''Sweeney Todd'' is a 1928 British silent

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by Walter West and starring

Moore Marriott George Thomas Moore Marriott (14 September 1885 – 11 December 1949) was an English character actor best remembered for the series of films he made with Will Hay. His first appearance with Hay was in the film '' Dandy Dick'' (1935), but he w ...

Judd Green Judd Green (also credited as R. Judd Green; 1866–1932) was a British film actor of the silent era. He was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire in 1866 and made his first screen appearance in 1914. Selected filmography * '' The Third String'' (1914) * ...

and Iris Darbyshire. It was adapted from a popular 1847 stage play by

George Dibdin-Pitt George Dibdin Pitt (born George Pitt , 30 March 1795 – 16 February 1855) was an English actor, stage manager and prolific playwright, specializing in melodrama. He was the first playwright to dramatize the fictional character Sweeney Todd, in hi ...

called ''The String of Pearls, or The Fiend of Fleet Street'', which in turn was based on an anonymous story called ''The String of Pearls: A Romance'' that was serialized in magazine format in 1846. This was the first time the story was adapted into a play, and it featured a surprise twist ending that doesn't appear in later stage versions of the

Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial ''The String of Pearls'' (1846–47). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London urban legend, legend. A barber fr ...

legend. It was filmed entirely on set at

Islington Studios Islington Studios, often known as Gainsborough Studios, were a British film studio located on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, London between 1919 and 1949. The studi ...

Plot

A barber named Sweeney Todd slits the throats of his unsuspecting customers, robs them and then dumps their bodies down into his cellar through a trapdoor. He and his partner in crime, Mrs. Lovett, cut up the bodies and use the pieces to make meat pies which she then sells in her bakery shop. In the end, it all turns out to be just a bad dream.

Cast

* Iris Darbyshire - Amelia Lovett *

- Simon Podge * Charles Ashton - Mark Ingestre *

Zoe Palmer Zoe Palmer (1903–1983) was a British stage and film actress.Goble p. 234 Selected filmography * ''Walls of Prejudice'' (1920) * ''The Black Tulip'' (1921) * '' The Other Person'' (1921) * '' Was She Guilty?'' (1922) * '' The Luck of the Navy' ...

Johanna Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek /h/ cou ...

Philip Hewland Philip Hewland (12 December 1876, Gravesend, Kent, England – 1953, Ealing, London) was a British actor. He had one son Ivor and a granddaughter Domini. Selected filmography * '' The Christian'' (1915) * '' His Daughter's Dilemma'' (1916) * ''Ar ...

- Ben Wagstaffe * Harry Lorraine - Mick Todd * Brian Glenny - Tobias Wragg

References

Bibliography

* Low, Rachel. ''The History of British Film: Volume IV, 1918–1929''. Routledge, 1997. * Wood, Linda. ''British Films, 1927-1939''. British Film Institute, 1986.

External links

* 1928 films British historical films 1920s historical films Films directed by Walter West British crime films 1928 crime films British silent feature films Films set in London British films based on plays Islington Studios films Films set in the 18th century Sweeney Todd British black-and-white films 1920s English-language films 1920s British films {{1920s-UK-film-stub