This listing was complied on the Down The Tubes Ning Group and is based on characters originating in British comics. Some are familiar but many are not and show that the earliest film-makers were willing to use create tie-ins to other media, using the popularity of characters from the static pictures of the periodicals to encourage people to visit the new silent moving pictures.
• The synopses for the Sexton Blake films below are derived from the staggering research featured on the Blakiana web site.

Weary Willie (1898)
Also known as "An Overfull Seat"
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• Internet Movie DataBase Entry

Weary Willie, the tramp, contrives to obtain sole use of a park bench by driving its occupants away with his objectionable behaviour.

The tramp Weary Willie was originally created by the cartoonist Tom Browne, and first appeared in the magazine Illustrated Chips in 1896. The strip had a phenomenal run of over 57 years before Weary Willie and companion Tired Tim finally struck it lucky as they succeeded in making the mouse trap millionaire, Murgatroyd Mump, laugh for the first time in 50 years, in Chips #2997 (dated 12th September 1953).

In the 1920s, Willie also became a popular American cartoon character drawn by Emmett Kelly, who later adopted him as his stage persona when he became a circus clown. He can be seen as Willie in The Greatest Show on Earth (US, d. Cecil B DeMille, 1952).

Ally Sloper (1898)
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• Ally Sloper Wikiopedia Entry

Although the Sloper movies have not survived, comics.co.uk indicates there are records of two being released in 1898 called Ally Sloper and Sloper's Visit To Brighton. There were also two in 1900 and another two from 1921 called Ally Sloper Goes Yachting and Ally Sloper Runs A Revue.

Created by "Penny Dreadful" writer Charles Henry Ross in 1867 for Judy, and published by Gilbert Dalziel (who also drew the character at first. Sloper is regarded as the most famous and most popular of all Victorian comics and was published in his own title, Ally Sloper's Half Holiday, from 1884 until 1916.
In Victorian slang, an "alley sloper" was someone who snuck out the back door and went "sloping" down the alley when the landlord came for the rent. And that was just the beginning of Sloper's disreputable qualities. He was also drunken, lecherous, inattentive to his family, scheming, and not very bright, reveals a feature on the character on Don Markstein's Toonpedia.
Enormously popular as a comic strip, Sloper could possibly be regarded as one of the first "licensed" characters (although that term was not used at the time). In a paper for published in 2003, Roger Sabin argues that by developing a life outside the comics, in music hall theatre and via merchandising, Sloper revolutionised the rapport between consumer and product and set a template for capitalistic enterprise in the entertainment industry for the 20th and 21st centuries. Whether this made him the 'first' comics superstar per se is a subsidiary theme of Sabin's paper.
• For more on Ally Sloper and other early comics visit the Early Comics Archive on Bugpowder

Weary Willie and Tired Tim: The Gunpowder Plot (1903)
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One of William Haggar's early films, which does not survive. More information on Haggar at: www.williamhaggar.co.uk. A book, William Haggar, Fairground Film-Maker by Haggar's great-grandson, Peter Yorke, was published in 2007 by Accent Press.
One of Haggar's Extant Films (Haggar, who lived in Aberdare, South Wales, made bewteen 40 to 60 films during his career, which lasted until 1909) was The Life of Charles Peace (1905) which focuses on the story of Victorian England's most infamous burglars, who also featured in Penny Dreadfuls. The Astounding Adventures of Charlie Peace was serialised in Buster in the 1960s. Initially set in the Victorian era, in one episode Charlie was sent through time to modern day London by an inventor who had disguised his time machine as a safe.

Weary Willie and Tired Tim Turned Barbers (1903)
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Weary Willie in Search Of Hidden Treasure (1904)
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Sexton Blake (1909)
Sexton Blake poses as a cleric to save a Squire's daughter from marrying a murderer.

