SCENES IN INDIA AT TIME OF INDEPENDENCE [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: SCENES IN INDIA AT TIME OF INDEPENDENCE [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: MGH 6890
  • Other titles: SEVENTH CAPITAL - A 16MM TRAVELOGUE [Alternative Title] AMATEUR FILM BY HARRY PAYNE [Alternative Title]
  • Summary: Reel combines a travelogue showing the main historic sights of Delhi with a compilation of significant military and ceremonial events in the Indian capital prior to Indepence in 1947, all recorded by Harry Payne, a British architect who had been posted to India during the Second World War.
  • Description: SEVENTH CAPITAL Titles identify following landmarks of Old and New Delhi, reflecting capital's central position in Indian history. Map of Old and New Delhi traces locations of following named sites. "Chandni Chowk": market stalls and traders in Old Delhi, contrasting appearance of various Indian "types", varied forms of street transport (gharry, buses, trolley tram), varied street activities including girl musician playing accordion and man with performing black bear. Exterior of church, with metal orb below cross showing jagged holes (gunfire?). "Red Fort" (Lal Quila), with Union Jack flying over battlements and British Army soldiers on guard. Cameraman Harry Payne, with cigarette, looks though viewfinder of 16mm Ciné Kodak Special on tripod. "Jumma Masjid": distant and closer views of the mosque. "Mutka Tomb". "Purana Quila" (Old Fort): camel train passes in foreground. "Lodi Tombs": camera pans over building and records two English women entering "Memorial Arch" (India Gate). Lutyens War memorial of 1924 (commemorating 70000 Indian losses in First World War), with Canopy in foreground housing statue of King George V [removed after Independence]. Harry Payne stands smoking pipe beside man with sketch pad, with memorial in background. "Secretariat" Two Army open trucks with Indian Army soldiers in red uniforms drive towards main government buildings, then viewed from all angles. Union Jack flies over central dome. Indian Army soldiers wearing turbans mount steps. Memorial column inscribed South Africa to India MCMXXX (1930). "Viceregal Gardens": Indians and British, including Harry Payne holding Ciné Kodak, pass by. Flowers in Jekyll grounds, and fountains. Payne and fellow cameraman towards camera. "Old Observatory": views of angular stepped structure of Jantar Mantar astronomical observatory. "All-India Radio" Broadcasting House of modern design, with AIR symbol carved in stone. "Connaught Place": BBC sign on end of arcade indicates location of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the Indian capital. THE END at 16.15. (Black screen for several seconds.) Scenes at a Victoria Cross/George Cross investiture in Delhi, October 24 1944. Indian troops gather, shaking hands with Indian officer; they then get into trucks to go to the event. Scenes in Delhi with troops on parade near India Gate (memorial to George V can be seen in the background). Logo for AIR (All India Radio) precedes view of a small reel-to-reel tape recorder in operation, and a sign saying "Press". General views of the event including spectators gathering and a shot of a small Indian boy wearing a suit. Arrival by car of Lady Wavell, the wife of the Viceroy Lord Wavell, who is greeted. A second car arrives; Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck, Commander-in-Chief India gets out and is greeted by senior officer; he takes the salute. Also seen saluting is a Scottish soldier (Royal Scots Dragoon Guards ?) wearing a glengarry. Final car arrives, flying a British flag. Out of it steps the Viceroy, Field Marshal Lord Wavell – he also takes the salute. Announcements and formal speeches are given (no sound). A large number of cameramen (British and Indian) are recording the event. Young woman in a headscarf is presented with a medal; she is led away by a British officer. (Note Royal Indian Navy honour guard in the background.) The next investiture shown is the posthumous VC of Abdul Hafiz; his widow, Jugri Begum, wearing a full-length white burqa, receives the medal from Lord Wavell. Next, the widow of Subadar Subramanian receives his posthumous George Cross. The other VC presentations on that day are not shown, although a tall Indian officer is presented with an unidentified award, filmed by an Indian cameraman with a Newman Sinclair camera. Shots of spectators: amongst them are a US Army officer and a Nationalist Chinese woman. Field Marshal Wavell inspects the troops and takes salute at a marchpast. After the ceremony, Lady Wavell greets Indian princes and officers, and talks to the