British Pathe

Here's to the Memory - Part 4

Various shots of young people in the 1920s dancing and drinking at a wild party, they throw food at each other. Unemployed outside a Ministry of Labour Employment Exchange. Mines standing idle, mills with windows smashed. Industrial landscapes. "National Government"...

Here's to the Memory - Part 4

Various shots of young people in the 1920s dancing and drinking at a wild party, they throw food at each other. Unemployed outside a Ministry of Labour Employment Exchange. Mines standing idle, mills with windows smashed. Industrial landscapes. "National Government" formed. Group of politicians including Neville Chamberlain and Stanley Baldwin. Men standing around on street corners - the unemployed and disenchanted during the "depression".

01:29:59 - M/S of Al Jolson singing "Sonny Boy". Short clip of a Broadway musical. Section about the introduction of the "talkie". Shots of projector room and an early hand cranked optical toy. John Logie Baird striving to create television. B.B.C. Broadcasting House. (For search purposes aka BBC and British Broadcasting Company).

01:31:54 - History of radio stars of the 1930s. Two comediennes perform a comedy skit - it is Gert and Daisy. A radio announcer changes a record (Christopher Stone?). Two male comedians with monocles sing a song: "Play the game you cad, play the game". (Probably the Western Brothers). A sketch involving a piano tuner - Clifford Mollison?. Teddy Brown plays the xylophone. Short clip of Clapham and Dwyer. Gracie Fields in "Sing As We Go" leads a group of mill workers and a brass band.

01:33:49 - Young people ramble, cycle and picnic. An early holiday camp with tents. Men in white shorts and vests throw each other out of tents. Prince Albert (Duke of York, King George VI) visits the camp.

01:34:21 - Large group of women and children do outdoor exercise routines - The League of Health and Beauty?. George Bernard Shaw skips around on the deck of a liner. George Lansbury opens the Serpentine Lido. Outdoor swimming. People in the sea. Sexy swimsuits. Beauty contests. C/U of bathing belles. Two girls in swimsuits skip. A group of people at a picnic in the countryside dance to a gramophone.

01:35:29 - Royal Silver Jubilee programme. Crowds of people watch the Royal Carriage and parade. King George VI and Queen Mary in the carriage. Fireworks explode to create an image of the King.

01:36:20 - Our group of narrators discuss trends of the late 1930s. Splitting the atom, discovery of penicillin, jet propulsion etc. Women's achievements: Marie Curie, Amy Johnson, Margaret Bondfield (no footage of these women, just spoken of). "Women have done their great things in between cooking, mending socks and having babies" states one of the women in response to a dig about how women seem to have returned to the kitchen sink. A debate ensues when James Laver talks about his knowledge of fashion. He states that women's dress has only one function, to attract men. Wry looks are exchanged by other members of the party. See other reels.

End of Part 4.