In an article on Blakiana, based on an episode of a BBC radio show, The Radio Detectives, Professor Jeffrey Richards writes that "The history of crime detection has produced no more famous name than that of Sexton Blake. In the December 1893 issue of The Strand magazine, Arthur Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls. That very same month the Halfpenny Marvel published a story called The Missing Millionaire written by a jobbing writer, Harry Blyth, under the pen-name Hal Meredeth. The story introduced a character that came to be disparaged as ‘the office-boy’s Sherlock Holmes’ or ‘the poor man’s Sherlock Holmes’. But for several generations of the mass reading public, Sexton Blake was the Baker Street detective; a more significant figure in the popular imagination even than Holmes." Read the whole article on the superb Blakiana web site
Sexton Blake did not really come into his own until editor W. H. Back took control of the Union Jack magazine in 1904. After several weird assistants came and went, including Griff (half man and half beast) and a Chinese named We-Wee, his most famous assistant, Tinker, arrived in a 1904 story entitled “Cunning Against Skill.” One of the most popular characters in the Blake household, his housekeeper, Mrs. Martha Bardell, came a year later. Plump and garrulous, with a gift for malapropism, Mrs. Bardell had a use (or misuse) of the English language which was both weird and wonderful. Another addition to the household in this period was Pedro, the famous bloodhound, sent to Blake by a well-wisher named Mr. Nemo.

The Jewel Thieves Run to Earth by Sexton Blake (1910)
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Sexton Blake rescues a clerk from a gang of criminals who tie him to a clock-operated gun.

Sexton Blake v Baron Kettler (1912)
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Sexton Blake recovrs some stolen plans.

This film is supposedly based on an issue of Union Jack (currently unknown) but Blakiana suggests it is more likely based on The Adventure of the Lady Typist (Answers Weekly, Issue 1,135)

The Clue of the Wax Vesta (1914)
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A Sexton Blake film. Yvonne seeks revenge on the villains who ruined her mother.

Adapted from the first few Sexton Blake stories featuring companion Yvonne.

The Mystery of the Diamond Belt (1914)
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A Sexton Blake film. Unbeknown to heroine Nora, the secretary for a jewellery firm, her father, George Marsden Plummer, is the head of a gang of jewel thieves. Posing as a nobleman, he steals a priceless diamond belt, shifting the blame to Nora's innocent sweetheart Brahms. It is up to Sexton Blake, his assistant Harry, and his faithful dog Pedro to retrieve the belt and expose the guilty party.

Based on The Mystery of the Diamond Belt by Lewis Carlton which was serialised in 15 parts in The Boys' Journal from issue 57 to 71. The editor of the Union Jack magazine, Mr. Lewis Carlton, plays Sexton Blake's right hand man, Tinker.

The Kaiser's Spies (1914)

A Sexton Blake film. An entymologist runs a spy ring of bus driver from a tower in Epping Forest.

Britain's Secret Treaty (1914)

Sexton Blake poses as a foreign war minister but is captured by The Count who attaches him to a bomb and hangs him over Beachy Head.

Adapted from the The Case of the German Admiral by Andrew Murray, published in Union Jack Issue 570.

The Stolen Herlooms (1915)

A Sexton Blake film. Sexton Blake is drugged with poisoned flowers and tied to a sawmill while attempting to save an ex-gambler who's been falsely charged with a jewel theft.

The Counterfeiters (1915)

A Sexton Blake film. Blake tracks a gang of counterfeiters to an old mill where they capture him and tie him to the waterwheel and Tinker to the lock gates.

The Great Cheque Fraud (1915)
A Sexton Blake film. Blake saves Tinker from a bank swindler after using an overhead cable to escape from a raging inferno.

The Thornton Jewel Mystery (1915)

A Sexton Blake film. A girl frames a drunkard for a jewel robbery. Sexton Blake is rescued from the crook's launch after Tinker performs a 60ft dive.

The Further Exploits of Sexton Blake: The Mystery of the S.S. Olympic (1919)
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Sexton Blake rescues the kidnapped daughter of an inventor who has been murdered for his secret formula.

Shot around Liverpool Docks and aboard the liner, Blakiana notes the story of the film was written specially by Robert Murray for copy in Union Jack, and was published in issue No. 857 under the same title as the film.

Ally Sloper Goes Bathing (1921)
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Ally Sloper Goes Yachting (1921)
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Ally Sloper Runs A Revue (1921)
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Ally Sloper’s Haunted House (1921)
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Ally Sloper’s Loan Office (1921)
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Ally Sloper’s Teetotal Island (1921)
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Sexton Blake Series (Began releases in May 1928)
• See the Blakiana film listing for full details

Sexton Blake and the Bearded Doctor (1935)
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A doctor kills a violinist to defraud an insurance company.

