s-UK-film-stub