British Pathe

Note: There appears to be some confusion over the films - Union Castle Line, Castles In (or On) The Sea and Holiday Ahoy. This reel appears to be neg. sequences that may have been used in all of them. We cannot currently find completed versions of any of the films.

Titles - Union Castle Line...

Note: There appears to be some confusion over the films - Union Castle Line, Castles In (or On) The Sea and Holiday Ahoy. This reel appears to be neg. sequences that may have been used in all of them. We cannot currently find completed versions of any of the films.

Titles - Union Castle Line presents - Castles On The Sea.
Titles - Union Castle Line presents - Holiday Ahoy.

01:30:20 M/S Cruise liner sailing away from camera. (Quick sequence) Men and women in swimsuits sunbathing on deck. High angle shot people playing a game involving throwing a quoit over a net. C/U girl moving hair out of face with hand as she sits in the sun. Men playing shuffleboard. Woman in bikini on deck chair sunbathing. People throwing quoits. Man seated in deck chair on stern of cruise liner with typewriter balanced on his knees. Wake of ship shot from stern. C/U woman in pink stripy bikini sunbathing. Men playing deck tennis. Men playing game tossing rings into barrel. Shot of waves breaking on bow of the ship.

01:30"58 Ships officers (dressed in white uniforms) on the bridge. Man turning ships wheel. Shot of smaller boat approaching. More turns of the wheel. Officer checks instruments. POV shot from bridge over bow of ship.

01:31:15 Sacks of mail being loaded in docks onto ship called "Windsor Castle". Shot from front of ship showing ropes holding it in place.

01:31:24 Women unload plants from van on dock. They are carried up the gangplank. Passengers near the gangplank. Sacks thrown from van. C/U 'Royal Mail' insignia on van. Sacks hoisted by crane.

01:31:48 Boxes of table wine carried into cold room. Milk churns rolled into place. Large piece of meat carried into freezer room. Sack of flour carried into room full of sacks.

01:32:06 Goods hoisted by crane on to ship "Windsor Castle" as she sits in dock. Shot from deck as luggage is lifted aboard by crane.

01:32:26 Passengers walk up gangplank - Union Castle is printed down the side. Shot following man up onto ship, camera turns to look at side of ship. Ships officer salutes as the camera man walks onboard. People on dockside wave. Low angle shot of people waving from ship. Shot on ship of people waving. C/U hand waving.

01:32:50 C/U hand of barman shaking cocktail shaker. Barman pours out cocktails into three glasses. The glasses are decorated with glace cherries and slices of lemon.

01:33:05 Cameraman walks into Captain's reception. Officer shakes hands with people as they go in. Pan around guests and down to tray of drinks. Guests arrive in room and shake hands with senior officer. Various shots of men and women in evening dress drinking cocktails etc. with officers on ship.

01:33:32 Liner in harbour. Mountains rise in the background. Other ships are moored nearby. Black Africans unload boxes from rail truck. Fresh fruit and vegetables pushed along dock on trolley. Crane lifts cargo onto ship. C/U hands of officer as he checks tickets. People walk up gangplank. An officer carries a young girl up the gangplank. Fresh flowers are lifted out of a van and carried up a gangplank. by young Asian men. Cargo lowered into hold of ship. Passengers helped onto gangplank. Fresh oranges brought onboard. More flowers carried up. High angle shot of people walking up gangplank - down the side it reads "Union Castle Line". Passengers hand boarding cards to officer as they walk up gangplank. Black car pulls up at foot of gangplank. The chauffeur gets out and the man in the backseat climbs out and runs up the gangplank. C/U face of chauffeur as he follows boss up onto ship. Cameraman follows man onto ship. People on dockside and people on ship hold streamers as the ship pulls away. C/U hand waving.

01:35:05 C/U barman's hand as he shakes cocktail shaker. Barman pours cocktails into decorated glasses. Cameraman walks into cocktail party, he shakes hands with officer. Steward comes forwards with a tray of drinks. Lots of men and women smartly dressed with officers. Various shots of people engages in animated conversations

01:35:47 C/U salad servers picking up leaves and placing them on tray of food. Various vegetables, sausages, meat etc. C/U chef in traditional hat and white jacket. High angle shot dishes and plates of food in kitchen. Kitchen staff preparing elaborate decorations on food. Creating flowers from tomatoes, etc.

