"Lost Hearts" is a ghost story by British writer

M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...

, originally published in 1895. It was later collected in his 1904 book ''

Ghost Stories of an Antiquary ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' is a horror short story collection by British writer M. R. James, published in 1904 (some had previously appeared in magazines). Some later editions under this title contain both the original collection and its su ...

''.

Plot summary

The tale tells the story of Stephen Elliott, a young orphan boy, who is sent to stay with his much older cousin, Mr Abney, at a remote country mansion, Aswarby Hall, in Lincolnshire. His cousin is a reclusive

alchemist Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscience, protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in Chinese alchemy, C ...

obsessed with making himself immortal. Stephen is repeatedly troubled by visions of a young gypsy girl and a travelling Italian boy with their hearts missing.

Adaptations

The story was first adapted for television by

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

and broadcast by

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

on 5 March 1966 as an episode of the ''

Mystery and Imagination ''Mystery and Imagination'' is a British television anthology series of classic horror and supernatural dramas. Five series were broadcast from 1966 to 1970 by the ITV network and produced by ABC and (later) Thames Television. Outline The se ...

'' series. However, no archive recordings of this episode are known to exist. "Lost Hearts" was adapted by

Robin Chapman Robin John Chapman (18 January 1933 – 29 July 2020) was an English novelist, playwright and screenwriter. Early life Chapman was born in Croydon, Surrey. He was educated at Selhurst Grammar School (later Selhurst High School) and Christ' ...

in 1973 as part of the BBC's ''

A Ghost Story for Christmas ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' is a strand of annual British short television films originally broadcast on BBC One between 1971 and 1978, and revived sporadically by the BBC since 2005. With one exception, the original instalments were directe ...

strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

, directed by

Lawrence Gordon Clark Lawrence Gordon Clark, is an English television director and producer, perhaps best known for his ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' series of mostly M. R. James ghost stories, which were broadcast annually by the BBC throughout the 1970s. These ar ...

. The shortest of the adaptations, ''

Lost Hearts "Lost Hearts" is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James, originally published in 1895. It was later collected in his 1904 book '' Ghost Stories of an Antiquary''. Plot summary The tale tells the story of Stephen Elliott, a young orphan boy, ...

'' was first broadcast on Christmas Day 1973 at 11:35 pm. It starred

Simon Gipps-Kent Simon Gipps-Kent (born Simon Trevor Kent; 25 October 1958 – 16 September 1987) was a prolificAlistair D. McGown & Mark J. Dochert''The Hill and Beyond: Children's Television Drama – An Encyclopedia'' British Film Institute, 2003, p. 97. 20 ...

as Stephen and

Joseph O'Conor Joseph O'Conor (14 February 1916 – 21 January 2001) was an Irish actor and playwright. Early years O'Conor was born in DublinAlan Strachan ''The Independent'', 2 February 2001Stephen GilbertObituary ''The Guardian'', 25 January 2001 on ...

as the much older cousin. The adaptation is noted for the distinctive

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vio ...

music that accompanies appearances of the two ghostly children.

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

' '' English Folk Song Suite'' is also featured. In 2018, a third film adaptation of the short story was released by Severn Film Productions in association with Action Image Productions, co-written by Lynn Davies and directed by Max Van De Banks. The production features

Nicholas Amer Nicholas Amer, born Thomas Harold Amer (29 September 1923 – 17 November 2019), was an English stage, film and television actor known for his performances in William Shakespeare's plays. Amer made his professional debut in 1948 playing the par ...

as Mr Abney, Louis Newton as Stephen Elliott, Margaret Baldwin as Mrs Bunch, Mark Llewellin as Mr Parks and Eleanor Catherine Smart as Emily. The film was shot on location at

Eastnor Castle Eastnor Castle, Eastnor, Herefordshire, is a 19th-century mock castle. Eastnor was built for John Cocks, 1st Earl Somers, who employed Robert Smirke, later the main architect of the British Museum. The castle was built between 1811 and 1820. Ma ...

and

Hellens Manor Hellens Manor, also known as Hellens House or simply Hellens and located in the village of Much Marcle in Herefordshire is one of the oldest dwellings in England, primarily composed of Tudor, Jacobean and Georgian architecture, but the foundati ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

and the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway. The story is updated to the 1940s (and later 1953) when, following the death of Stephen's parents, the young boy has been evacuated to the countryside during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. This production is unusual in that the film was shot in two parts, with the main elements being filmed in 2005 and the beginning and end of the film in 2016, with Louis Newton returning as Stephen, now a young man recounting to his bride-to-be the story of what happened ten years earlier. The film was entered in The Bristol International Film Festival and received a nomination at the Moving Pictures Festival in Nieuwmoer, Belgium in 2018.

References

External links

* * * * (1973) * (2018) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lost Hearts 1904 short stories Fiction about alchemy Ghosts in written fiction Horror short stories Short stories by M. R. James Short stories adapted into films