British Pathe

C/U panning shot of a group of 4 women sitting down with cups of tea, looking up as they chat. M/Ss of a television screen mounted high on a wall and a closed circuit television camera attached to a ceiling. M/S of some small children playing in a nursery; a little girl comes down a slide waving (to...

C/U panning shot of a group of 4 women sitting down with cups of tea, looking up as they chat. M/Ss of a television screen mounted high on a wall and a closed circuit television camera attached to a ceiling. M/S of some small children playing in a nursery; a little girl comes down a slide waving (to the CCTV). C/Us of another girl on a rocking horse and two more on a small roundabout with two seats. The CCTV means that the mothers can go tenpin bowling while keeping an eye on their children - "courtesy of Big Brother - the baby sitter of tomorrow" says the commentator.

M/S of a bowling alley with people playing. M/S of a man bowling; C/U of the skittles as all are knocked over by the ball. M/S of a young man standing at a bowl washing machine, surrounded by bowling balls - he washes them one by one! C/U of a ball revolving as it is washed; he then places it on a rack with others. C/U of a bowl in a man's hands; he puts his fingers in the holes to demonstrate the grip, then M/S looking down along the bowling alley at floor level as he prepares to bowl. C/Us of his bowling shoes, his face watching the ball go and the pins being knocked over (all but one!), then the pins being automatically loaded on a conveyor belt and travelling along the mechanism to be returned to their position.

M/S of a girl bowling at the lanes; she is wearing a bowling shirts. C/Us as she watches the ball go, then of the pins toppling over. C/U of a woman being shown how to hold the ball and bowl by a female instructor. The first woman is wearing quite a formal dress while the instructor wears a more suitable bowling shirt and pleated skirt. M/S from behind the women as the learner bowls - the ball heads towards the gutter; C/U of the pins, with only two or three being knocked down. The commentator says "Big question now is will it catch on with the British public?"

Note: print is quite badly scratched; there is no neg for this story. Fascinating film about the first tenpin bowling alley in Britain. Interesting documentation on file includes newspaper articles, plan of the bowling alley and a press release from PYE Ltd who installed the CCTV.