A movie made in the South West by some of the region’s top film-making talent is due to have its premiere in Plymouth.
Time-Lock Productions is responsible for the 24-minute movie Mrs Carlill v Carbolic Smokeball Co, which dramatises one of the most fundamental legal cases in English law.
The movie will be given two showings at the University of Plymouth’s Jill Craigie Cinema on Wednesday, November 3, 2021. And it will then be screened to law students the length of the country as part of a planned series of dramatisations of famous cases that established precedents in English law.
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It is hoped that what is being billed as The Justice Files Episode 1 will now be followed by two other movies, one of which could be feature length.
The film is written and directed by Plymouth writer Huge Janes, and produced by cinematographer Rob Giles and law lecturer Hugo de Rijke, both academics at the university.
Its cast is composed of professional actors from the South West, headed by Sarah McCourt, as Mrs Louise Carlill, Natalie Mae and Charlie Coldfield.
It was shot on location in Plymouth’s Royal William Yard, Prysten House and Park Pharmacy, and at the 19 th Century Historic Court in Bodmin’s Shire Hall, and used some CGI wizardry too.
Mr Janes, who has written more than 60 stage plays and screenplays, said his job was to simplify the legal and archaic language used in the 1893 court case to make it accessible to modern audiences.
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“The film will be offered to all teaching outlets,” he said. “Anywhere teaching law will have free access. And we will do more films on a commercial basis. This was a pilot to see if we could do it.
“We have already shown it to 100 law students and the response was really good. They said they enjoyed it and understood the case better after seeing it.”
Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co is one of the most famous contract law cases, establishing that an advert can form a contract, and the film is intended as a pilot for a planned series of dramatisations of cases that established precedents, have rich and remarkable background stories, and had a huge impact in the 海角视频 and around the world, as they form a vital part of the law in more than 60 countries including the US, Canada, Australia, India and much of Africa.
The Carlill case is taught and studied by hundreds of thousands of law teachers and students every year and it is intended the movie series will provide invaluable visual education resources, as well as opportunities for research.
In addition, the rich and diverse histories depicted in the movies will provide fascinating insights for historians and excellent public engagement opportunities for museums and other public forums. Mr Janes said another famous civil law case, 1932’s Donoghue v Stephenson, may be the subject of a future production.
Mr Janes has had his plays Beyond the Wall and Conversations with a Stranger produced by the BBC. His screenplays included All at Sea, which was filmed and starred Lauren Bacall and Brian Cox, and Curse of the Phoenix, winner of Best Supernatural Film at the Houston Film Festival.
His screenplay for Even Break was filmed and starred Nigel Planer and Paul Nicholas, the latter also appearing in Theatre Royal Plymouth’s staging of Mr Janes’ play The Haunting.
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“That is now lined up to be filmed in December,” said Mr Janes, who co-founded RSH Films Ltd in 2010 and is a director of Time-Lock Productions which has already begun pre-production on the second episode of The Justice Files and is seeking funding and partners for the longer-term future of the project.
Mrs Carlill v Carbolic Smokeball Co is being screened as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science, in the Jill Cragie Cinema, Roland Levinsky Building, at 3pm and 6.30pm on November 3. The film will be introduced by Mr Giles and Mr de Rijke. A Q&A session will follow the premiere.
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Mr de Rijke said: “We were amazed to discover that nobody had done anything like this before. There have been dramatisations of modern cases – and high-profile Hollywood treatments that we’re very familiar with, such as Erin Brockovich. But no one has attempted to present these rich and remarkable cases that have had such a huge impact.”
Mr Giles, senior technician in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business, and founder of Time-Lock, said: “We hope that the films will provide an invaluable visual resource for educators and researchers. In addition, their rich narratives and diverse histories will provide fascinating insights for members of the public, historians and museums.”
To register to attend one of the free premiere showings click .