Frank Mottershaw
Encyclopedia
Frank Mottershaw was an early English cinema
director based in Sheffield
, Yorkshire
. His films, A Daring Daylight Burglary and The Robbery of the Mail Coach (featuring a protagonist based on Jack Sheppard
, the infamous 18th century English highwayman
), made in April and September 1903, are regarded as highly influential on the development of Edwin Porter’s paradigmatic "chase film" The Great Train Robbery, of December 1903, and often claimed as the prototype of the action film
. The uniqueness of Mottershaw's A Daring Daylight Burglary is seen as the way it tracks a single action through changing locations.
Mottershaw also made documentary films, an early example being The Coronation of King Peter I of Serbia in Belgrade, made in 1904, with Arnold Muir Wilson
.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
director based in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. His films, A Daring Daylight Burglary and The Robbery of the Mail Coach (featuring a protagonist based on Jack Sheppard
Jack Sheppard
Jack Sheppard was a notorious English robber, burglar and thief of early 18th-century London. Born into a poor family, he was apprenticed as a carpenter but took to theft and burglary in 1723, with little more than a year of his training to complete...
, the infamous 18th century English highwayman
Highwayman
A highwayman was a thief and brigand who preyed on travellers. This type of outlaw, usually, travelled and robbed by horse, as compared to a footpad who traveled and robbed on foot. Mounted robbers were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads...
), made in April and September 1903, are regarded as highly influential on the development of Edwin Porter’s paradigmatic "chase film" The Great Train Robbery, of December 1903, and often claimed as the prototype of the action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
. The uniqueness of Mottershaw's A Daring Daylight Burglary is seen as the way it tracks a single action through changing locations.
Mottershaw also made documentary films, an early example being The Coronation of King Peter I of Serbia in Belgrade, made in 1904, with Arnold Muir Wilson
Arnold Muir Wilson
Arnold Muir Wilson was a British solicitor and politician.Born in Sheffield, Wilson studied in Germany before becoming a solicitor based at Clifford's Inn. He built up a large practice in Sheffield, usually representing the defence at the Police Court, against Arthur Neal...
.
Filmography
- 1903 A Daring Daylight Burglary (1903)
- 1903 Robbery of the Mail Coach (1903)
- 1903 The Convict's Escape from Prison (1903)
- 1904 The Coronation of King Peter the First (1904)
- 1904 Attack on a Japanese Convoy (1904)
- 1904 A Dash with the Despatch (1904)
- 1904 The Tramp's Duck Hunt (1904)
- 1904 The Market Woman's Mishap (1904)
- 1904 A Cycle Teacher's Experiences (1904)
- 1904 The Coiners (1904)
- 1904 The Bobby's Downfall (1904)
- 1904 Late for Work (1904)
- 1904 Boys Will Be Boys (1904)
- 1904 Fly Catchers (1904)
- 1904 Bertie's Courtship (1904)
- 1904 The Tramps and the Washerwoman (1904)
- 1904 A Picnic Disturbed (1904)
- 1904 That Awful Donkey (1904)
- 1905 A Soldier's Romance (1905)
- 1905 An Eccentric Burglary (1905)
- 1905 The Masher and the Nursemaid (1905)
- 1905 Lazy Workmen (1905)
- 1905 A Fireman's Story (1905)
- 1905 The Shoplifter (1905)
- 1905 The Demon Motorist (1905)
- 1905 A Man Although a Thief (1905)
- 1905 Mixed Babies (1905)
- 1905 The Life of Charles Peace (1905)
- 1906 Our Boyhood Days (1906)
- 1906 Lost in the Snow (1906)
- 1906 The Eccentric Thief (1906)
- 1906 That Terrible Dog (1906)
- 1906 Our Seaside Holiday (1906)
- 1906 His First Silk Hat (1906)
- 1906 After the Club (1906)
- 1907 The Romany's Revenge (1907)
- 1907 Johnny's Rim (1907)
- 1907 Willie's Dream (1907)
- 1907 The Blackmailer (1907)
- 1907 His Cheap Watch (1907)
- 1908 That Nasty Sticky Stuff (1908)
External links
- A Daring Daylight Burglary (1903), You Tube
- Mixed Babies (1905), Yorkshire Film Archive
- The Coronation of King Peter I of Serbia and a Ride through Serbia (1905), National Film Archive of Serbia