women presented above. Lord and Lady Wavell depart together in the same car, with a motorcycle outrider. (Black screen for several seconds.) Guard on horseback, and horse drawn carriage (first couple of shots very underexposed). The ceremonial horse guard outside the Viceroy's Palace. Car arrives in the grounds of the Palace, and Lord and Lady Mountbatten get out. The open-topped horse-drawn carriage arrives. Parade with Scots troops (Royal Scots Dragoon Guards ?) is inspected by Lord Mountbatten, who is in full ceremonial white uniform with medals. Mounted soldiers stand by in line (in the foreground, two press photographers fumble with their cameras). Mountbatten continues his inspection, as people watch from balconies and there is a mixed group of spectators on the ground nearby. Indian guardsmen. Film then cuts to a shot of Lord and Lady Wavell getting out of a car (clearly shot at a different, earlier date, as Wavell departed from India at the time of Mountbatten's arrival, 24 March 1947). (Black screen for several seconds.) Group of Indian men gathered together; one of them is presented with a small wooden decorative box by a British officer. Camera pans across the line of men, who are in suits and are well groomed, mainly with brilliantined hair although some have turbans and one wears a solar topee. Some smile for the camera. Cut to brief shot of the interior of a railway carriage, where a balding man (Harry Payne himself) smokes a cigarette and looks out of the window (GIP logo on antimacassar suggests Great Indian Peninsula Railway). View from ship of the shoreline at Bombay (Mumbai) including the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Gateway to India. Views of the quayside from above: vendors set up their wares Group of crewmen in fezzes. Scenes on deck during voyage: sunbathing, deck games, soldiers promenading. Small boats containing tradesmen come alongside. Coastal town (unidentified) seen from the sea; train at the dockside (long shot). Entry into the Suez Canal; further tradesmen's boats alongside: they sell bags to passengers, passing them up to the deck on ropes. Another tradesman sells sponges. Ships, both civilian and naval, seen. Various views of Port Said, including the Suez Port Authority Building and the De Lesseps Statue. The ship reaches England, and passes Spitbank Fort. Close-up shots of various passengers, some in uniform. Promenade on deck. Shots of bridge. Various shots at sea as the voyage nears its end and the ship docks at Southampton; flying boats in the water, liners at dock (people wave from a passing ship), families are lined up on the quayside. Gangway is put into place for disembarkation. (Black screen for several seconds.) Sequence set in a room; an Indian couple talk. Guests (three Englishmen, one of them Harry Payne) arrive individually and the party sits around a small table. They drink beer and talk. Later, servants set the dinner table for a meal and the five people take their seats and are served soup, a meat dish and cake (cut-in shots of the kitchen show the meal being prepared). Afterwards, the group enjoy cigarettes and more drink. A servant brings garlands of flowers which are put around the necks of the guests and hosts. (Black screen for several seconds.) Edited scene with Harry Payne at an Indian airport. He gets on board a Tata Airlines aircraft and takes his seat in the empty cabin. Alongside, a second aircraft Indian National Airways Vickers 604 Viking 1B VT-CEJ) is on the tarmac, with British and Indian passengers boarding. It taxies and takes off. He looks out of the porthole (interior and exterior shots, suggesting considerable staging); he smokes a cigarette. Aerial views of Indian landscape, including townships and mountain gorges. The aircraft back on the tarmac; Harry Payne disembarks. (The Viking aircraft VT-CEJ is seen again (and other aircraft). Final shot is in a darkened room, where Harry Payne stands with a cine projector; he mouths the words "That's all... "
  • Alternative Title: SEVENTH CAPITAL - A 16MM TRAVELOGUE [Alternative Title] AMATEUR FILM BY HARRY PAYNE [Alternative Title]
  • Colour: Colour
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: MGH 6890
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1944-1947
  • Production Country:GB
  • Production Details:Payne, Harry George (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics:Colour format: Colour Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details:16mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Length: 1200ft (ca)
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    MGH 6890

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