Episode #13 - James Williamson

When the French film historian George Sadoul coined the term ‘The Brighton School’ in 1945, he was primarily referring to two important filmmakers who began working in the late 1800s: James Williamson, and his friend George Albert Smith, though both lived and worked (to cite a well-worn local phrase) in “Hove, actually.”

This podcast has covered G.A. Smith before, in the very first episode from January 2024. Back then, I spoke to Dr. Frank Gray, author of The Brighton School and the Birth of British Film, and I’m very happy to have Frank back for this episode to talk about James Williamson.

Frank and I discuss Williamson’s encounters with Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope; his background as a chemist; his relationship with George Albert Smith; the innovation of his films Attack on a China Mission and Fire!, and more.

You can also find this episode on…

• Spotify

• Apple Podcasts (I will update with the Apple link as soon as I can. There is a lag between publishing the podcast and it appearing there.)

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Show notes

• Buy the Cinéclub fanzine

  • 52 pages w/ articles on cinematic representations of the German urban guerilla group The Red Army Faction, Claude Chabrol’s 1962 film The Third Lover’ and some pieces on punks in cinema. DIY and sold on a not-for-profit basis at a cost that just covers the cost of printing: £3.50 plus postage.

• James Williamson films

  • Devil’s Dyke Fun Fair (estimated 1896)

  • Attack on a China Mission (1900)

  • Stop Thief! (1901)

  • Fire! (1901)

  • More on BFI Player

• The Cinéclub podcast on George Albert Smith, also featuring Frank Gray

• Casting Shadows, a Radio 4 drama about early filmmaking in Brighton and Hove, including Williamson and Smith. Narrated by Frank Gray

• Edwin S. Porter’s The Life of an American Fireman (1903)

  • Original version

  • Porter’s later re-cut version

• Info on Hove Museum’s film collection, which includes James Williamson-related artefacts

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Bibliography

• David Fisher, Cinema By Sea: Film and Cinema in Brighton & Hove Since 1896 (Brighton: Terra, 2012)

• Frank Gray, The Brighton School and the Birth of British Film (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019)

• Martin Sopocy, James Williamson: Studied and Documents of a Pioneer of the Film Narrative (London: Associated University Presses, 1998)

• Martin Sopocy, Postscripts to James Williamson in Film History, Vol. 22 No. 3 (2010) p.313-328