The first Sexton Blake film with sound. Based on the novel The Blazing Launch Murder (Sexton Blake Library second series Issue 449) by Rex Hardinge

Sexton Blake and the Mademoiselle (1935)
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Mademoiselle Roxanne robs the crooked financier who ruined her father.

Based on the novel They Shall Repay (Union Jack issue 1,378) by G. H. Teed

Sexton Blake and the Hooded Terror (1935)

Sexton Blake unmasks a millionaire stamp collector as the head of a hooded gang.

Adapted from the Sexton Blake Library story The Mystery of No. 13 Caversham Square, by Pierre Quiroule, this is the last of three films to feature George Curzon as Blake.

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
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Colonel Blimp, an old, befuddled British military officer, reminisces about his past glories in this witty war satire. Deborah Kerr plays three different women in the Colonel's long, but not particularly well-spent life. A.K.A. "Colonel Blimp."

Colonel Blimp was the creation of cartoonist David Low in 1934 and appeared in Lord Beaverbrook's London Evening Standard. The character took on a life of its own and by 1937 the Universal English Dictionary recognised the Colonel as "a figure in cartoons by Low, caricaturing an extreme die-hard type of outlook."
Blimp was Low's response to his unhappiness with the political leadership of the British establishment. In 1942, Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell dazzled Low into lending the Colonel's name for their satirical film.
In his autobiography, published in 1956 and long after Low had cast Blimp aside, the cartoonist explained that Blimp represented everything he disliked in British politics. "Blimp was no enthusiast for democracy. He was impatient with the common people and their complaints. His remedy to social unrest was less education, so that people could not read about slumps. An extreme isolationist, disliking foreigners (which included Jews, Irish, Scots, Welsh, and people from the Colonies and Dominions); a man of violence, approving war. He had no use for the League of Nations nor for international efforts to prevent wars. In particular he objected to any economic reorganization of world resources involving changes in the status quo."
Prime Minister Winston Churchill's was allegedly so concerned about the film's themes he tried to have it banned - perhaps ensuring its enduring success, another classic from co-directors Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger.
• Read more about Low and Colonel Blimp on the Political Cartoon Society web site

Meet Sexton Blake (1944)
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A crook steals his brother's formula for a new airplane alloy. Sexton Blake is called in to investigate by the War Office.

An adaption of Anthony Parsons' story, The Case of the Stolen Despatches from Sexton Blake Library Issue 19, new series

The Echo Murders (1945)

A Sexton Blake film. In Cornwall, Sexton Blake stages his own death to catch Nazis who have taken over tin mines.

This Sexton Blake film again starring David Farrar as Blake, is based on the story The Terror of Tregarwith, by John Sylvester, published in the Sexton Blake Library in May 1943.

The Adventures of Jane (1949)
NB: this is listed in the Jane A Pin Up At War book as 1952
• IMDB Entry

The Adventures of Jane is the film version of the stage show which also starred female lead Christabel Leighton-Porter, based on the comic strip created by Norman Pett for the the Daily Mirror in 1932 as the misadventures of an innocently sexy young blonde. The comic strip was at its height of popularity during the war years as the skimpily clad Jane was assigned the task of boosting troop morale through regular bouts of unexpected undress (for Jane, if not the readers).

Murder at Site Three (1959)

Sexton Blake smashes an espionage ring operating within Britain's space program with the help of a truth serum which he develops himself.

Based on the novel Crime is My Business by W. Howard Baker

In total, Sexton Blake has so far spawned 22 feature films, many plays (between 1907 and 1930), radio shows (1939-1967) and two TV series (1967 & 1978). A comics.co.uk article on early comics cites the character's golden era as starting after 1921, which was when Harold Tyman, the dynamic and idea-creating editor took the reigns of the Union Jack. It was from here, and well into the 1930's, that Blake became almost as famous as Holmes himself.
Blake also appeared in Illustrated Chips, Popular, Detective Weekly, Knockout and Valiant as well as annuals. In 1978 he underwent a name change in the Tornado comic and became Victor Drago. Apparently, the publishers thought the Blake name was too out-dated and simply changed it.

Modesty Blaise (1966)
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Nothing can faze Modesty Blaise, the world's deadliest and most dazzlingly female agent!

