British Pathe

London.

M/S of a basement room filled with tables, chairs, a large blackboard and various games. In the foreground, two women are playing table skittles. The women swing a weighted pendulum attached to a post on the table to knock over the skittles. In the background another woman is marking...

London.

M/S of a basement room filled with tables, chairs, a large blackboard and various games. In the foreground, two women are playing table skittles. The women swing a weighted pendulum attached to a post on the table to knock over the skittles. In the background another woman is marking scores on a blackboard. Other women are chatting, reading or playing 'shove halfpenny'. M/S of the woman at the blackboard. In front of her two women are playing cards at a table. The narrator asks mischievously, "See if you can guess where we are? A bottle party perhaps? The prelude to a jive session? Or is it a gambling den? Notice the absence of men..."

C/U of Pat White cleaning her rifle. C/U of Pat's face. Tilt down to her immaculately manicured hands assembling the gun. C/U of her back - Pat wears a jacket decorated with various badges associated with shooting. The narrator explains that a group of women started this rifle club as men refused to shoot in mixd teams - "the cowards!" M/S of a line of rifles in a rifle stand. Low angle M/S of the women picking up the rifles from the stand.

M/S of the shooting range. A row of telescopes are set up in front of a long sheepskin rug. The women take up their positions in the range - they are dressed in sensible trousers and padded jackets, one of them pulls on a blue bobble hat. According to the narrator all the girls are typists or secretaries working for London firms and one evening a week they meet for instruction and practice. They call themselves the 'Lensbury and Brittanic Ladies' Rifle Club' and have won several prizes. M/S of one of the women hanging out targets on the range. M/S of the women lying on the rug. Top shot of the women loading their guns. C/U of the girl in the bobble hat, also the captain of the team, getting ready to fire. Top shot of the women firing. One woman on the end of the row is looking through the telescope, she says something to the girl next to her. Various shots of women firing their rifles. C/U of one of the .22 Calibre Rifles being used. M/S of the targets. C/U of the target.
The narrator points out that these guns are not special ladies' guns but are as heavy as ones used by men. M/S of a woman collecting the bullet ridden targets. M/S of the women lying on their fronts. A male instructor is helping one of the girls with her rifle. M/S of the instructor getting up off the rug. The camera pans along the row of women's bottoms as they lie on the rug. The narrator comments "the chief instructor has been teaching for over twenty years and with pupils like this - who can blame him for carrying on ... in a few weeks time the newcomers will be in fine form on the target we mean!" Various shots of the women firing their rifles and the targets they are firing at.

M/S of a group of women in the 'club room' who are keeping score and looking on through the telescopes. C/U of one of the score sheets being marked.