2

Les origines (1866-1900)

Alfred Collins est recensé à Londres, en 1871, avec sa famille, ainsi qu'en 1881 (recensement) où son père figure comme colpoteur (Howker) et sa mère comme femme de ménage (Charwoman). Quant à Alfred, il a alors 14 ans et poursuit ses études (scholar). Un an après, son père décède. Cette nouvelle situation le conduit à entamer une carrière théâtrale dans des "Conquests drama" avant de se faire remarquer dans des pantomimes aux côtés de Johnny Danvers et de Tom Costello.

Johnny Danvers Sheffield, 12/1860-Londres, 01/04/1939	Tom Costello

En 1885, Alfred Collins sert dans l'armée britannique à Aldershot (Hamphire). Alfred, William, Percy Collins, fils d'Alfred, donne en outre de nouvelles informations sur le début de la carrière théâtrale de son père :

"My father started at the Surrey Theatre," said Mr. Collins. "He played in some of Conquest's 'dramas' and later in pantomime with Johnny Danvers and Tom Costello. From there he went to the Lyceum Theatre and played in Romeo and Juliet with William Terris and Mary Anderson. He stayed with Terris for nine years.
"He then played parts with Abingdon. Charles Cartwright, Fred Terry, Julia Neilson, Sir George Alexander, and J. L. Shine. At Drury Lane Theatre my father acted in Arthur Collins' productions, also in pantomime with Dan Leno and Herbert Campbell.
'He was about to go away with Sir Henry Irving to America when he got a wire to join Kate Carney. He went to her and stayed 30 years.

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"Played truant to be in movies", Westminster & Pimlico News and West London Press, Londres, vendredi 22 février 1952, p. 5.

Au recensement de 1891, Alfred Collins, qui figure comme acteur, vit toujours avec sa mère et ses frères et soeurs. L'année suivante, il épouse Maude, Lucy Hindes avec laquelle il a trois enfants. Comme le raconte son fils, Alfred Colllins va donc rejoindre la compagnie de la célèbre actrice Kate Carney.

Kate Carney (1869-1950)

Lors du recensement de 1901, il réside toujours à Londres avec son épouse et leur fils Percy.

Les images animées (1901-1910)

La collaboration avec Robert W. Paul (1901)

Dans ses souvenirs, Percy (ou A.W.P.) Collins évoque la collaboration de son père avec le pionnier Robert W. Paul :

Before my father worked for the Gaumont Company he was producing silent films for a company called Pauls' which later became the American Biograph Company.

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"Played truant to be in movies", Westminster & Pimlico News and West London Press, Londres, vendredi 22 février 1952, p. 5.

Les films de cette collaboration restent à identifier.

La collaboration avec la société Gaumont (1902-1910)

La filiale de la société Gaumont en Grande-Bretagne, qui est dirigée dès 1898 par Alfred, Claude Bromhead, va faire appel à Alfred "Alf" Colllins comme acteur mais également comme metteur en scène. Si on lui doit probablement une partie non négligeable de la production à partir de 1902, la prudence est toutefois de mise. Sous l'impulsion d'Alfred, Claude Bromhead, la filiale de la maison Gaumont va installer un studio primitif à Loughborough Junction. Il l'évoque ainsi dans la revue Kinematograph Weekly :

The First Studio.
Another considerable clientèle was developing in the establishment of a fairground showman, who had to be catered for not only with topical, but with comedy and dramatic subjects. It was, I think, in 1899, that we had rented a piece of land at Loughborough Junction to build an open-air platform where, in the succeeding few years, we turned out quite a number of short subjects, mostly under the direction of Alfred Collins. A good many films from one source or another came on the market. Mr. Haggar, the well-known showman of Aberdare, supplied us with a series which he took in the intervals of travelling from one faire gorund to another in Wales, of which films several were classics or supers of their day; particularly I remember 'The Poachers.'

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Kinematograph Weekly, jeudi 6 septembre 1923, p. 83.

Percy Collins, lui aussi, évoque le studio où son père va tourner de nombreux films :

"My father had an open-air stage erected in some fields at Champion Hill near Denmark Hill and Camberwell Green." said Mr. Collins. "Most of his films were shot either on this little stage or in the streets of Denmark Hill and around Camberwell Green."
"I usually played the mischievous boy parts in the comedies and to do that stayed away from school.
"In those days they were not referred to as masterpieces or in superlative terms. They were just 'moving or animated pictures." I acted in about a hundred of these little films.
My father was working with Kate Carney's company at the same time and many old-time proefessionals may recall how he used to put many an unemployed actor on a few days' work in these silent moving pictures.

