Splinters

On Monday 15 September 1930, the wartime comedy Splinters was the first film to be screened at the historic Granada Walthamstow. 

The film was the centrepiece of the venue’s opening night alongside live music from a 20-piece orchestra and a recital on the newly-built Christie theatre organ. 

Over the years, the McGuffin Film Society made numerous attempts to locate a copy of Splinters without success. The response from UK distributors and archives appeared to be unequivocal – Splinters was a lost film. 

More recently, an incomplete print of the film was unearthed at the BFI – and in 2024 McGuffin finally acquired a full-length copy from a private archive outside the UK. 

Despite suffering from some picture and soundtrack issues (particularly in its early sequences), Splinters provides a fascinating insight into the popular film entertainment which was served up to local audiences of the day. 

The first ‘talking picture’ to be made at Elstree Studios, it is based around the antics of the real-life First World War variety troupe Splinters. Directed by Jack Raymond from a script by future Oscar winner L.P. Lipscombe, the cast is led by Nelson Keys and Sydney Howard who were then major stars of the London stage.

The film is nonetheless dominated by music hall comic Hal Jones and pioneering drag artist Reg Stone who was later hailed as “surely the best female impersonator that either stage or screen has ever known”. Indeed when Stone’s performance was described as “dangerously alluring” in the provincial press, Splinters narrowly escaped being recalled by the British Board of Film Censors! 

Ironically, the opening night of the Granada Walthamstow had been delayed due to last-minute construction issues and Splinters was a late addition to the programme (Harold Lloyd’s slapstick misfire ‘Welcome Danger’ had originally been advertised as the venue’s inaugural film). As a result, Splinters was afforded its own small but unique place in the history of London’s cinemas. 

Watch Splinters on our Film Page here.