Sir William Frederick Jury (December 5, 1870 - August 2, 1944) was an influential film businessman in Britain. He led Jury Imperial Pictures, a British film production company during the silent film era. The company was a leading renter of films and contracted to distribute official British films. It was also a distributor of American films and was active in British colonies. Jury was also involved in distributing propaganda films for the British government. In 1914, he corresponded with

William N. Selig William Nicholas Selig (March 14, 1864 – July 15, 1948) was a pioneer of the American motion picture industry. In 1896 he created one of the first film production companies, Selig Polyscope Company of Chicago. Selig produced a string of co ...

. Jury distributed a film about the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

and a sequel about the

Battle of the Ancre The Battle of the Ancre was fought by the British Fifth Army (Lieutenant-General Hubert Gough), against the German 1st Army (General Fritz von Below). The Reserve Army had been renamed the Fifth Army on 30 October. The battle was the last ...

for the British government. Jury's film company was the exclusive distributor in Britain for American film production company Metro Pictures. Jury was awarded a knighthood in 1918. He established a convalescent home for film industry veterans. Jury owned the New Theatre in Bromley for a time.

Filmography

*''

Britain Prepared ''Britain Prepared'' (1915) is a British documentary feature film. The film is silent and made in black-and-white with some colour sequences in the Kinemacolor additive color process. The film documents Britain's military preparedness, showing ...

'' (1915) *''

The Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place be ...

'' (1916) *'' The Battle of the Ancre and the Advance of the Tanks'' (1917)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jury, William 1870 births 1944 deaths Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Knights Bachelor