50 Years of Cinematography.

I. 'FIFTY YEARS OF CINEMATOGRAPHY.' A retrospective edition that covers cinematographic and historical events of the past fifty years. The commentary outlines the early history of film. Early footage shows the house of Daguerre and stills from the work of W H Fox-Talbot and William Friese-Green. An early film of T A Edison is shown along with a Peepshow box and magic lantern machine. 1890s footage of a London street shows the bustle of crowds and horse-drawn trams. King George VI is shown as a child playing with his brother and sister. Footage of a Suffragette meeting held in December 1930 is shown. An Edwardian bathing scene follows. Adolph Zukor's first studio is shown followed by footage of Sarah Bernhardt and Mary Pickford. Brief footage taken from the 1923 film Cecil B de Mille's "The Ten Commandments" shows Theodore Roberts as Moses. Brief views of Billie Burke, Douglas Fairbanks Snr on horseback, and Dorothy Gish follow. Footage from "The Sheik" (1921) shows Rudolph Valentino in Arabian attire. Stock shots show Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) personnel load an Admiralty Type 184 seaplane with 112-lb bombs. Brief footage shows VI Lenin making a speech at hustings. The commentary goes on to outline important events of the Second World War using stock shots and captured German footage. Stock shots show Polish civilians running for cover as Warsaw is bombed by the German Luftwaffe (September 1939). Stock shots show the Allied embarkation at Dunkirk in May 1940. German Fhrer Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering inspect troops (Pas de Calais ?). A brief extract from LONDON CAN TAKE IT (COI 943), shows bomb damage and a wrecked double-decker bus in a London street. The commentary outlines the early stages of the fighting in North Africa and the first Libyan campaign over stock shots of large numbers of Italian Prisoners of war marching into captivity. British infantry move cautiously across desert terrain walking behind Vickers Mk II medium tanks. The commentary outlines events leading to the German attack on Russia in June 1941. Captured German footage shows Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 87B dive-bombers in flight and PzKpfw III tanks and StuG III self-propelled guns on the move in the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa. Russian footage shows Petlyakov Pe-2 attack aircraft in flight and T-34/76 tanks moving through wooded countryside supported by Russian infantry. The commentary outlines the British Commando raids on Lofoten and Spitzbergen. Oil tanks burn on Lofoten (cf WPN 17). British troops lead away collaborators. Detonation of building by British soldier at Spitzbergen (cf WPN 30). British troops run through snow at Vaagso; others lead away German prisoners (cf WPN 41). Brief footage shows an Italian air raid on Valletta in Malta with British 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft crews responding (cf WPN 16). A military parade in New York is shown as the commentary highlights the events leading to the United States of America entering the war (cf WPN 68). United States General Douglas MacArthur is shown on his arrival in Australia with various views of the fighting in Papua New Guinea following. Stock shot footage shows Douglas C-47 Skytrain of the 54th Transport Wing, US Fifth Air Force dropping paratroopers in the Markham River Valley, New Guinea (cf WPN 134). The commentary states that with the construction of new aircraft carriers, the Allies are carrying the Pacific air war into the Japanese camp. United States Navy (USN) Grumman Hellcat F6F-3 fighter aircraft start their engines on the wooden flight deck of an unidentified USN aircraft carrier. A USN Douglas SBD-1 Devastator torpedo bomber takes off from a carrier's flight deck (Midway ?). The commentary outlines events leading to the capture of Tripoli by units of the British Eighth Army and the subsequent victory celebrations held there (cf WPN 91). Stock shots show the Allied invasion of Sicily (cf WPN 118) as Allied landing craft manoeuvre around Liberty cargo/troop ships during the landings. United States Army Air Force (USAAF) Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress aircraft are shown in flight and dropping bombs as the commentary describes the round the clock bombing as "The start of the softening-up of Germany and prelude to invasion." Stock shots show German troops marching through the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Interior views show a Vichy French meeting hall (Milice ?) that displays a large banner bearing the legend "L'Europe Unie Contre Le Bolchevisme." A Waffen-SS recruiting poster is pasted on wall encouraging Frenchmen to join, a hand enters the frame and paints out various words and letters to change the recruiting poster into an anti-German poster.

Notes

Sound: sound track is very patchy