| The Bells (1931 film) | |
| Director: | Harcourt Templeman Oscar Werndorff |
| Producer: | Sergei Nolbandov Isidore Schlesinger |
| Starring: | Donald Calthrop Jane Welsh Edward Sinclair |
| Music: | Gustav Holst |
| Studio: | British Sound Film Productions |
| Distributor: | Producers Distributing Corporation |
| Runtime: | 75 minutes |
| Country: | UK |
| Language: | English |
The Bells is a 1931 British drama film directed by Harcourt Templeman and Oscar Werndorff and starring Donald Calthrop, Jane Welsh, and Edward Sinclair.[1]
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.
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.
The Bells is now considered a lost film. In 1974, Imogen Holst wrote that its score is also lost.[2]