‘Twelve thrills for the screen’ or a ‘ludicrous travesty’? Harry A. Berg’s Cosmopolitan Productions Limited and Haunted Houses and Castles of Great Britain (1926)

ABSTRACT

The British film production company, Cosmopolitan Productions Limited, was founded in October 1924 by Americans Harry A. Berg and Ivor M. Rosenbaum. In its short life, the company produced a series of 12 two-reel films under the umbrella title Haunted Houses and Castles of Great Britain. Berg employed George A. Banfield as scriptwriter and producer, as well as well-known film directors including Bert Cann, Maurice Elvey and Fred Paul. The series was trade shown in January 1926, with a general release in September. However, due to various financial problems, Cosmopolitan Productions filed for bankruptcy in February 1926. Using a variety of archival sources, this article will trace the rise and fall of Cosmopolitan Productions within the context of the turbulent British film industry of the mid-1920s. Furthermore, it will offer analysis of the surviving short films from the series including Hampton Court Palace, Kenilworth Castle and Amy Robstart and Warwick Castle in Feudal Days.

KEYWORDS:

• British cinema
• short film
• production
• location shooting
• Cosmopolitan Productions Limited
• George Banfield
• Harry A. Berg
• 1920s

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Steve Tollervey, based at BFI Research viewing services, for enabling me to view the surviving footage of the films produced by Cosmopolitan Productions Limited, as well as members of staff working at the BFI Reuben Library, particularly Victoria Bennett, for assisting me in accessing relevant Special Collection materials.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. These records are held by the National Archives (TNA) in Richmond, Surrey, under the file WORK 19/1129.

2. Hampton Court Palace (https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-hampton-court-palace-1926-online) and The Tower of London (https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-the-tower-of-london-1926-online) can be viewed on the BFI Player, and Kenilworth Castle and Amy Robstart, The Legend of Tichborne Dole and Warwick Castle in Feudal Days can be accessed by visiting the BFI’s viewing services based at Stephen Street, London.

3. TNA: J 107/24.

4. The press book is available in the Gabrielle Morton and George Banfield collection (ITM-7250) held by the BFI’s Special Collections.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Llewella Chapman

Llewella Chapman is a film historian and visiting scholar based in the School of History at the University of East Anglia. Her research interests include British cinema, gender, costume and the heritage industry. She is the author of Fashioning James Bond: Costume, Gender and Identity in the World of 007 (Bloomsbury, 2022) and a BFI Film Classic on From Russia With Love (Bloomsbury/BFI Publishing, 2022).