01:36:36:13 Stewards and waiters serve passengers from open air buffet on deck. All kinds of food, sea food, grapefruit, etc. Longer shot of deck showing man climbing out of swimming pool. Deck chairs on deck. Food served on tray. People sitting around table in open air eating food.

01:36:43 Woman and child in restaurant being served at table. Waiter uses very snazzy rotating trolley to show vast variety of foods. M/S restaurant. Waiter goes over to man and woman at table and hands them menus. C/U woman looking at menu. Kitchen shots, waiters collecting orders. C/U cook overlooking large mixing machine.

01:37:12 C/U hand of radio operator turning knob to tune radio. Radio operator seated at radio . He is wearing a headphones and a microphone. C/U hand flicking switches.

01:37:18 Officer (in shorts) picks up shipboard 'phone. Man in engine room picks up phone. Shots in engine room. Man is checking dials and making notes. Officer on bridge speaking into radio. C/U piece of radio equipment.

01:37:41 Views of harbour. Shots over rail on ship. Name plate of ship "Windsor Castle". Low angle shot of flag pole with several flags flying. Shots from ship as it sails in.

01:37:51 Two officers in room looking at paperwork. People at ship board bureau de change, exchanging currency . C/U notes and coins handed over to passenger.

01:38:02 C/U notes handed over to woman outside shop. Traveller woman holds up doll. Shot of church / cathedral. Two military dressed men walk past tables at outside cafe. Young man and woman in swimsuits run down steps. In the background is a tall hotel. They run across the beach towards the sea. They walk out into the water. The man dives in. The woman seems reticent about getting wet. Policeman in white on traffic duty.

01:38:34 Propellor powered aeroplane lands at airport. Shots of people on observation platform at airport. Sign outside airport reads "Puerto De Las Palmas". (Canary Islands). People walk out of airport. Man in cap checks names on his list. It is a passenger manifest for British United Airways.

01:38:50 Women in traditional costume sit in square. Men play guitars and other stringed instruments while women sit around. C/U woman. People in costume do traditional dance while tourists look on from tables with sun shades. The dancers hold hands and dance in a circle. High angle shot of dancers in bar courtyard. C/U young man with arm around shoulders of woman watching dance.

01:39:26 Woman in sunglasses and child in red hat. People doing traditional dance on board liner. People are gathered around watching and taking photographs. Some men are playing guitars. Various shots of people watching.

01:39:46 Young woman in white bikini and blue swimming hat stands against the ships rail looking out to sea. Woman lies on sun lounger on high deck. Below her we can see the swimming pool. A man runs towards her and pulls off her hat. She gets up and chases him. High angle shot, man and woman walk down to swimming pool. Boy and girl throw rubber rings into pool. Two girls in pool catch the rings. Woman in bikini swimsuit and swimming hat jumps into pool.

01:40:06 Two older women sit in chairs on the deck. They are both wearing hats and sunglasses. Ships officer (in shorts) walks up to camera speaks and walks over to rail.

01:40:17 Liner at sea. Two women (one in one piece swimsuit and one in sun dress and hat) walk down steps. People gathered around swimming pool in all manner of fancy dress. They are taking part in the Crossing The Line ceremony. People laughing as they look on. Woman seated in ducking stool above pool. She is being covered with various foodstuffs. The ducking stool is moved and she falls into the water. Two men in the pool swim over to help her. Man wrapped up in cloth. Man in ducking stool covered with food. He is then dropped into the pool.

01:41:11 C/U woman wearing nun's habit and sunglasses. C/U young girl, her hair is blowing in the breeze. Children playing in shipboard sandpit. A nurse / nanny watches over them. Young boy plays with toy ship's wheel while eating something. He is in a children's play room. Children play with dolls, puzzles and other toys. C/U dolls face.

01:41:32 Woman in hair dressers salon having her hair styled. The hairdresser is back combing. The salon is decorated very strangely. Women getting their hair dried under hair dryers. A male salon assistant check on the two women.

