This amateur romance was a 1930 Newcastle & District Amateur Cinematographers Association (ACA) production. The scoundrel, Max Wade, threatens the Irwin family with foreclosure on their home, Kenwood House, due to the father’s debt. The father convinces Jean to marry Wade in lieu of the debt to save the family home, despite Jean Irwin’s hatred of the man. Jean avoids Wade by taking long walks on the moors and meets the dashing but shy, nature-loving tenant, Donald McLean, who rents a...

This amateur romance was a 1930 Newcastle & District Amateur Cinematographers Association (ACA) production. The scoundrel, Max Wade, threatens the Irwin family with foreclosure on their home, Kenwood House, due to the father’s debt. The father convinces Jean to marry Wade in lieu of the debt to save the family home, despite Jean Irwin’s hatred of the man. Jean avoids Wade by taking long walks on the moors and meets the dashing but shy, nature-loving tenant, Donald McLean, who rents a cottage in the grounds of Kenwood House. Soon, they fall in love.  [Reel 1] Credit: ACA N/sle Credits: Directed by James Cameron Jnr Photographed by Janet M. Cameron Titles by Doris M. Graham Theme Song by Janet Cameron Credits: The Players Jean Irwin – Gladys Greener Donald McLean – Harry Byers Max Wade – T. Brooke Davison Robert Irwin – Geo. W. Weir Mrs Irwin – Florence S. Taylor Nurse – Victoria Wilkinson Valet – Fred K. Dodds Glen – Tailwagger 107759 Title: Kenwood – one of Scotland’s peaceful Moorland homes – not so peaceful as it looks. The film opens with an exterior of a grand house with turrets. The date on a calendar is changed to Friday 13th August. Title: The Master of Kenwood is threatened by the loss of his home Max Wade is speaking to Robert Irwin in the garden of Irwin’s home. Title: “You understand I foreclose within one month unless your daughter promises to marry me.” The conversation continues and Wade gives Irwin an ultimatum. Robert Irwin is stunned and walks to a bench, sitting down heavily, deep in thought. His daughter appears from out in the fields with her pet dog. She sees her troubled father and rushes over to him. Title: “What’s the matter Father? Are you not feeling well?” The father shows her the ultimatum for repaying his debt on the house. Title: “But there is a way out – If you marry Wade, Kenwood will still be ours and your Mother need never know.” His daughter is angry and protests, declaring her hatred for the man. Her father gestures over to another part of the garden where Mrs Irwin is seated in a bed jacket, attended by a nurse who fusses over her patient. Title: “Very well Father. For Mother’s sake.” Reluctantly, Jean Irwin gives in to her father’s emotional blackmail. She hugs her father, sadly. Title: That afternoon Jean is walking her loyal dog in nearby woods. Young, solitary Donald McLean is seated beside a pond, smoking a pipe and contemplating nature. Jean walks through the bracken and playfully throws a stone into the pond for her dog to chase, startling McLean from his reverie. He jumps up. She apologises for disturbing him. He is quite shy and wanders off into the woods, Jean’s friendly dog trailing after him, wagging its tail. She is curious about him. Title: The cottage on the Kenwood estate rented by Donald McLean, a lover of the Moors and a Misogynist Donald McLean wanders back to his stone cottage in the grounds of Kenwood House. Title: Three days later Jean is once more walking her dog over the moors. She spots Max Wade striding through the bracken. Turning to get away, she trips and falls, injuring her ankle. She tries to walk but falls over, in pain. Donald Mclean suddenly appears on his solitary walk and comes to her aid. The affectionate dog plays up to him, rolling onto its back. She rubs her ankle. He offers her a hand to help her up, but she falls over again. He carries her back over the moors. Title: The fall of the Misogynist Donald McLean is fishing when Jean arrives for a visit with her dog. The two are now friends. He sits with her on the bank of the river and chats happily. Nearby, horses and hounds are gathered at the start of a hunt. Donald McLean is sitting on a wall waiting for her to arrive. She rides up on her horse. They chat. The hunt begins. Jean rides away to join the other riders, her horse silhouetted against the sky at the edge of the field. Donald McLean sits by a post with a rifle. Jean arrives to see him again. They walk together hand-in-hand.  Donald McLean shows her how to shoot a gun. The two friends are growing closer. After their time together, they sit on his wall chatting. They kiss and he asks her to marry him. Title: “I can’t explain, but I cannot marry you.” He is sad, but does not push her to explain. Title: “If ever you change your mind, you will find me at the cottage and the door will never be locked.” She leaves him alone, sadly contemplating her answer to his marriage proposal. [Reel 2] Mr Irwin and his daughter are strolling in the garden at Kenwood House in the early evening. She is wrapped in a white fur cape. Max wade heads into the garden. Title: “I cannot understand you Jean, you are marrying Max tomorrow and yet you have been deliberately avoiding him.” She’s annoyed at her father’s lack of understanding. Title: “Don’t remind me Father.” Wade bows slightly as he joins them. Title: “May I salute my future wife?” Wade pulls Jean towards him roughly. She struggles to get away and her cape falls off. Her father does nothing. Title: “You beast!” She runs off across the lawn in her long evening dress. The date on a calendar is changed to Monday 13th September. On the morning of the wedding, Wade is being dressed for the wedding by his valet. Jean sneaks away from Kenwood House. Wade and his valet get in a car to drive to the church. But Jean is running towards the moors on her way to Donald McLean’s cottage. Wade spots her through the window and orders the car to stop. He heads off down the path to McLean’s home, following Jean. Jean opens the door to the cottage, but no-one is there. Donald arrives back. Title: “I can’t go through with it, Donald.” They hold hands. Suddenly Wade appears, running towards them from the woods. Title: “Sir Donald Stuart!” Wade confronts the couple, recognising Donald’s real identity. Jean’s loyal dog also arrives. Title: “This lady is my promised wife.” Outraged, Wade declares Jean his bride-to-be. Donald asks her if this is true. She explains about her father’s debt and that she is the ransom. Title: “You blackguard! How much?” Title: “£10,000” McLean looks disgusted. He goes inside the cottage. He writes out a cheque. Outside, Wade is trying to grab Jean and drag her to the wedding, but she resists. She points to her watch, saying there is still time till the wedding. They struggle again. McLean comes back out with a cheque and pushes Wade away, protecting Jean. Title: “Now – get off!” Close-up of the cheque for £10,000. Paid off, Wade smirks, folds the cheque and pockets it, walking away quite happily. Title: “But I don’t understand.” Jean is confused, unsure of who Donald really is and why he so generously paid off Wade. Title: “The explanation is simple. I prefer the Moors to Society but I prefer you above all.” They kiss passionately. The couple walk off into the woods, Jean’s loyal dog following, happily wagging its tail. Note: Preference was first screened at a Newcastle & District ACA meeting, Bolbec Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne, on 13th November 1930. The film was available for loan to other cine clubs, billed as “A Romance of the Moors”.