TRISTAN DA CUNHA

This film is held by the BFI (ID: 353190).

Synopsis

PROPAGANDA. Appeal by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel for funds to continue its work on Tristan da Cunha. The film consists of material shot during the visit to the island by The Quest in 1922, previously released in SOUTHWARD ON THE QUEST.

Shots of Tristan from the sea, with explanatory titles outlining the history of the settlement (147) A number of women carding and spinning wool outside a cottage (147-299) An ox team dragging a raft of brushwood for fuel are followed by…

 

Context

The tiny volcanic island of Tristan da Cunha officially became an outpost of Empire in 1816, after an extremely cautious decision by the Admiralty to station a small garrison of men there lest the French attempted to use the island as a staging post to rescue Napoleon, who was imprisoned on St Helena, some 1300 miles to the north.

The island was not uninhabited: an elderly man named Thomas Currie and his young Spanish servant, Bastiano, lived there. Currie was the only survivor of…

 

Analysis

As an S.P.G. re-cut of existing material for fund-raising purposes, Tristan Da Cunha recasts as documentary account what was originally material conceived of as having a place within the narrative of the homeward leg of The Quest’s voyage. A visit to the island filmed and presented from an outsider’s point of view becomes an insider’s appeal for assistance, particularly in the context of lectures by Rogers.

The footage itself is of interest,…

 

Works Cited

Cannan, Edward Churches of the South Atlantic Islands (Owestry: Anthony Nelson, 1992).

Mackay, Margaret Angry Island: the Story of Tristan Da Cunha (1506 – 1963) (London: Arthur Baker Ltd, 1963).

Rogers, Rose Annie The Lonely Island (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1926).

Tristan Da Cunha – Cuttings 1886-1946, 5 vols., press cuttings compiled by D. M Gane.

 Wild, Frank Shackleton’s…

 

Titles

  • TRISTAN DA CUNHA
 

Technical Data

Year:
1927
 

Production Credits

Production Countries:
Great Britain
Sponsor
S.P.G.
 

Countries

 

Themes

 

Production Organisations