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"Played truant to be in movies", Westminster & Pimlico News and West London Press, Londres, vendredi 22 février 1952, p. 5.

C'est ainsi une petite équipe qui va tourner toute une série de vues animées. Outre Alfred Collins, l'homme à tout faire, on trouve sa propre épouse, Maude, Lucy Hindes, qui le seconde, et son fils Percy Collins qui évoque son rôle et celui de sa mère Maude :

"My father used his own scripts and my mother wrote them at his dictation. Often he would get an idea in the middle of the night and off they would go dictating and writing. Muy mother played leading parts with him and I usually took the child parts in prractically all his short films."
Mr. Collins then produced books containing the scripts of these films which gave the length of the film and the time of running. He also brought out from suitcases and boxes photographs which were taken of his father in many of the plays in which he acted. One was of a duel with the heroine looking on. Another was a domestic drama."

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Played truant to be in movies", Westminster & Pimlico News and West London Press, Londres, vendredi 22 février 1952, p. 5.

Il faut probablement y ajouter l'actrice Louisa "Dolly" Cockman, sa partenaire de longue date, qui deviendra sa compagne après le décès (1911) de Maude, outre les nombreux acteurs provenant du monde du music-hall.

Alfred Collins	Maude Hindes	Percy Collins	Louisa "Dolly" Cockman

Les Collins sont une famille d'acteurs, mais l'on ignore si certains des frères d'Alfred Collins ont collaboré occasionnellement à cette production de films. Percy Collins ne le précise pas dans ses souvenirs :

It was during this time that my father began to produce his silent films. To see these films the public was charged 2d. and 4d."
The family of Collins was even wider known in those days because two of the late Mr. Alfred Collins' brothers, Mr. George Collins and Mr. Charles Collins together brought some of the old-time songs to the height of fame.
Mr. Charles Collins was the comic song writer of the "Naughty Nineties" while his brother George was a dame comedian. Much of the music written by Mr. Charles Collins is still possessed by his nephew in the fiat at Page Street.

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"Played truant to be in movies", Westminster & Pimlico News and West London Press, Londres, vendredi 22 février 1952, p. 5.

Dans un document personnel, trois membres de la famille ont été identifiés sur une photographie de Rip Van Winkle (1903) : Alfred Collins, Maud Hindes et Percy Collins.

Rip Van Winkle (1903)
source: ancestry.com 

La presse permet de connaître parfois les activités de cinématographiste d'Alfred Collins. C'est ainsi le cas, en avril 1904, à l'occasion d'un tournage qui va créer un petit scandale :

TAKING LIVING PICTURES.
At Lambeth Police-court, on Tuesday, Frank Lloyd, thirty-two, described as a steward, and Arthur James Porter, twenty-four, a photographer, surrendered to their bail, and were charged, on remand, before Mr Hopkins, with causing an obstruction by causing a crowd to assemble.
Arising out of the case there were summonses against Mr Alfred C. Bromhead, of Cecil-court. Charing-cross-road, and Mr Alfred Collins, of Walworth-road, for aiding and abetting Lloyd and Porter in the commission of the offence.
On the afternoon of the 12th inst. Police-Inspector M‘Carthy found a large crowd assembled in Crampton-street, Newington, and upon investigating the cause found Porter standing in the centre of the roadway with a cinématograph machine. A tableau had been arranged on the pavement in which Lloyd, attired as a police-sergeant, appeared to be a leading character.
In view of the obstruction which was caused, Inspector M'Carthy arrested Lloyd and Porter, who where brought before the magistrate and remanded on bail in order that summonses might be issued against the other defendants.
Inspector M'Carty now informed his worship that Mr Collins was present at the time the picture was being taken, and was stage-managing the affair. Mr. Bromhead was the manager of a cinématograph company, and was responsible for sending the other men out to take pictures in the streets.
Mr. Collins pointed out to the magistrate that the taking of the picture only occupied a few seconds.
Mr. Hopkins said he did not see how this sort of thing could be done in the London streets.
Mr Bromhead—We have done it often, with the co-operation of the magistrates in many cases, At Worthing and other places the J.P.s have assisted us.
Mr Hopkins—I am afraid you will find London too big.
Mr Bromhead—We are far from wishing to cause an obstruction. If the inspector had cautioned the men they would have gone away. I admit that it was a great mistake to take the picture at that time of the day. I have taken pictures myself in the neighbourhood with an inspector present.
Mr Hopkins—Here you see you have got a sort of play going on, with a sham sergeant of your own. I don't see how it can possibly be done in the London streets.
Mr Bromhead—We are only too anxious not to cause any obstruction. We certainly do not cause such a large crowd as the Salvation Army, and we never occupy the street more than a few minutes.
Mr Hopkins—You see what is coming to. The next thing we shall have will be a motor accident in Piccadilly for the purpose of being taken on the Empire the same evening. Plainly, it can’t be done in London.
Mr Bromhead and Mr Collins were each ordered to pay a nominal penalty of 10s. and 2s. costs. Lloyd and Porter were discharged.

