James Williamson (film pioneer)
Encyclopedia
James Williamson was an early film developer and film director.
, Fife
, and raised in Edinburgh
. In 1868 he moved to London where he was an apprentice to a pharmacist
, and bought his own pharmacy in 1877. In 1886 he moved to Hove
in Sussex
.
Williamson originally processed film for other early movie makers, and then began production of his own features. Later he went into the movie equipment manufacturing business with his son Stuart, an engineer.
One of his most notable and innovative films was The Big Swallow (1901), in which a man eats the cinematographer and his camera. He slowly approaches the viewer, walking into such an extreme close-up that his gaping mouth fills the screen, which goes black. In the same year he directed the film Fire!.
His pharmacy and photographic business was near G. A. Smith's
St. Anne's Well Pleasure Garden
, which had originally been a health spa.
Biography
Williamson was born near KirkcaldyKirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. The town lies on a shallow bay on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth; SSE of Glenrothes, ENE of Dunfermline, WSW of Dundee and NNE of Edinburgh...
, Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, and raised in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. In 1868 he moved to London where he was an apprentice to a pharmacist
Pharmacist
Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...
, and bought his own pharmacy in 1877. In 1886 he moved to Hove
Hove
Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast...
in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
.
Williamson originally processed film for other early movie makers, and then began production of his own features. Later he went into the movie equipment manufacturing business with his son Stuart, an engineer.
One of his most notable and innovative films was The Big Swallow (1901), in which a man eats the cinematographer and his camera. He slowly approaches the viewer, walking into such an extreme close-up that his gaping mouth fills the screen, which goes black. In the same year he directed the film Fire!.
His pharmacy and photographic business was near G. A. Smith's
George Albert Smith (inventor)
George Albert Smith was a stage hypnotist, psychic, magic lantern lecturer, astronomer, inventor, and one of the pioneers of British cinema, who is best known for his controversial work with Edmund Gurney at the Society for Psychical Research, his short-films from 1897-1903 which pioneered film...
St. Anne's Well Pleasure Garden
St. Ann's Well Gardens, Hove
St. Ann's Well Gardens is a park in Hove, East Sussex about half a mile from the shore. The park is renowned for its chalybeate spring, which is now named St. Ann's Well....
, which had originally been a health spa.
Selected filmography
- The Clown BarberThe Clown BarberThe Clown Barber is an 1898 British short black-and-white silent film directed and produced by the Scottish film pioneer James Williamson.The film was produced in Brighton and Hove. The actual film is 21.34 m long....
(1898) - Attack on a China MissionAttack on a China MissionAttack on a China Mission is a 1900 British short silent drama film, directed by James Williamson, showing some sailors coming to the rescue of the wife of a missionary killed by Boxers...
(1900) - The Big SwallowThe Big SwallowThe Big Swallow is a 1901 British short silent comedy film, directed by James Williamson, featuring a man, irritated by the presence of a photographer, who solves his dilemma by swallowing him and his camera whole...
(1901) - Fire! (1901)
- Stop Thief!Stop Thief!Stop Thief! is a 1901 British short silent drama film, directed by James Williamson, showing tramp getting his come-uppance after stealing some meat from a butcher and his dogs. "One of the first true 'chase' films made not just in Britain but anywhere else", according to Michael Brooke of BFI...
(1901) - The Little Match SellerThe Little Match SellerThe Little Match Seller is a 1902 British short silent drama film, directed by James Williamson, retelling the classic Hans Christian Andersen fable of the sad life and tragic death of a little match seller...
(1902) - An Interesting StoryAn Interesting StoryAn Interesting Story is a 1905 British short silent comedy film, directed by James Williamson, showing a man so engrossed in his book he is dangerously oblivious to what happens around him....
(1905) - Our New Errand BoyOur New Errand BoyOur New Errand Boy is a 1905 British short silent comedy film, directed by James Williamson, about a new errand boy, engaged by a grocer who soon regrets the appointment...
(1905) - Flying the Foam and Some Fancy DivingFlying the Foam and Some Fancy DivingFlying the Foam and Some Fancy Diving is a 1906 British short silent comedy film, directed by James Williamson, featuring a man diving from Brighton Pier while mounted on a bicycle, in both forward and reverse motion...
(1906)