The Bells (1931 film)

The Bells is a 1931 British drama film directed by Harcourt Templeman and Oscar Werndorff and starring Donald Calthrop, Jane Welsh, and Edward Sinclair.^[1]

The film was originally released with the only film score written by Gustav Holst. It was based on the play Le Juif Polonais by Alexandre Chatrian and Emile Erckmann, and the English version, The Bells by Leopold Lewis.

Plot[edit]

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Mathias, an Alsatian innkeeper, murders a rich Pole staying at his inn. His conscience will not let him rest, and the Pole's spirit drives him nearly mad.

The victim's brother calls for an inquest and brings a sideshow hypnotist, who is supposed to read minds. Mathias, as burgomaster, is called upon to conduct the inquest but, under the intuitive eye of the hypnotist, cannot endure the torment of his own conscience.

Cast[edit]

• Donald Calthrop as Mathias
• Jane Welsh as Annette
• Edward Sinclair as Sergeant Christian Nash
• O. B. Clarence as Watchman
• Wilfred Shine as Philosopher
• Ralph Truman as Blacksmith
• Anita Sharp-Bolster

Loss[edit]

The Bells is now considered a lost film. In 1974, Imogen Holst wrote that its score is also lost.^[2]

See also[edit]

• List of lost films
• BFI 75 Most Wanted
• The Bells (Australia 1911)
• The Bells (US 1918)
• The Bells (US 1926)
• The Burgomeister (Australia 1935)

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Bergfelder, Tim & Cargnelli, Christian, Destination London: German-speaking Emigrés and British Cinema, 1925-1950 (Berghahn Books, 2008)

External links[edit]

• The Bells at IMDb

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