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The Era, Londres, samedi 23 avril 1904, p. 22.

Ce petit incident permet de connaître le nom de deux autres collaborateurs: Frank Lloyd (32 ans) et Arthur James Porter (24 ans). Ce dernier a poursuivi une carrière de cinématographiste et son rôle dans la filiale reste à préciser, mais il semble avoir été au moins opérateur de prise de vues.

À l'occasion du tournage de Jiu Jitsu, en 1907, Alf Collins donne quelques explications au journaliste de Kinematograph Weekly sur son travail de cinéaste :

Also seated in the show room were a lady and a little girl, Mr. Alfred Collins, who stage manages the Elgé films, explained to our representative that the story was to show the lady and the little girl dogged by the youths from the Dials after making a purchase, a pursuit was to follow, and finally the tables turned in a sensational manner which Mr. Collins thought would make the film one of the most successful of the year. An idea of his meaning came to our representative when he learned that the lady was Madame Garrud, of the School of Japanese Self Defense.
[...]
The camera having been set up commanding the window and door of the shop, it was discovered that several gentlemen, from their appearance a detachment of the "oldest inhabitants" of the district, had taken up well selected positions in the direct line of the lens. Persuasive words on Mr. Collins part induces all but one to remove to the opposite pavement, but the exception was adamant.
"No," he said, with a magnanimous wave of the hand, "Whaffor ? (hic !) youcannave my picture's well!"
He went sorrowfully across the road to a shop of another kind after a little while, with threepence belonging to the Gaumont Co. in his hand, and the drama proceeded, Innocence finding something attractive in the shop window and entering to purchase, Villainy skulking in the rear, as before.
[...]
The WEELKY representative retired behind a bush, with the gentleman with the parcel, and helped to transform him into a policeman, and in that simple dressing room listened to the sounds of a rehearsal, which, with the full voiced instructions of Mr. Collins were bringing together a crowd of some two hundred persons.

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"Living Pictures in the Making. Behind the Scenes", Kinematograph Weekly, jeudi 29 août 1907, p. 10.

Au cours des premières années du XX^e siècle, Alfred Collins est une pièce maîtresse dans la production de films chez la filiale britannique de la société Gaumont et il se fait remarquer, en particulier, grâce à ses films de "poursuite" ("chase" films). Une anecdote, rapportée par la revue Kinematograph Weekly, jeudi 17 décembre 1908, montre les activités déployées par celui qui non seulement tourne des films, mais se produit aussi sur les scènes londoniennes :

IN the course of their duties, the stage managers and actors of living picture stories meet with some strange experiences. Mr. Collins, who produces many of the English Gaumont subjects, gave me an instance of this this week which, amusing in the retrospect, was decidedly unpleasant at the moment. He was acting the part of a criminal in a thrilling drama which was being photographed some distance out of London. The film was not finished until a late hour and Mr. Collins was due to make an appearance at a London place of entertainment the same evening. Imagine, then, the dismay with which he found that the handcuffs which had been placed upon his wrists in his character as villain could not be removed !

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Kinematograph Weekly, jeudi 17 décembre 1908, p. 809.

Alfred Collins. Stage Manager & Author for Cinematograph
Teh Gaumont Co.
5 and 6, Sherwood St. Piccadilly, W. [D.R.]

