Derwent Hall Caine
Sir Derwent Hall Caine 1st Baronet Caine of Greeba Castle | |
|---|---|
 Sir Derwent Hall Caine, 1st Baronet in 1915 | |
| Member of Parliament for Liverpool, Everton | |
| In office 1929–1931 | |
| Preceded by | Herbert Charles Woodcock |
| Succeeded by | Frank Hornby |
| Majority | 1567 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | thumb 12 August 1891 Keswick, Cumberland |
| Died | 2 December 1971 (aged 80) Miami |
| Resting place | thumb Sir Derwent Hall Caine, 1st Baronet in 1915 |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Relations | Hall Caine(father) Mary Chandler (mother)Gordon Hall Caine (brother) |
| Children | Three |
| Parent |
|
| Profession | Actor, film-maker, publisher,businessperson |
Sir Derwent Hall Caine, 1st Baronet (12 September 1891 – 2 December 1971) was a British actor, publisher and Labour politician.
Biography
Caine was born into an Isle of Man family, the son of novelist Hall Caine and his wife Mary Chandler. He was born at Keswick in Cumberland, and so derived his name from the nearby lake of Derwent Water.[1] He was a sensitive child with asthma,and attended St Cyprian's School in Eastbourne for his health.[2] He became an actor, making his stage debut in 1906 in his father's adaptation of his novel, The Bondman. In 1915 he took one of the parts in his father's first authorised film – a version of The Christian, made by the London Film Company.
His father went to America to encourage American involvement in World War I and had dramatic interests there. In 1915 Derwent Caine sailed to America to look after those interests. Although he was declared unfit for active service, he was nearly prevented from travelling because of a change of rules.[3]
In America he starred in three films made by the Arrow Film Corporation. These were The Deemster (which had been written by his father), a version of Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky, and the propaganda film Huns at our gate.[4]
Back in England, with his brother Gordon Ralph Hall Caine, he founded the publishing house The Reader's Library.[5]
In 1929 he stood for parliament as Labour candidate for Liverpool, Everton and was returned as Member of Parliament. In January 1931, he was charged with dangerous driving after colliding with a taxi in the early hours of the morning in Trafalgar Square, injuring the four taxi passengers (an army Major in the Scots Guards, his wife and two friends).[6] Caine was subsequently acquitted.[7]
When the Labour government collapsed in 1931 he carried on supporting Ramsay MacDonald as a National Labour MP. Hall Caine was the only sitting National Labour MP to be opposed by the Conservatives in the 1931 General Election. He lost his seat, to Frank Hornby, and finished bottom of the poll. At the same election, his elder brother Gordon Hall Caine was elected Conservative member for East Dorset. In 1935 the two brothers established the Hall Caine Airport on the Isle of Man.[8]
He was given a knighthood in 1935 and a baronetcy in 1937.[9][10]
Caine had at least three children out of wedlock,[11] and one of them, Elin, was adopted by Caine's parents as their own daughter in 1912.[2] He died in Miami.
Filmography
- The Deemster (1917) as Daniel Mylrea
- Crime and Punishment (1917) as Rodion Raskolnikoff
- Huns Within Our Gates (1918) as Arthur Morgan
References
- ^ Isle of Man Community – Derwent Hall Caine biography
- ^ a b Vivien Allen Hall Caine: Portrait of a Victorian Romancer Continuum International Publishing Group 1997 ISBN 1-85075-809-3
- ^ New York Times Took Caine Off Ship Then Let Him Sail; Son of English Novelist Detained Because the Army Needed Him Monday 29 November, 1915
- ^ IMDB entry
- ^ Mary Hammond Hall Caine and the Melodrama on Page, Stage and Screen Journal: Nineteenth Century Theatre & Film ISSN 1748-3727 Volume 31 Issue 1, June 2004
- ^ "Charge of Dangerous Driving Summons Against M.P". The Times. No. 45714. London. 7 January 1931. p. 9.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ "M.P Exonerated". The Times. No. 45727. London. 22 January 1931. p. 11.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^
A. M. Goodwyn (SPRING-SUMMER 1984). "Manx Electric Railway Society – History of Hall Caine Airport". Manx Transport Review No.42. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|month=(help) - ^ Philip J. Waller Writers, Readers, and Reputations: Literary Life in Britain 1870–1918 2006
- ^ "No. 34409". The London Gazette. 18 June 1937.
- ^ Hall Caine family history
External links
- 1891 births
- 1971 deaths
- Actors awarded British knighthoods
- Knights Bachelor
- Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
- English male film actors
- English male silent film actors
- 20th-century English male actors
- UK MPs 1929–31
- Labour Party (UK) MPs
- National Labour (UK) politicians
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- People educated at St Cyprian's School
- British actor-politicians
- 20th-century British male actors