Lilian Hall-Davis

Lilian Hall-Davis (1897-1933) was one of the brightest stars of the British silent cinema. For a while, she was Hitchcock's Favourite Actress. In Italy, she starred in the Italo-German super-production Quo vadis? (1924-1925). Failing to make the transition to the talkies, she committed suicide.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 689/3, 1927-1928. Photo: Filmhaus Bruckman. Lilian Hall-Davis as Licia/Lygia in Quo vadis? (Gabriellino D'Annunzio, Georg Jacoby, 1924).


British postcard by Rotary Postcards E.C.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 30/6. Photo: Ufa. Lilian Hall-Davis in the German comedy Blitzzug der Liebe/Love Express (Johannes Guter, 1925).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 36/3. Photo: May-Film / Ufa. Willy Fritsch and Lilian Hall-Davis in Der Farmer aus Texas/The Farmer from Texas (Joe May, 1925).


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag no. 5448. Photo: Lux Film Verleih.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1370/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.

Hitchcock favourite actress

Lilian (sometimes written as Lillian) Hall-Davis was born in London, England, in 1897. She was the daughter of an East End taxi driver. For publicity purposes, she reported her birthplace as the more fashionable Hampstead, London.

She started to work in film in 1917, first in the French film La p'tite du sixième (René Hervil, Louis Mercanton, 1917), opposite Charles Vanel whom she would meet more often on film sets. Soon films followed like the comedy The Admirable Crichton (G.B. Samuelson, 1918), based on J.M. Barrie, and the war comedy The Better 'Ole (George Pearson, 1919).

Hall-Davis became one of the leading actresses of the British silent cinema in the 1920s, playing in one film after another. She featured in Maisie's Marriage/Married Love (Alexander Butler, 1923), a controversial adaptation of Marie Stopes' sexual health manual 'Married Love'. It was a key title in the establishment of British censorship.

Lilian Hall-Davis also played in a part-colour version of I Pagliacci (G.B. Samuelson, S.W. Smith, 1923) opposite Adelqui Migliar, Blighty (Adrian Brunel 1927) about the impact of the First World War on a rich family, Roses of Picardy (Maurice Elvey, 1927) with John Stuart, and Tommy Atkins (Norman Walker, 1928) about a love triangle, partly set in Egypt.

In the late 1920s, she was Alfred Hitchcock's favourite actress for a while. In The Ring (1927) she gave a fine performance as a simple fairground girl corrupted by a taste of the high life when her boyfriend (Carl Brisson) has success in the boxing ring. In The Farmer's Wife (1928) she is convincing as the housekeeper quietly waiting for her widowed master (Jameson Thomas) whom she has set her eyes on.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 699/3. Photo: Filmhaus Bruckmann. Alphons Fryland and Lilian Hall-Davis in Quo vadis? (Gabriellino D'Annunzio, Georg Jacoby, 1924).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 699/5. Photo: Filmhaus Bruckmann. Postcard for the Italo-German epic Quo vadis? (Gabriellino D'Annunzio, Georg Jacoby, 1924). Here we see Ursus (Bruto Castellani) liberating Licia (Lilian Hall-Davis?) after he has conquered the raging bull. Castellani's face and hair are clearly drawn afterwards. In the restored version of the film, the nudity is not visible.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 651. Lilian Hall-Davis as Licia/Lygia in Quo vadis? (Gabriellino D'Annunzio, Georg Jacoby, 1924), a production of UCI (Unione Cinematografica Italiana).


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano. Photo: Cines / U.C.I. Lilian Hall-Davis as Licia/Lygia and Alphons Fryland as Vinicius in Quo vadis? (Gabriellino D'Annunzio, Georg Jacoby, 1924). Caption: Lygia and Vinicius at Nero's banquet.


Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 38. Lillian Hall-Davis as Lygia and Emil Jannings as Nero in Quo Vadis? (Gabriellino D'Annunzio, Georg Jacoby, 1924).


Italian postcard by G.B. Falci, Milano, no. 165. Photo: La Fotominio. Publicity still for Quo vadis? (Gabriellino D'Annunzio, Georg Jacoby, 1924). Caption: Acte and Licia meet again in the catacombs. Actually, this caption is wrong. Licia /Lygia (Lillian Hall-Davis) meets Domitilla (Elga Brink), her husband Plautus (name unknown) and their son again. On the right is Ursus (Bruto Castellani).

Depressions and nervous breakdowns

Lilian Hall-Davis' warmth and natural presence were also felt in her roles in foreign films. In Italy, she played in the Italo-German super-production Quo vadis? (Gabriellino D'Annunzio, Georg Jacoby, 1924) as the virtuous Lygia opposite the perverse Nero (Emil Jannings).

In Germany, she starred in the comedies Liebe macht blind/Love Makes Blind (Lothar Mendes, 1925) with Lil Dagover, Der Farmer aus Texas/The Texas Farmer (Joe May, 1925) with Mady Christians, and Blitzzug der Liebe/Love Express (Johannes Guter, 1925) with Ossi Oswalda and Willi Fritsch, but she appeared also in such dramas as Die drei Kuckucksuhren/Adventure Mad (Lothar Mendes, 1926) with Nils Asther, and Wolga Wolga/Volga Volga (Viktor Tourjansky, 1928).

In France, Hall-Davis played in Nitchevo (Jacques de Baroncelli, 1925) and La proie du vent/The Prey of the Wind (René Clair, 1925), both with Charles Vanel.

In 1927 Lilian Hall-Davis played in a sound experiment, the short comedy As We Lie, shot by Miles Mander in the DeForest Phonofilm system. Hall-Davis, however, failed to make it into the talkies. Her last role was a minor part in the sound film Her Reputation (Sidney Morgan, 1931). By 1933 her career was over. She suffered from depression and nervous breakdowns.

She killed herself in her home in Golders Green by turning on the gas and cutting her throat. Her 14-year-old son Grosvenor found her suicide note and summoned for help, but it was too late. Lilian Hall-Davis died at the age of 34. She was married to the British stage actor Walter Pemberton and according to IMDb, she played in a total of 44 films.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1056/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Schneider, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1120/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1120/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa.


British hand-coloured postcard, no. 1120/2. Photo: Ufa.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1370/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Balàsz, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1479/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa.

Sources: Simon McCallum (BFI Screen Online), The Times, Silents Fan (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 30 July 2024.