British Pathe

Reel 2. Continued from previous reel. (Check copyright of material).

L/S of crowds walking over Waterloo Bridge, London. L/S of crowds walking through factory gates. C/U of American comedian Robert Benchley sitting behind a desk. He gives jokey nonsense speech and points at charts - mocking...

Reel 2. Continued from previous reel. (Check copyright of material).

L/S of crowds walking over Waterloo Bridge, London. L/S of crowds walking through factory gates. C/U of American comedian Robert Benchley sitting behind a desk. He gives jokey nonsense speech and points at charts - mocking politicians of the time.

L/S of human cannonball being fired out of canon at funfair (Coney Island, USA?). Stuntman balanced on bendy lamppost on top of a skyscraper (Harold Lloyd?). C/U of a man putting his head into lion's head. Various shots of a marathon dance contest in USA.

Various shots of Pentecostal Evangelist and Healer, Aimee Semple McPherson. She has just returned to United States of America, having been refused entry into Britain. Various C/Us of newspaper articles about McPherson. We see her giving speech from back of train to crowd, she and the crowd sing a religious song.

C/U news headline about end of prohibition. Great panning shot of New York city skyline. Various shots of Governor Smith of New York being presented with first case of Budweiser beer since prohibition by a Mr. Myer. M/S of beer kegs being delivered by horse and cart. Various shots of beer being poured in bar. Various night shots of city. C/U of evangelical preacher Billy Sunday making very passionate pro-prohibition speech.

C/U of headline announcing Macdonald's 5 year arms plan. Various shots of Swiss Alps. Various shots of James Ramsay Macdonald (aka Ramsey MacDonald) making speech about disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland to League of Nations conference. Various shots of representatives from France and Germany making speeches.

Aerial shot of clouds rolling over mountains. L/S of sun shining through clouds. Headline about Reichstag fire and Hitler's clamp down on Socialists. Shots of burnt out Reichstag. C/U of headline about roundup of Communists in Germany. Various shots of German elections, Communists hand out leaflets. Various shots Nazi posters and banners. Various shots President Paul Von Hindenburg and ex-chancellor Franz Von Papen. Various shots of people hanging swastika flags from buildings. M/S two children meeting in park, they greet each other with Nazi salutes. M/S two middle aged men greeting each other with Nazi salutes. Various shots of German officers and soldiers.

Various shots of Japanese army invading China (Sino-Japanese war). More shots of League of Nations conference in Geneva, Switzerland. Chinese delegate gives speech in English. C/U newspaper headline: "Japan Repudiates The League". M/S of Japanese delegates walking out of conference. Japanese luggage being loaded onto trains, delegates board carriages.

British army manoeuvres on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire. C/U of volume of Hansard from 1933 - voice reads extracts about maintaining cavalry regiments. More shots of military exercises. Various shots of RAF (Royal Air Force) planes on airfield taking off. Hansard extract about future of British aviation being as part of leisure industry rather than defence.

Various shots of U.S. Navy airships flying over cities and mooring. Various shots of wreckage of crashed airship. C/U headline: "Ocean Airman Killed - Marquis de Pinedo crashes in flames". C/U of Marquis in cockpit. L/S of plane taking off, crashing and exploding. Headline: "Everest Conquered by Aeroplane". Various shots crew getting into plane. Aerial shots of mountains. Various shots of Indian farm workers in fields watching planes fly overhead. Aerial shots of Himalayas. C/U of newspaper article about flying over Everest.

L/S Statue of Liberty, New York, USA. Various shots of fleet of aeroplanes from Rome flying over New. Ticker tape parade for Italian plane. Newspaper headline: "Jim and Amy Mollison Crash-land in USA". Ticker tape parade for Mollisons, Jim has bandaged head.

Headline: "Nations meet for World Economic Conference". Various shots of men coming through factory gates. C/U signs for conference on front of a South Kensington museum, London. American Representative Cordell Hull gives speech. Neville Chamberlain (then Chancellor of the Exchequer) giving speech.

Industrial landscapes. Various shots illustrating the Depression: empty factory, colliery, dockyard, Barncluth Unemployed Social Club. Various shots of Prince Edward (Prince of Wales) visiting poor areas. Various shots of mothers taking babies to clinics. Ramsay MacDonald (aka Ramsey MacDonald) speaking at World Economic Conference. Industrial landscapes. L/S of mining village. Children playing on rubble.

Headline: "£750,000 for Distressed Areas". Various shots showing rejuvenation of deprived areas: men painting Labour Centre buildings, unemployed miners being retrained in other trades, men felling trees at labour camps for unemployed. High angled shots of train arriving at big station. Various shots of hikers' mystery tour. People having mass picnic in countryside. Various shots people on caravan. Various shots young women on a sailing holiday girls. M/S of Marlow regatta, Buckinghamshire. Girls doing keep fit exercises in garden. Girls exercising in big hall. Various shots of show girls rehearsing in a park, they shout out moves as they do them.

Note: variety of regional and other accents in commentary: Cockney, Scottish, Welsh, American and Posh. Section of commentary has female narrator.