| Main Performers | Mr Ernest Meads - speaker |
| Set List | Address (Mr Ernest Meads),
Film Screening - 'From the Manger to the Cross', dir. Sidney Olcott (1912, 71mins) |
| Performance Notes | This film screening was one of the very first Blockbuster movie screenings at the Royal Albert Hall.
This silent film accompanied by organ music depicted the life of Jesus Christ. It attracted thousands of intrigued viewers, HM Queen Amelia, HRH Princess Henry of Battenberg, and the Duke and Duchess of Wellington, and plenty of controversy.
"The Albert Hall will witness what is probably the most ambitious experiment that has yet been made in cinematography the presentation of a series of pictures depicting the life of our Lord. Every effort will be made to present the pictures under reverent conditions, and the devotional character of the occasion will be intensified by the singing of carols to the accompaniment of the great organ of the Albert Hall."
(23 December 1912, The Times)
This was one of the first Hollywood blockbusters to be filmed outside of the States, in Palestine, where Canadian director Sidney Olcott cast young British actor and poet Robert Henderson-Bland in the lead role, propelling him from obscurity to worldwide fame.
British actor Henderson-Bland became probably the worlds first method actor by immersing himself entirely in what he thought it would be like to be Jesus Christ. In Palestine, Bland worked hard to banish, all alien thoughts and vagrant moods
It meant a surrender of soul, a submerging or personality, as to make normal life seem strange to me and my immediate memories alien.
Bland wanted to stay true to character until the very end so when it came to filming the final crucifixion scene, Bland wore a real crown of thorns pushed down onto his head and insisted on carrying the cross which was fifteen feet long. So realistic was this scene that as he passed a nearby convent one of the nuns fainted and the Mother Superior rushed out with a glass of wine to quench his thirst, although this ruined the filming!
Finally, they tied him with to the cross and pulled it up into position, while the watching nuns wept openly. Bland describes the awful pain and how every bone in his body seemed to start through my skin and he nearly lost consciousness. Afterwards, Bland stated that I feel that I shall never be able to pick up my life where I dropped it on the Hill of the Worlds Redemption. I do not believe that any man ever had such an awe-inspiring experience.
Although the sensitive religious subject matter had been approved by members of the clergy before release, and nearly all reviews of the film were positive both for its cinematic qualities and its artistic excellence, opponents including The Daily Mail declared Is nothing sacred to the film maker?. In USA guidance to cinema owners was to offer advance screening to ministers and church workers; prepare the room with incense; accompany the film with organ music and also use the words reverent and reverence in publicity literature.
The film's London premiere was on 12 Oct 1912 at the Queen's Hall, Langham Place, after which it received praise from the Dean of St Paul's and Cardinal Bourne, Catholic Prelate of England. The film ran at the Queen's Hall for eight weeks before being screening at the Royal Albert Hall.
The controversy surrounding the film led to the creation of the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC), an organisation which the film trade itself created to forestall official censorship. |