''How Kitchener Was Betrayed'' is a 1921 British silent

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

directed by

Percy Nash The English surname Percy is of Normans, Norman origin, coming from Normandy to England, United Kingdom. It was from the House of Percy, Norman lords of Northumberland, derives from the village of Percy-en-Auge in Normandy. From there, it came i ...

and starring

Fred Paul Fred Paul (1880–1967) was a Swiss-born British actor and film director. Paul was born in Lausanne in 1880 but moved to Britain at a young age. He was a prolific actor and director in the 1910s and 1920s, but his career dramatically declined with ...

, Winifred Evans, 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 was a fictional portrayal of the events leading up to the death of

Herbert Kitchener Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, (; 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a senior British Army officer and colonial administrator. Kitchener came to prominence for his imperial campaigns, his scorched earth policy against the Boers, h ...

on HMS ''Hampshire'' during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in which the German secret service received warning of the general's activities through a German agent Elbie Böcker. The film was intended to cash in on the controversy raised by the publication of a biography of Kitchener in 1920 challenging the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

's official conclusion that the ship was sunk by a mine. Only one of its six

reel A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a '' spool'') with flanges around the en ...

s survives.

Controversy

The film's plot raised objections from a number of figures on the grounds of historical inaccuracy and it was refused a licence by the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

(LCC) authorities, effectively barring its distribution throughout Britain. Pressure was also successfully exerted on William Hays of the

Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

to ban the film in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and the French authorities also refused to screen it. The film's delayed

premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

took place at

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester ...

in November 1922, and the LCC immediately took legal action against the cinema owner, who conceded the case. No further attempts were made to release the film.Robertson, pp. 18-20 This put in place an effective ban on controversial contemporary history films until the release of

Herbert Wilcox Herbert Sydney Wilcox Order of the British Empire, CBE (19 April 1890 – 15 May 1977) was a British film producer and film director, director. He was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best know ...

's ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizo ...

'' in 1928.

Cast

- Field Marshal Kitchener * Winifred Evans - Elbie Böcker *

- Lieutenant Mack * Peggy Hathaway - Mrs. Mack *

Ion Swinley Ion Swinley (27 October 1891 – 16 September 1937), born Eric Ion Swindley was an English actor, known for his appearances in classics and modern dramas and comedies. Life and career Swinley was born in the London suburb of Barnes on 27 Octobe ...

- The Spy *

Wallace Bosco Wallace Charles Bosco (31 January 1880 in St Pancras, London – 1973 in Richmond upon Thames, Surrey) was an English film actor and screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer ...

* Frank Goldsmith

Bibliography

* Robertson, James Crighton. ''The Hidden Cinema: British Film Censorship in Action, 1913-1975''. Routledge, 1993.

References

External links

* 1921 films British silent feature films 1921 war films Films directed by Percy Nash Films set in the 1910s Films set in England Seafaring films British World War I films Lost British films British black-and-white films Cultural depictions of Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener British war films 1920s English-language films 1920s British films Silent adventure films {{1920s-UK-film-stub

Controversy

Cast

See also

Bibliography

References

External links