The Bells is a 1931 British drama film directed by Harcourt Templeman and Oscar Werndorff and starring Donald Calthrop, Jane Welsh, and Edward Sinclair.
The film was originally released with the only film score written by Gustav Holst. It was based on the play Le Juif Polonais by Alexandre Chatrian and Emile Erckmann, and the English version, The Bells by Leopold Lewis.
Plot
Mathias, an Alsatian innkeeper, murders a rich Pole staying at his inn. His conscience will not let him rest, and the Pole's spirit drives him nearly mad.
The victim's brother calls for an inquest and brings a sideshow hypnotist, who is supposed to read minds. Mathias, as burgomaster, is called upon to conduct the inquest but, under the intuitive eye of the hypnotist, cannot endure the torment of his own conscience.
Cast
Donald Calthrop as Mathias
Jane Welsh as Annette
Edward Sinclair as Sergeant Christian Nash
O. B. Clarence as Watchman
Wilfred Shine as Philosopher
Ralph Truman as Blacksmith
Anita Sharp-Bolster
Loss
The Bells is now considered a lost film. In 1974, Imogen Holst wrote that its score is also lost.
See also
List of lost films
BFI 75 Most Wanted
The Bells (Australia 1911) The Bells (US 1918) The Bells (US 1926) The Burgomeister (Australia 1935)
References
Bibliography
Bergfelder, Tim & Cargnelli, Christian, Destination London: German-speaking Emigrés and British Cinema, 1925-1950 (Berghahn Books, 2008)