1905, 14.32 minutes
Description:
A rare gem - one of the few surviving films made by [Arthur] William Haggar (1851-1925), a travelling showman and film pioneer based in Wales from the 1880s onwards. Walter Haggar, son of William, plays the masked [?], fiddle-playing, adulterous murderer "Chas Peace" (hanged at Armley Jail, near Leeds, in 1879) who enjoys fighting, fooling and evading the police but is brought low - and executed - after a last, dramatic but pitiful escape attempt from the train he is travelling on under police guard. Shot in Pembroke, using a unique inter-titling style and being the first film made in Wales to include a close-up, it also features other members of the Haggar family: Sarah Haggar, wife of William, and several of their children - Violet, Lillian [Lily May] and Henry.
The inter-titles, as listed below, give an indication of the scenes shown:
PEACE'S FIRST BURGLARY
PEACE AT DYSON'S HOUSE
THE MURDER OF MR DYSON
CHAS PEACE AT HOME
BURGLARY AT BLACKHEATH
PEACE THE PARSON AND THE POLICE
PEACE CAPTURED BY P.C. ROBINSON
PEACE BEING TAKEN TO SHEFFIELD FOR TRIAL
STRUGGLE IN THE RAILWAY CARRIAGE
CHAS PEACE IN PRISON
THE EXECUTION.