A ROBERT BUCHANAN FILMOGRAPHY

Several of Buchanan’s works were adapted for the cinema during the early silent period. All the films were made in England, apart from La Donna e l’uomo, which is Italian. The following information is courtesy of  IMDB and the British Film Institute:

FRA GIACONE (1913)
(presumably based on the poem, Fra Giacomo)
Produced by Eric Williams Speaking Pictures
Starring Eric Williams as The Count

ALONE IN LONDON (1915)
(based on the play by Buchanan and Harriett Jay)
Directed by Larry Trimble
Produced by Turner Film Company
Cast:
Florence Turner          Nan Meadows
Henry Edwards           John Biddlecombe
Edward Lingard          Redcliffe
James Lindsay           Chick
Amy Lorraine             Mrs. Burnaby
BFI synopsis: “A crook tries to make a thief of his boss's son and ties a flower girl to gate of canal lock.”

[advert from The Scotsman 28th October, 1915]

MASTER AND MAN (1915)
(based on the play, The Trumpet Call, by Buchanan and George R. Sims - US title: THE TRUMPET CALL)
Script by Brian Daly and John East, directed by Percy Nash
Produced by Neptune Film Company
Cast:
Gregory Scott          Cuthbert Cuthbertson
Joan Ritz                  Constance Barton
Douglas Payne         James Redtruth
Daisy Cordell           Paula Redtruth 
Douglas Cox            Sergeant-Major Milligan
Brian Daly               Stage Manager
Biddy de Burgh       Cuthbert
Jack Denton            Tommy Wicklow
John East                 Professor Ginnifer
Agnes Paulton          Lavinia Ginnifer
Stella St. Audrie       Mrs. Wicklow
Frank Tennant         Richard Featherstone
Cecil Morton York  Sir William Barton
The BFI listing differs slightly from the IMDB entry given above. It is listed as The Trumpet Call, no alternative title is given and there are the following differences in the cast list:
Daisy Cordell           Bertha Redruth (alias “Astraea”)
Douglas Payne         James Redruth
Jack Denton            Tommy Dutton
Agnes Palton            Lavinia Ginnifer
Biddy de Burgh        Little Cuthbert
John M. East           Professor Ginnifer
The BFI also gives the following synopsis of the plot:
“A rich man’s wife elopes with a squire who subsequently deserts her. She dies in church while he remarries.”

THE CHARLATAN (1916)
(based on the play)
Script by Austin Fryers, directed by Sidney Morgan
Produced by Famous Authors
Cast:
Eille Norwood            Dr. O'Kama
Violet Graham           Isobel Arlington
Anna Mather             Madame Obnowsky
Frederick de Lara     Earl of Wansborough
Ernest A. Dagnall     Colonel Arlington
R. van Courtland       Lord Dewsbury
BFI synopsis: “A fake occultist, reformed by a colonel’s daughter, saves an earl from his ex-partner.”

GOD AND THE MAN (1918)
(based on the novel)
Script by Eliot Stannard, directed by Edwin J. Collins
Produced by Ideal Film Company
Cast:
IMDB version:
Langhorn Burton        Christiansen
Joyce Carey               Priscilla Sefton
Bert Wynne                Richard Christiansen
Edith Craig                  Dame Christiansen
Sybil Arundale            Kate Orchardson
Henry Vibart               Mr. Sefton
Nelson Ramsey          Squire Christiansen
E. Vivian Reynolds     John Wesley
BFI version:
Bert Wynne                Richard Orchardson
J. Nelson Ramsey      Squire Christianson
Jeff Barlow                 Squire Orchardson
Edith Craig                 Dame Christianson
Sybil Arundale            Kate
Langhorne Burton      Christianson
Joyce Carey               Priscilla Sefton
Henry Vibart              Mr. Sefton
E. Vivian Reynolds    John Wesley
Format: 35 mm Film. Length: 6935 feet.
BFI synopsis: “1745: Melodrama of a family feud and the effect on the younger members.”

MATT (1918)
(based on the novel)
Script by Rowland Talbot, directed by A. E. Coleby
Produced by I. B. Davidson & Tiger
Cast:
Greta MacDonald        Matt
A.E. Coleby                 Charles Brinkley
Ernest A. Douglas        Squire Monk
IMDB synopsis: “Devon artist proves a wrecker’s adopted child is an heiress just in time to prevent her unwilling marriage to a crooked squire.”

A MAN’S SHADOW (1920)
(based on Buchanan’s play, adapted from Jules Mary’s Roger la Honte)
Written and directed by Sidney Morgan
Produced by Frank E. Spring for Progress
Cast:
Langhorn Burton          Peter Beresford/Julian Grey
Violet Graham              Vivian Beresford
Gladys Mason               Yolande Hampton
Arthur Lennard             Robert Hampden
J. Denton-Thompson     Williams
Sidney Paxton                Billings
Babs Ronald                  Helen Beresford
Warris Linden                Simon Oppenheim

THE LIGHTS OF HOME (1920)
(based on the play by Buchanan and George R. Sims)
Script by Charles Barnett and  J. Bertram Brown, directed by Fred Paul
Produced by  Screen Plays (The BFI lists the production company as the Master Film Company.)
Cast:
George Foley                Dave Purvis
Nora Hayden                Tress Purvis
Jack Raymond              Mark
Moya Nugent                Sybil Garfield
John Stuart                   Philip Compton
Cecil Morton York        Squire Garfield
Frank Tennant              Arthur Tredgold

THE ENGLISH ROSE (1920)
(based on the play by Buchanan and George R. Sims)
Script by Paul Rooff, directed by Fred Paul
Produced by John Robyns for British Standard
Cast:
Fred Paul                         Father Michael
Humberston Wright        Captain MacDonnell
Sydney Folker                 Harry O'Malley
Mary Morton
Jock Raymond
Amy Brandon Thomas
George Turner
Clifford Desborough

LOVE IN AN ATTIC (1923)
(based on the poem, The Little Milliner)
Script by Eliot Stannard, directed by Edwin Greenwood
Produced by Edward Godal for British & Colonial Kinematograph Company
(No cast details)

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(Three film versions were also made of Harriett Jay’s 1907 play, When Knights Were Bold. Click below for further details.)

When Knights Were Bold

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