A FASCINATING silent movie, made in Dorset and with locally composed music played live, is being screened next week.

Dope Under Thorncombe, which includes a wide range of archive films compiled by Trilith, was made at West Bay and along the Dorset coast.

A wild melodrama filmed and acted in 1938 by local people and shot around West Bay, it portrays a gallant mission to defeat drug smugglers on the Dorset coast.

Made as a silent film, it has now been given its own music, especially composed by Rachel Leach, which will be played live at this performance. The 1930s filmmaker’s daughter will be present to give a short talk about how the film came to be made and the memories that her family and other local people have of their roles.

Frank Trevett was the Bridport man who, in 1938, brought Dope Under Thorncombe into being with the help of friends and members of his family.

The story was written by local author Andrew Spiller with titles by art teacher Francis Tighe.

Trevor Bailey of Trilith, the rural media charity behind the project to revive the film, said: “It is a kind of folk film-making, made to echo the style of cinema features of the time but with everybody having fun.

“For more than 70 years this had existed as a purely silent film. Silent films always combine well with music to reflect and enhance their mood, so here was a chance to show how the imaginative efforts of a group of friends all those years ago could inspire modern creativity.”

Composer Rachel Leach was commissioned to write the score and will conduct the live soundtrack when Dope is screened in Burton Bradstock later this month.

She said: “It is the first time I have done something quite like this. I have written and directed quite a number of community operas but the film gets you involved in a very different way. You get tied up in its atmosphere.

“One of the hard bits is keeping the music synchronised with the film during performance. There is no let up. You just have to keep going and get it right!”

Vivien Smith, Frank Trevett’s daughter, was instrumental in making the original 1938 film available for modern digital copying.

Vivien has had an overwhelming amount of positive feedback and will be giving a short talk at the Burton Bradstock show about how the film came to be made and the memories that her family and other local people have of their roles.

There will also be a full supporting programme of other Dorset archive films from the Trilith collection.

The show is in Burton Bradstock Village Hall on Saturday at 7.30pm. Call 01308 897214 for bookings and full details.