Old Bill ‘Through the Ages

Synopsis

Feature film. ‘Comedy based on the characters created by Bruce Bairnsfather. Old Bill, in the trenches during the First World War, eats tinned lobster and dreams that he and his friends travel back in time to the time of William the Conqueror, to Runnymede for the signing of Magna Carta, to the time of Queen Elizabeth and lastly the Civil War. In the third section Old Bill is a courtier who is sent to Stratford to fetch William Shakespeare, whom he finds dictating a sonnet to a room full of typists. Shakespeare shows Old Bill his complete works (each volume ascribed to Bacon), some of which are deemed unsuitable for the royal eyes, and Shakespeare, Anne Hathaway and Old Bill travel to court. There Shakespeare gives selected readings from the plays (including the Hamlet soliloquy III i), gradually sending the court to sleep. Old Bill throws a bomb at him, but he continues undeterred. Walter Raleigh introduces the court to tobacco, which goes down much better. Entertaining when described, somewhat tedious to view, with many obscure contemporary references and a general air of amateurishness. Nevertheless, in isolation the Shakespeare sequence is quite fun’. [With acknowledgment to McKernan & Terris, op cit for the description].

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Film

Technical information

Black-and-white / Silent

Year of release

1924

Notes

The copy in the BFI National Archive is incomplete at 5,976ft (65mins).

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Time Travel

Credits

Director

Thomas Bentley

Cinematographer

Horace Wheddon

Screenplay

Eliot Stannard

Cast

Arthur Cleeve
Austin Leigh
Bruce Bairnsfather
Franzi Carlos
Gladys ffolliott
Jack Denton
Syd Walker

Production Company

Name

Ideal Film Company

Archive

Name

BFI National Archive

Web

http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/searching-access-collections/research-viewing-services External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7255 1444

Fax

020 7436 0165

Address

21 Stephen Street
London
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