Modesty Blaise was of course based on the long-running and hugely popular newspaper strip created by Peter O'Donnell, whose adventures ran in the Daily Express for many years and are now being re-published by Titan Books. Several novels were also written and a strange film produced. O'Donnell wrote every single strip. More about Modesty here on downthetubes.
Considering the pedigree of the strip, the film is a huge disappointment on many levels.
• The official Modesty Blaise web site includes a guide to Modesty Blaise (including an interview with Peter O'Donnell)

Jane and the Lost City (1987)
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Jane and the Colonel must journey to Africa to the lost city to retrieve the diamonds before the Nazis. Ever-vigilantly battling the Nazi menace, Jane must see to it that she defeats her foes while simultaneously maintaining her dignity (and keeping her dress on). It's a globe-trotting saga of gold-filled cities, jungle perils, and sexy French undies as Jane searches for the fabled Lost City of Gold.

Written by Doctor Who script writer Mervyn Haisman and directed by Terry (Hawk the Slayer) Marcel, Jane and the Lost City starred Kirsten Hughes in the title role and Robin Bailey as The Colonel. Costumes for the film were designed by Michael Baldwin

Hardware (1990)
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Radiation clouds choke the sky and over-crowded mega-cities threaten to dissolve into madness. A wandering junk merchant finds the remains of a defunct robot and sells them to Mo, also a nomad, who buys them for his urban artist girlfriend named Jill to use in her work. But he doesn't know the robot is a self-regenerating prototype, a military drone intended to control the exploding population utilizing indiscriminate, gruesome murder. Trapped, alone in her apartment and spied on by her perverted neighbour, Jill must battle to survive against a relentless killing machine re-built from her own possessions and which will stop at nothing to tear her apart.

Directed by Richard Stanley, although not originally intended to be a 2000AD film, a court ruled that the story was significantly based on Shok (Judge Dredd Annual 1981, reprinted in prog 612). Steve McManus and Kevin O'Neill were added to Hardware's writing credits.

Judge Dredd (1995)
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Directed by Danny Cannon, the future's toughest lawman is brought to the big screen by Sylvester Stallone.
2000AD Online notes the story combines elements from the Judge Dredd stories The Return of Rico (prog 30), The Day the Law Died (progs 86-108), The Judge Child (progs 156-181) and Block Mania (progs 236-244).
Visually stunning, the film proved dissapointing to, especially after Dredd is taken off the streets.
You can read The Return of Rico online on the 2000AD official web site (registration required).

Tank Girl (1995)
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In 2033, justice rides a tank and wears lip gloss...

Lori Petty and Naomi Watts are just part of the cast of Tank Girl, based on the comic strip created by Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin for Deadline (and now writing Phoo Action for TV). The plot centres on a Tank Girl and her rebel group, who are attacked by Water & Power, a powerful force that controls the remaining water on a dystopian Earth, led by Kesslee (Malcolm McDowell).
Directed by Rachel Talay, the film's original suggested budget was $15 million, but that was soon raised to $25 million to accommodate the large amount of action. A fair amount of the film was apparently cut out, the result of MGM-UA's concerns abouton screen drug use and sex with kangaroos...
• More on the film on this Tank Girl fan site

My Name Is Modesty (2003)
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Killer elegance, deadly force, explosive strength... what's in a name? The origin of the world's most lethal female secret agent.

A more recent attempt to breathe silver screen life into Modesty Blaise from director Quentin Tarrantino. Much of this film is set inside a casino being held up by a dangerous gang and it's surprisingly pedestrian compared with his others films such as Kill Bill.

V For Vendetta (2005)
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An uncompromising vision of the future based on the critically-acclaimed graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, produced by the Wachowski Brothers, the creators of 'The Matrix' trilogy. A tale of revolution in an England of the future, one that has become fearful and fascist; anyone different, from homosexuals to free thinking artists are black bagged and subjected to torture and inhumane medical experiments.

Hugo Weaving stars as V in this adaptation of the V for Vendetta comic, the mysterious masked avenger who carries knives, has lightning reflexes, lots of explosives, and intentions to blow up Parliament. He's also on a vendetta against the evil powermongers who made him the lonely monster he is. Innocent waif Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman) is saved by V and winds up hiding out in his nifty secret lair, which is filled with forbidden books, art and a jukebox that plays Cat Power and Julie London's 'Cry Me a River'. Meanwhile there's a hangdog police inspector (Stephen Rea) picking up their trail, and a plethora of evil British government types regularly bullied into action by the intensely odious Grand Chancellor (John Hurt).