By the Shortest of Heads is a 1915 British film starring the 10-year-old George Formby in his first film. He plays a stable boy who outwits a gang of villains and wins a £10,000 prize when he comes first in a horse race.[1]
The film is now considered lost, the last known copy having been destroyed in 1940.[2]
Cast
- George Formby as Tony Dawson
- Jack Tessier as Eric Dawson
- Moore Marriott as Captain Fields
- Jack Hulcup as Geoffrey Warrington
- Percy Manton as Squire Markham
The George Formby Appreciation Society
Background
George Formby’s father[a]Real name James Lawler Booth (1875–1922).[3] was concerned that his son would want to follow in his footsteps and pursue a career on stage, commenting that “one fool in the family is enough”.[4] So he decided that his son should train as a jockey, after leaving school at the age of seven.[3] Following a year spent working at a stables in Middleham, Yorkshire, the young Formby was apprenticed to Thomas Scourfield at Epsom, entering his first professional races at the age of ten, weighing in at less than four stones (25 kg).[5] In 1915 his father allowed him to appear on screen as the lead in By the Shortest of Heads,[1] but after filming was complete sent him to Ireland to continue his jockey training, along with the five horses he had purchased that year.[2][6]
