Pioneer British film-maker whose most successful work was in the 1920s
- he discovered golden-haired Betty Balfour when she was 17 and took
her to the top of all popularity polls in British stars. From 1920 to
1926, they made 11 films together. What these pictures lacked in sophistication
- Pearson was a forward looking director but somewhat deficient in finesse
- they made up for in their working-class appeal. Pearson's decline
began ironically with possibly his best film - The Little People (1926).
Too innovatory for British audiences, it was a big flop, and with the
1930s, after some work in production for Michael
Balcon, Pearson found himself directing 'quota quickies' for which
he had little flair.
A former teacher and headmaster, Pearson had been with the British
film industry almost from its beginnings. Claiming that he saw the cinema
as 'the teacher's true medium', he joined Pathe as a scriptwriter in
1912. Despite his late start, it was a medium in which he would lead
a full life. He was instrumental in improving the primitive shooting
conditions of films in Britain, freeing the camera from its initial
rigid position (set on a capstan head bolted to the floor) and, by 1915,
after his appointment as head of Gaumont, getting £130,000 spent on
new studio premises at Shepherd's Bush. Most of his early films are
documentaries, but he soon began to make important features, among them
A Study in Scarlet (1914), John Halifax Gentleman (1915), Sally Bishop
(1916), The Better 'Ole (1919) and Garryowen (1920). His series of 'Ultus'
thrillers, modelled after the serials of Louis Feuillade, were also
popular.
He first directed Betty Balfour
on Nothing Else Matters (1920), but his most successful films with her
were the 'Squibs' series, casting her as a cockney flower-girl of spirit,
involved in a series of low-life intrigues, romances and adventures.
Pearson's eye for interior detail added authenticity to these rather
melodramatic proceedings, although he could also make good use of location
work, notably in Squibs Wins the Calcutta Sweep (1922), and his use
of cross-cutting gives his films easy rhythm. Although his camerawork
was never flashy, it seldom fails to show the little 'Pearson' touches
which give his silent films such character, albeit perhaps the character
of an Edwardian novelette.
With sound, Pearson found his assignments drastically diminished in
importance, although one, The River Wolves (1934) was praised for its
realistic waterfront atmosphere and settings. Like most of his films
in the 1930s, it was a short-length thriller designed as a second-feature.
Despite such a come-down, and advancing years, Pearson continued to
direct. In 1939 he joined the G.P.O. Film Unit, and devoted himself
for a short while to his old love - the documentary. In 1942, Pearson,
a man of tremendous vigour, moved on to the Colonial Film Unit as Head
of Production, remaining there until his retirement at 81. Two years
later he published his autobiography, Flashback.
