''The Ball of Fortune'' is a 1926

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

silent

sports film A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport, sporting event, athlete (and their sport), or follower of sport (and the spor ...

directed by Hugh Croise and starring

Billy Meredith William Henry Meredith (30 July 1874 – 19 April 1958) was a Welsh professional footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each ...

, James Knight and

Mabel Poulton Mabel Lilian Poulton (29 July 1901 – 21 December 1994) was an English film actress, popular in Britain during the era of silent films. Career Born in Bethnal Green, London, England, Poulton worked as a stenographer and entered films by ...

. Based on the 1925 novel of the same title by

Sydney Horler Sydney Horler (18 July 1888 – 27 October 1954) was a prolific British novelist specialising in thrillers. He was born in Leytonstone, Essex, and educated at Redcliffe School and Colston School in Bristol. His first job was with ''Western Dai ...

, the film is set against the backdrop of

professional football In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...

. Top player

appears as himself. It was produced by an

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

-based

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

film company and involved footage shot at the city's

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

Stadium. It is now considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

.Glynn p.26-27

Cast

as himself * James Knight as Dick Huish *

as Mary Wayne * Geoffrey B. Partridge as James Brighurst *

Dorothy Boyd Dorothy Boyd (14 April 1907 – 1996) was an English film actress. She appeared in more than 30 films between 1926 and 1940. She was born in Sanderstead, Surrey, England and died in England. Without any previous stage experience, she came ...

as Connie * Mark Barker as Bent *

John Longden John Longden (11 November 1900 – 26 May 1971) was an English film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1926 and 1964, including five films directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Biography Longden was born in the West Indies, the son o ...

as Daltry * Charles Barratt as Daniel Brighurst *

Patrick Aherne Patrick may refer to: * Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name *Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People * Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

References

Bibliography

* Glynn, Stephen. ''The British Football Film''. Springer, 2018.

External links

* 1926 films British association football films British silent feature films British sports drama films British black-and-white films 1920s sports films Films shot in Yorkshire Films based on British novels 1920s English-language films 1920s British films Silent drama films Silent sports films {{sport-film-stub