Category

Period

Other Options

Over a period of three years the Society provided an annual £10,000 grant to the British Film Institute to help with the digitisation of vulnerable film stock.  The footage is now part of the BFI's splendid Britain on Film project and, in particular, films with a London focus. Here are some examples of that collaboration.

London Street Scenes - Trafalgar Square

Non-Fiction / 1910 / 1 mins

Location: Trafalgar Square.

 

Spot the changes and continuities in this majestic Edwardian panorama of Trafalgar Square.

Animated Politics

Woolwich candidates face the voters in the first of 1910’s two general elections.

 

Non-Fiction / 1910 / mins

 

Location: Woolwich

Miss Davison's Funeral

The funeral procession of suffragette Emily Davison – fatally injured at the Epsom Derby – passes through London to her final resting place in Morpeth.

 

Non-Fiction / 1913 / 2 mins

 

“Location: Bloomsbury

To Defend the East Coast

Magnificent artillery horses and their youthful riders parade the streets of Eltham as rapt locals look on.

 

Non-Fiction / 1914 / 1 mins

 

Location: Eltham

 

Looping the Loop at Hendon

Spectacular feats of early aviation at Hendon Aerodrome, North London.

 

Non-Fiction / 1914 / 1 mins

 

Location: Hendon

Old London

A revealing tour of London’s notable buildings – some now lost for ever – which uncovers their intriguing histories.

 

Non-Fiction /  1914 / 6 mins

 

Location: Westminster

Khaki Bank Holiday

The holiday crowds are in the mood to enjoy themselves at Hampstead Fair, and army recruiters seize the opportunity to encourage enlistment.

 

Non-Fiction / 1915 /  1 mins

 

Location: Hampstead Heath

London under Snow

WWI recruits apply their training – to a friendly snowball fight.

 

Non-Fiction / 1916 / 1 mins

 

Location: London

Hoxton....Saturday July 3rd, Britannia Theatre

Fantastically lively images from around East London’s greatest music hall.

 

Non-Fiction / 1920 /  6 mins

 

Location: Hoxton

London as the 'City of Dreadful Night'

Experience the dinge and gloom of the smog shrouding London’s Trafalgar Square in the 1920s.

 

Non-Fiction / 1924 / 0 mins

 

Location: Trafalgar Square

Central London Street Scenes

These atmospheric scenes of the Thames and central London (including some spoiled by fog) were shot for the Sherlock Holmes feature The Sign of Four.

 

Travelogue / 1923 / 13 mins

Location: Westminster

Everybody Happy!

Splendid scenes of Londoners letting off steam around the capital – but where, exactly?

 

Non-Fiction /  1926 / 2 mins”

 

Location: London

The Official Opening of Gunnersbury Park by the Rt. Hon. Neville Chamberlain, M. P.

Ealing locals delight in their new park’s manicured lawns, splendid mansion, and sports facilities.

 

Non-Fiction / 1926 / 8 mins

 

Location: Gunnersbury Park

Greenwich Clock and Observatory

Tick-tock, tick-tock…the home of British time-keeping at Greenwich.

 

“Non-Fiction / 1928 / 1 mins

 

Location: Greenwich

In the Sizzling Sunshine

Hot and bothered Londoners find ways to cool off in the summer heatwave of 1929.

 

“Non-Fiction / 1929 / 1 mins

 

Location: London

The Opening of Barking Swimming Pool

Much excitement for the opening of Barking’s new swimming pool – better known as the East End’s Lido.

 

Non-Fiction / 1931 / mins

 

Location: Barking

Gunners Put up a Good Show

Charging horses and blazing guns at the Woolwich Garrison tattoo, leading to a toy soldier massacre.

 

Non-Fiction / 1929 /  1 mins

 

Location: Woolwich

Soup Kitchen

A rare glimpse inside the Soup Kitchen for the Jewish Poor in the East End during the early 1930s.

 

Amateur film /  1934 /  4 mins

 

Location: Spitalfields

Grand Union Canal

Follow working narrow boats as they make their 60-hour trip from London to Birmingham along Britain’s longest industrial waterway.

 

Documentary / 1937 / 34 mins

 

Location: Houses of Parliament

Cabtrack The Direct Auto-control Personal Taxi Service

Could computer-controlled taxis solve the traffic crisis? Maybe not, but this film’s a must for technology buffs (and fans of early electronic music).

 

Government sponsored film / 1972 / 16 mins

 

Location: London

Challenge War on Slums

“Plague spots in the richest city in the world” – slums are demolished to make way for new homes in Somers Town, London.

 

Campaigning film / 1941 / 17 mins

 

Location: Somers Town

Official Opening of the Classic Hammersmith including Hammersmith Regatta News Reel

Who needs the Boat Race? Not Hammersmith, with its own regatta – complete with greasy pole competition. Nearby, the Classic Cinema reopens to fanfare.

 

Non-Fiction / 1951 / 5 mins

 

Location: Hammersmith

Carry On Lombard Street

Barclays Bank’s London HQ adapts to wartime banking, as a keen amateur filmmaker records staff at work, rest and play.

 

Amateur film / 1941 / 21 mins

 

Location: City of London

Ten Bridges

A beautifully evocative three-mile glide along the Thames from bustling docks to bohemian Chelsea.

 

Documentary / 1957 / 15 mins

 

Location: London

The Square

An old man looks back wistfully over his years spent living in a King’s Cross square, and enjoys a surprise skiffle party organised by neighbours.

 

Drama / 1957 / 16 mins

 

Location: Westminster

Sport U Schule

Hackney Downs School Cadets in athletics training and competition, filmed by teacher Joe Brearley.

 

Amateur film / 1958 / 7 mins

 

Location: Hackney

Yoko Tani in London

A fun tour of 1950s West End with international film star Yoko Tani

 

Travelogue / 1959 / 8 mins

 

Location: London

London from the Air 1 (Fun Palace outtakes)

London in 1963 was a city in flux, as this spectacular aerial footage shows.

 

1963 / 3 mins

Barbican Regained

Fascinating look at the Barbican – before it became the brutalist icon we know today.

 

Documentary / 1963 / 17 mins

 

Location: City of London

London from the Air 2 (Fun Palace outtakes)

Excellent if somewhat jerky aerial shots of London taken from a helicopter and featuring close-ups of Waterloo, the docks and Tower Bridge.

 

Amateur film / 1963 / 3 mins

 

Location: Westminster

Fourteen Acres of Green

Environmentalists wage war on the Greater London Council in this eye-opening account of a battle to save Hammersmith’s open spaces.

 

1977 / 13 mins / Location: Hammersmith

Inter-action in Croydon

Do you remember when the moon men came to Croydon? You can bet these kids never forgot the day Dogg’s Troupe landed.

 

Documentary / 1971 / 12 mins

 

Location: Croydon

London Me Bharat

Stylishly-shot document of multicultural 1970s London among Southall’s Asian community.

 

“Drama” / 1972 / 20 mins

 

Location: London