In 1913 Motograph Studios, a company based inside the Crystal palace, made several films one of which – The Cup Final Mystery – included scenes shot on the pitch where the FA Cup final was played.
Other scenes – including a young girl being tied up in a sack and dumped in one of Crystal Palace Park’s lakes – were also filmed there. The young girl was Joan Morgan, born in St German’s Road, Forest Hill who went on to become a major silent movie star.
The plot of the film involves unscrupulous bookmakers kidnapping the Chelham goalkeeper prior to the final with Blackton Villa.
Jerry Green, who gave a short talk on Motograph to the Norwood Society’s local history group on the subject last year, is wondering if anyone has any knowledge of a family member – grandfather/ great uncle etc – appearing in the film.
A review of the film at the time complained that most of the players in the final were only about 17 or 18 (Chelham’s keeper was a professional actor named Douglas Payne). Tragically the chances are that – statistically at least – three or four of the 21 other players would have lost their lives in the First World War.
The British Film Institute has no old films of Motograph – which included such titles as ‘Maria Marten or Murder in the Red Barn’, ‘Life of a London Shop Girl’ and ‘The Great Gold Robbery’. Scenes from two films – ‘Big Game Hunting in the North Pole Icefields’ and ‘Fall of Pompeii’ – were both shot in Crystal Palace Park.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact jerrygreen.85@googlemail.com
Related posts:
