Joseph Rosenthal’s Rosie Film Company made the film Gibraltar in 1911. Rosenthal, one of Britain’s pioneer film cameramen, established his reputation working for Warwick Trading Company and Charles Urban Trading Company at the cusp of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Stephen Bottomore has stated that he was the ‘first true professional’ involved in filming warfare, becoming noted for his live action footage of the Boer War (Bottomore, 1983, 260). Rosenthal set up the Rosie Film Company in 1908. Here he initially concerned himself with directing slapstick comedy films, but a lack of success led him to return to shooting documentary subjects (Bottomore, ‘Joseph Rosenthal’). Gibraltar was one of a number of short features filmed by Rosenthal on a ‘tour into the wilds’ and it was believed that this was the ‘first time in the world’s history’ that the territory had been filmed (BR, 20 April 11, 95; BR, 6 April 1911, 16). The film received full-page advertising in the British cinematic press (BR, 6 April 1911, 16) and the German intertitles of the copy held in the BFI indicate that it also found an audience in at least some parts of mainland Europe.

Gibraltar, located at the western entrance to the Mediterranean, was captured by the British in 1704 during the War of Spanish Succession. Although nominally claimed on behalf of the pretender to the crown, Archduke Charles, the British soon began to monopolise control of the territory. This takeover was ratifed in 1713 under the Treaties of Utrecht, whereby Spain ceded Britain ‘the full and entire propriety of the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port, fortifications, and forts thereunto belonging […] for ever, without any exception or impediment whatsoever’ (‘The Treaties of Utrecht (1713)’). There nevertheless followed concerted military attempts by the Spanish to retake Gibraltar, notably the Great Siege of 1779-1783. Spain still asserts a claim to the territory, although the majority of the population has expressed a desire to remain under sole British rule (see Oliver, Bolton, Dennis and Tempest).

In the years leading up to the First World War Gibraltar witnessed its greatest period of military expansion. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 increased the strategic importance of the territory, now situated on the trade route between Britain and India. The construction of new dockyards began in 1894, and a 1906 reorganisation of the British Navy led to a fleet of eight battleships being stationed there (Jackson, 1987, 206). The ambitions of the German government to establish an empire in Africa prompted the British and French to enter into the Entente Cordiale of 1903, which aimed to reaffirm power in the two countries’ Mediterranean colonies. On 16 May 1907, Britain, France and Spain agreed to maintain the status quo in the Straits of Gibraltar; nevertheless, misunderstandings between the British and the Spanish continued. Most notable was a dispute over a border fence erected by the British around the rock in 1908 (Jackson, 1987, 261). However, among the local population, according to Jackson, a ‘pride in being British as well as Gibraltarian was already becoming evident’; as evidence he cites the fact that the people of Gibraltar were among the most loyal supporters of the British during the Boer War (Jackson, 1987, 261).

During the British takeover of Gibraltar the majority of the original Spanish population left the territory. In addition, the Treaties of Utrecht specified that ‘no leave shall be given under any pretence whatsoever, either to Jews or Moors, to reside or have their dwellings in the said town of Gibraltar’ (‘The Treaties of Utrecht (1713)’). Nevertheless, the town was soon inhabited by a variety of immigrants, among them British, Italians, Portuguese, Moroccans and Jews, as well as later Spanish arrivals. The Governor of Gibraltar at the time in which this film was made, General Sir Archibald Hunter, was out of step with the needs of this local community. He maintained that while he was governor, Gibraltar would be administered ‘as a fortress and not as a commercial bazaar’ (Jackson, 1987, 264). Although poverty and overcrowding existed on the island, modern municipal services had led to improved healthcare. Hunter, however, was not impressed with what he saw. He made it clear that he did not like the local population and that he considered their city to be dirty and untidy. Such attitudes led to him being recalled from his position in 1913 (Jackson, 1987, 264).