Lorsque la société Gaumont va réorienter la politique de sa filiale britannique, en produisant des films semblables à ceux du Film d'Art comme Romeo et Juliette ou Lady Lermere's Jewellery, Alfred Collins, qui tourne encore en 1910, The Coster's Phantom Fortune, va reprendre peu à peu sa liberté.

Alfred Collins (documents divers) [D.R.] Source: ancestry.com	Alf Collins Source: ancestry.com

Alf Collins a été une figure essentielle de la filiale britannique de la maison Gaumont et à ce titre il a été à l'origine de l'essentiel de la production entre 1902 et 1910. Toutefois, il n'existe que peu de traces permettant d'authentifier l'auteur ou le cinématographiste des films tournés au cours de cette période. Il faudrait connaître ainsi le rôle précis de plusieurs de ses collaborateurs dont Arthur James Porter.

Et après... (1911-1951)

Au cours des années passés chez Gaumont, Alf Collins n'a cessé de se produire sur les scènes londoniennes et c'est là qu'il continue après son départ. Il va reprendre sa vie d'acteur de music-hall. En juillet 1911, Alfred Collins perd son épouse et, lors du recensement de cette même année, il réside avec ses deux fils et figure comme "Music Hall Professor".  Au sein de la société Terrier Films, il va produire avec Geo Marriott le film The Maid of the Alps :

TERRIER FILMS.
In connection with the Terrier Film Company, it is interesting to note that Mr. Alfred Collins, who, in conjunction with Mr. George Marriott, is responsible for the production of the company's first release, "The Maid of the Alps," was for twelve years producer with the Gaumont Company, Limited.

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The Bioscope, 15 août 1912, p. 463.

Carte de visite d'Alf Collins après son départ de la société Gaumont
Source : ancestry.com

Après le décès de Maude, Alfred Collins va partager la vie de "Dolly" Cockman, sa partenaire de longue date, avec laquelle il va vivre jusqu'à la fin de ses jours.

"Dolly" Cockman et Alfred Collins.

Il poursuit ses activités au music-hall et au théâtre et, occasionnellement, au cinéma (recensement 1921) et il figure encore, au recensement de 1939 comme "Music-hall professor".

Alf Collins chez lui (s.d.). Source: ancestry.com

 Alfred Collinls décède en 1951.

Alfred Collins. Sépulture. Shooters Hill Cemetery. Londres.

Sources

"Living Pictures in the Making. Behind the Scenes", Kinematograph Weekly, jeudi 29 août 1907, p. 249.

"Gaumont Company's Silver Jubilee", The Bioscope, 6 septembre 1923, p. 42-43.

"Played truant to be in movies", Westminster & Pimlico News and West London Press, Londres, vendredi 22 février 1952, p. 5.

BARRY Anthony, "Alfred Collins: Britain's Forgotten Filmmakeer" dans Alan Burton etd Laraine Porter (Eds.), Pimple, Pranks and Pratfalls: British Film Comedy before 1930, 2000.

BURROWS Jon, "Des films d'art britanniques, 1908-1911", 1895, nº 56, 2008, p. 224-250.

SADOUL, Georges “Historia del Cine Mundial desde sus Orígenes”. Siglo XXI Editores, Decimonovena edición, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2004.

3

1903

Rip Van Winkle

1904

The Busy Bee (acteur)

The Child Stealers [Rapt d'enfants]

The Electric Shock

The Apple Woman

1905

When Extremes Meet

The Blacksmith’s Daughter

The Tale of a Coat

Railway Tragedy

Fixing the Swing

1906

It’s not my Parcel

Curfew Shall not Ring To-night

Missing Legacy

1907
Jui Jitsu (Gaumont)
It Was a Nice Quiet Morning
Tommy the Tin Pot Hero [octobre]
The Adventures of a Roll of Lino
1909
How Percy Won the Beauty Competition (Gaumont)
1910
The Coster's Phantom Fortune. Alf Collins, a costermonger, makes a hard living by selling vegetables from door to door. Seeing an adverstisement in a newspaper, he visits the lawyers in question, and they, thinking he is the man they are seeking, advance him a sum of money. We then see friend Collins giving his friends a good time, including his marriage and wedding breakfast. Unfortunately, the lawyers find they have made a mistake; his friends depart, but his wife remains true, and together they begin the old life again. (Code "Costune". Approx. Length 645 feet.)Kenamtograph Weekly, jeudi 21 avril 1910, p.
1912
The Maid of the Alps (Terrier Films)