British Pathe

Associated British Pathe - Picette presents... THE THINGS THEY DO'.

Compilation of quirky stories, probably for younger audiences (stories all originally from New Pictorials).

Knife-thrower Martin Collins flings knives at his wife, Elizabeth on stage of Hackney Empire theatre. Shot...

Associated British Pathe - Picette presents... THE THINGS THEY DO'.

Compilation of quirky stories, probably for younger audiences (stories all originally from New Pictorials).

Knife-thrower Martin Collins flings knives at his wife, Elizabeth on stage of Hackney Empire theatre. Shot in slow-motion, with the knives coming right towards us. Elizabeth then puts on a safety mask and climbs onto a wheel, spinning round while Martin, balanced on a tightrope, throws knives at her (they don't make entertainment like this any more!). Shot taken from the spinning wheel of the man on the tightrope. (From NP 236.)

01:50:46. In a circus show ground (?), stunt high-diver Roy Fransen takes off his robe and, clad in just trunks, starts to climb up a 75 foot scaffold tower. At the top, Roy makes a spectacular dive into a tank of water. Children look on. Roy climbs the tower again and in slow-motion we see him dive from the top. Cameraman lying beside the tank gets soaked! Another view of Roy making a dive. M/S of him coming to the surface of the water. (From NP 198.)

01:52:29. Several shots of a black man called Bobby Davis biting into the corner of a table and lifting it up in the air. He is standing on the roof of a building in Penge, London, and three little girls watch him. Bobby stacks three tables one on top of the other, then lifts them up by biting into the corner of the bottom one. He walks around with it in his mouth. He then puts the three girls on top of one of the tables and lifts it up with his teeth and one hand! He sets it back on the ground and checks the girls are all okay. (From NP 257.)

01:54:07. At Peckham Baths we see champion swimmer Harold Elven putting on a harness that is attached to the fishing rod of expert angler Jack Hargraves. A crowd has gathered to watch this '15 minute fisherman versus human fish duel'. Harold jumps into the water and starts to swim to the centre of the pool. Then the battle is on as Harold swims to maintain his position while Jack tries to reel him in! Sports commentator Howard Marshall talks into microphone, "telling radio 'Sports Club' all about it." Harold eventually snaps the rod. C/U of stopwatch being stopped. Harold swims back to shake hands with Jack. (From NP 244.)

01:55:59. Several shots of five men cycling through the countryside on a tandem bicycle. They stop on a verge and push it along then get back on and cycle off. In Beechwood Green near Luton, we see several shots of people riding antique bicycles belonging to Walter Angel. We see Walter riding a penny farthing. (From NP 256.)
End titles: 'The End'.