Thomas Bentley (director)
Thomas Bentley was a British film director. He directed 68 films between 1912 and 1941. He directed three films in the early DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process, The Man in the Street, The Antidote, and Acci-Dental Treatment.
Bentley was born in St George Hanover Square, London and originally trained as an engineer but went on to become a vaudeville performer well known for impersonating the characters from the novels of Charles Dickens on stage, touring Britain and Australia. His directing career in silent films began in 1910 after he was signed by Cecil Hepworth to write and direct five adaptations of Dickens' novels. He would go on to direct more Dickens adaptations throughout his career. After his retirement from directing in 1941 he became technical advisor to the British Film Council.
In her typescript-cum-memoir, Mabel Poulton named Bentley as the film director-rapist of a young British starlet who then becomes an alcoholic as a result. Poulton starred in two films directed by him: The Old Curiosity Shop and Not Quite a Lady.