William G. Barker on AllMovie

Before joining the film industry as a newsreel photographer at the turn-of-the-century, Sir William G. Barker worked as a traveling salesman. Among his better known newsreels is the historic Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee (1897). Barker founded the Autoscope Company in 1901 and three years later founded the first Ealing studio. He then began producing grand epics and was especially notable for his outrageous publicity campaigns. Such campaigns became very influential in the development of British cinema. Barker was also notable for his crime melodramas which accurately depicted the tough streets of London at that time. In 1916, he retired from films.