Early period In 1917 he joined
Cecil Hepworth’s studio, for which he directed a succession of films, notably casting himself in the title role in
The Laughing Cavalier. In 1918 his direction, for Master Films, of
Bonnie Mary attracted particular praise; filmed in the Scottish Highlands, the quality of its scenic photography was complimented as “hardly ever equalled, certainly never surpassed”. By 1919 his previous six films had been based on scenarios created by Eliot Stannard, and early that year the two men worked together on the first production for
British Lion Films, which had just obtained studios at
Borehamwood. This film, an adaptation of a novel by
Roy Horniman, was favourably reviewed by the trade press. Described in
Kinematograph Weekly as “a credit to the kinema industry of this country”, its success was declared in
The Bioscope to be “almost wholly due” to Bramble “who shows that he possesses a quality that is very near genius. So strongly does one feel the producer’s guiding and creative influence throughout the film that the acting, as such, takes rather a second place”. Originally released as
A Nonconformist Parson, the film was retitled
Heart and Soul by
Moss Empires when they acquired the distribution rights. It attracted little notice outside the trade press. At this time Bramble’s work for the production companies behind his films involved as much general project management as artistic direction, and his overall responsibility was frequently acknowledged by the formula “Production under the direction of A.V. Bramble”. Until he later worked in association with
Harry Bruce Woolfe, his films generally billed him as their producer, and he was commonly spoken of as such even though his direction was and remains his most visible legacy.
With Ideal Films British Lion was in financial difficulties by mid-1919, resulting in the Borehamwood facility and Bramble’s services as a producer being taken over by
Ideal Films. Over the course of the next three years he made eleven films for Ideal including, in 1920, the first screen version of
Emily Brontë’s
Wuthering Heights. In this endeavour, again working to a Stannard scenario, he was judged to have captured the intensity of the novel, and praise for his achievement and his “unusual perception of scenic values” was not confined to the trade press.
The Times’s critic pronounced it “one if the best pieces of work that has yet come out of a British studio”, and at least one cinema showing the film promoted it as “Produced by A.V. Bramble, England’s Greatest Producer”.. In 1922 he returned to the
Brontë Country for the making of
Shirley. This was his last film for Ideal.
War films In 1923 he joined with
Harry Bruce Woolfe to produce, for
British Instructional Films, a dramatic reconstruction of
Viscount Allenby’s campaign in
Palestine, released under the title
Armageddon. In this he directed the live action sequences, as he did in the following year when with Woolf he produced
Zeebrugge - a re-enactment of the
1918 raid on the
U-boat base in the
Bruges Canal. His younger brother, Commander Frank Bramble, DSO, had been on board the cruiser
HMS Vindictive during the raid and was among the participants able to advise on the accuracy of the reconstruction.
Mid-career In 1923 Bramble played Henry II in
Becket, a screen adaptation of
Alfred Tennyson’s play in which
Sir Frank Benson made his first appearance on film. Bramble’s performance was described as “dynamic” and “vivid” and the interaction between him and Benson was said to be “staged with a real sense of dramatic value”. The film was produced by
Stoll Pictures which Bramble joined in 1924. In 1925 he resumed stage appearances, acting in a revival of
Edward Knoblock’s
Kismet at the
New Oxford and in
Barbara Cartland’s first play
Blood Money (which had previously been banned by the
Lord Chamberlain) at the
Q Theatre. In 1926 he acted in
Graham Cutts’s film
The Rolling Road and in 1927 collaborated with
Anthony Asquith in the making of
Shooting Stars, a film essentially about the world of film. He was originally announced as the director of this drama devised and scripted by Asquith but later press coverage suggested the pair co-directed the film. In 1968
The Times’s obituary of Asquith referred to Bramble’s “supervision” of Asquith’s direction but this was subsequently corrected to state that Bramble was actually the director.
Final years as a director In 1928 he directed
Chick, the first in a series of adaptations of
Edgar Wallace mystery novels, and he followed this with
The Man Who Changed His Name, both productions for the reformed British Lion Films, now chaired by Wallace himself. These silent films enjoyed limited box-office success at a time when “talkies” were quickly taking over the cinematic world, and after directing
The Veteran of Waterloo and ''
Mrs Dane's Defence'' Bramble retired from directing in 1933. ==Later years==