Amateur film made by Viscount Hinchingbrooke on a world cruise 1924/5 from San Francisco to the Far East and India.

In August 1924 Victor Montagu, Viscount Hinchingbrooke, aged 17, and his grandmother, the Countess of Sandwich, left Southampton for a world cruise. This home movie made by Hinchingbrooke begins in San Francisco, September 1924, boarding the SS China, stopping over in Honolulu and playing deck games on board. There are scenes taken in the streets of Peking, China, and in Hong Kong harbour; scenes taken at the Jami Masjid mosque in Delhi, India, where there is a long shot of crowds in collective worship; scenes of the Viceregal Palace in Delhi where Lady Lytton is sitting out on a veranda; there is a polo match in Calcutta where Lord Lytton is apparently playing. The final scenes show Hinchingbrooke and Sir Edwin Lutyens on board ship.

Notes

Documentation/associated material: see John Montagu folder.

Remarks: the Indian footage is the most fascinating here, especially the polo match and the Viceregal Palace at Delhi.

Summary: this is one of the earliest examples of a 16mm home movie, as the 16mm film format was only introduced in 1922.