Biography

Early years

George Albert Smith was born in London on the 4 January 1864. He moved to Brighton after his father died. After leaving school, Smith began performing as a stage hypnotist at a variety of venues around Brighton. A favourite haunt of Smith's was the Brighton Aquarium. In 1882 he teamed up with Douglas Blackburn to form a psychic double-act. They developed a 'second sight act' whereby one performer would hide an object and the other, blindfolded, would locate it. Smith maintained that there was a genuine telepathic link between the two but Blackburn admitted that the show was a hoax.

The film making years

	In 1892, George Albert Smith acquired the lease to St Ann's Well Garden in Hove and turned it into a popular tourist attraction. Four years later, whilst in London, Smith saw a film demonstration by the Lumiere brothers. Smith was so inspired by the new technology that he bought his first camera and began making short films in and around St Ann's Well Garden.
Photograph of St Ann's Well Garden, MF000156

Smith quickly became a prolific filmmaker and in 1897 alone he made over 30 films. Many of Smith's films were screened at the Brighton Aquarium and were advertised as 'The Photographic Sensation of the Day'. Smith worked closely with the engineer Alfred Darling and local comedian Tom Green appeared in many of his films.

St Ann's Well soon became Smith's 'film factory'. The Pump House was turned into a laboratory and a special glass-sided studio was built. It was here that Smith developed experimental techniques such as cutting, close-ups and double-exposure.


Postcard of Pump House, MF000168		Postcard of the Lodge at St Ann's Well Gardens, MF000198

In the late 1890s, Smith began processing film commercially. He purchased chemicals from fellow filmmaker and chemist James Williamson and he counted John Benett-Stanford as one of his customers. Smith's biggest client, however, was the Warwick Trading Company which was then managed by Charles Urban. The Warwick Trading Company helped distribute Smith's films before the Charles Urban Trading Company took over this role in 1903. Smith's films were also met with acclaim from abroad as the Vitagraph Company of New York distributed his films throughout the United States.

Kinemacolor years

In 1903, Charles Urban bought the rights to Kinemacolor from the inventor Edward Turner and his financier F. Marshall Lee. Kinemacolor was a three colour additive process and Urban charged Smith with making it a success. Smith gave up his filmmaking career to concentrate on creating the first colour film. He sold St Ann's Well Garden in 1905 before discovering that Kinemacolor required only two colours (red and green) to make a satisfactory colour image. In May 1908, Smith and Urban unveiled the first colour film at the Urbanora House. It met with a staggered response.

		Kinemacolor was demonstrated in Paris and New York and Smith was awarded a Silver Medal by the Royal Society of Arts for his outstanding contribution to film. In 1913, however, film pioneer William Friese-Greene took Urban and Smith to court citing that their patent was 'insufficiently detailed'. Friese-Greene had developed his own additive colour technique, Biocolour, and was frustrated by Smith's strangle-hold on the technology. Although Friese-Greene's challenge was initially unsuccessful, the decision was overruled in March 1914 on a technicality. The appeal judge asserted that the patent's claim to create 'natural colour' was impossible because red and green filters could never create a 'natural' blue.
Advert for Kinemacolor demonstration MF000231

Later years

William Friese-Greene's lawsuit halted the development of Kinemacolor and brought an end to George Albert Smith's career in the film industry. In his later years Smith became a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and pursued his other interests. In the 1940s, Smith was rediscovered by the film community. He was interviewed by Ernest Lindgren, Rachael Low and Georges Sadoul whilst Michael Balcon described him as 'the father of the British film industry'. In 1955 he was made a Fellow of the British Film Academy and his position as one of the most important figures in British film history was confirmed. He died in Brighton on 17 May 1959.