The wild and wonderful scenery of England's Pennine Moors is a gorgeous backdrop to Cecil Hepworth's excellent melodrama HELEN OF FOUR GATES, based on the 1917 novel by Ethel Carnie Holdsworth.Alma Taylor stars as Helen, raised by a brutal father (James Carew) with a secret.
When comparing some of the early work of British film pioneer Cecil Hepworth with that of some of his European and American peers, it is easy to dismiss them as inferior. Georges Melies' 'La Voyage De la Lune' was an extraordinary piece of work.