01:41:51 Women using irons and ironing boards in the onboard laundry room. Woman putting cloths into spin drier. Woman ironing. She shows her friend the dress and then turns to show the camera.

01:42:17 Same woman wearing the dress at party on deck in the evening. They are playing some kind of racing game. Women are sitting down pulling wooden cut out frogs on pieces of string towards them. C/U women's faces showing concentration. Woman in crowd cheers. Sailor looks on.

01:42:44 Officer in darkened bridge turns ship's wheel and steers course. Another officer looks over his shoulder and checks his work. Officer walks out on deck with the 'Windsor Castle' sign behind him.

01:43:00 More shots of the wooden frog race. An officer shouts out who is winning. Everyone cheers as one woman wins by pulling her wooden frog towards her. C/U official race card. People have been placing bets and gambling on the races.

01:43:18 Dinner menus being printed. A picture of the liner is on the front. C/U hands setting type on printing block. Man carries typeset page block over to press.

01:43:45 Nurse / stewardess picks up breakfast tray and carries it over to woman in bed. The woman in bed reads printed ships notices. C/U notices "Cinema Show - 9pm Colour Preview of our destination".

01:44:01 People seated in onboard cinema. Curtains open up to show screen. Projection room. Projectionist starts reel of film going. Shot of bean of light coming out of back wall of cinema.

01:44:16 POV from car travelling along road. Hotel seen to one side. Man and woman seated in back of car. C/U back of chauffeur's head. Entrance to the Mount Nelson Hotel.

01:44:29 People seated at table by outdoor swimming pool. L/S mountain range. L/S cable cars going up to mountain. High angle shot showing cable car approaching top station. POV shot from cable car. Two people in car. Views from car. POV.

01:44:50 Three people standing on viewing platform looking out from mountain. People getting off cable car. Woman looking through telescope. She turns the 'scope to look at the camera.

01:44:57 Pan across city, in the background are spoil heaps from mining. C/U spoil heaps. Two African miners and white engineer working in mine underground (Possibly gold mining in South Africa). Truck carries spoil away. Winding gear. Slag or spoil falling off conveyor belt. Red hot crucible lifted out of furnace. The crucible full of molten metal is carried by two men wearing safety masks. The pour the metal into moulds. One of the men lifts up his mask and wipes away sweat. Slag heap.

01:45:42 Floral clock in garden. Shots from park showing buildings in the background. More shots in park.

01:45:52 African man in colourful native costume. He and several colleagues are standing by rickshaws. Two (white) people get on board a rickshaw for a ride. As they start their ride the man pulling the cart is lifted up in the air by the weight.

01:46:14 Flock of ostrich run across the velt. Keepers herd ostrich together. People sit at one side watching. Woman comes out of the audience an mounts an ostrich. C/U as she climbs on. She takes a short ride on the ostrich. African keeper rides ostrich at some speed.

01:46:51 People walking out on safari (Possibly in South Africa). They are followed by guides and donkeys. Their guide points out a herd of Zebra and wildebeest (?). The people continue their walk. Herd of zebra. C/U guide puts his finger to his lips to signal that the people should be quiet. C/U Rhinoceros. People walk towards rhinos. Rhinos run away. Mother and two baby elephants walk towards water hole. A Volkswagen Van drives across the velt. People are standing out of the open top. The drive towards a watering hole where lots of elephants are drinking. Elephants at water, baby elephant tanks up water with its trunk. C/U woman taking picture with still camera.

01:47:47 High angle shots of large dam. Small motor boat carrying game wardens over large lake. Various shots of waterfalls (Victoria Falls ?) A rainbow hangs over the massive waterfalls. A pleasure boat (called "Livingstone") carries tourists. People sitting on board, one man holds a cine camera. Hippopotamus in water.

01:48:33 Wooden huts in native village - looks very much as if built for tourist visits. Black South Africans perform traditional dance. Some men play drums. Men dressed up in animal costume. Man dancing in large grass skirt. C/U man clapping and singing. Strange creature like costumed dancer.

Note: Colour is slightly faded on neg. Due to lack of paperwork and soundtrack locations and personalities are difficult to ascertain.