Lewin "Fitz" Fitzhamon (5 June 1869 – 10 October 1961) was a British filmmaker, who worked as

Cecil Hepworth Cecil Milton Hepworth (19 March 1874 – 9 February 1953) was a British film director, film producer, producer and screenwriter. He was among the founders of the Cinema of the United Kingdom, British film industry and continued making films ...

's principal director in the early decades of the twentieth century. His best-known film is ''

Rescued by Rover ''Rescued by Rover'' is a 1905 British short silent drama film, directed by Lewin Fitzhamon, about a dog who leads its master to his kidnapped baby, which was the first to feature the Hepworth's family dog Blair in a starring role; following ...

'' (1905). Other directing credits include '' An Englishman Trip to Paris from London'' (1904), '' That Fatal Sneeze'' (1907), '' The Man and his Bottle'' (1908) and '' A New Hat for Nothing'' (1910). In total, he directed around 400 films.Obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', ''MR LEWIN FITZHAMON'', ''EARLY BRITISH FILMS'', October 11, 1961, p.15

Early career

Lewis Henry Dell Fitzhamon was born on 5 June 1869, the son of the Rector of Aldingham. He received his early education at

Rossall School Rossall School is a private Day school, day and boarding school, boarding school in the United Kingdom for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St. Vincent Beechey, St Vincent Beechey as a ...

but was forced to receive home tuition when, having contracted diphtheria and rheumatic fever, he was unable to return to school. Fitzhamon began his career as a

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

performer. He became involved in filmmaking in 1900, working with film pioneer

Robert W. Paul Robert William Paul (3 October 1869 – 28 March 1943) was an English pioneer of film and scientific instrument maker. He made narrative films as early as April 1895, which were shown first in Edison Kinetoscope knockoffs. In 1896 he showe ...

. He gained experience in both directing and acting, with credits in films such as ''Briton vs. Boer'' (1900).

Career with Hepworth

Cecil Hepworth recruited Fitzhamon as a

stage manager Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including overseeing of the rehearsal proce ...

in 1904, to replace

Percy Stow Percy Stow (1876 – 10 July 1919) was a British director of short films. He was also the co-founder of Clarendon Film Company. He was born in Islington, London, England. He was previously associated with Cecil Hepworth from 1901 to 1903, where ...

, who had left to establish his own film company, Clarendon. One of the first film he directed in 1904 was ''An Englishman Trip to Paris from London'', a precursor of travel films, where the main actor was filmed on location in London and Paris. Fitzhamon continued working with Hepworth until 1912, gaining writing, acting and directing credits. One of his most popular films was ''

'' (1905). Fitzhamon loved animals, producing many other films with an animal in a heroic role, such as ''Dog Outwits the Kidnappers'' and ''Dumb Sagacity''. He directed '' Prehistoric Peeps'' (1905), the first depiction of onscreen

dinosaurs Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

in film history, portrayed by actors inside

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

models. Merkl (2015), p. 278 Fitzhamon, like Hepworth, had an interest in

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...

, producing many "

trick films In the early history of cinema, trick films were short film, short silent films designed to feature innovative special effects. History The trick film genre was developed by Georges Méliès in some of his first cinematic experiments, and his wor ...

", including '' Sister Mary Jane's Top Note'' (1907) and '' The Man and his Bottle'' (1908). Luke McKernan has described how many of his films had "no concern except to get the central trick effect or plot idea across, but their very lack of pretension makes for pleasurable viewing now". He had a wide and varied output, covering westerns, fantasy films, comedies, chase films and melodramas.

Later career

In 1912, Fitzhamon established his own film company, Fitz Films. He also worked as a freelance director, for various producers. He published two novels: ''The Rival Millionaires'' (1904) and ''The Vixen'' (1915).

References

External References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzhamon, Lewin 1869 births 1961 deaths 20th-century British novelists British film directors People educated at Rossall School