IN THE WAKE OF CAPTAIN COOK [Main Title]

Log in to create clips, download free screeners and save clips/films in Collections. Click here to find out more.

  • Title: IN THE WAKE OF CAPTAIN COOK [Main Title]
  • Film Number: IWM 859
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: A visit by flying boat to Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island, Canada, early 1920s.
  • Description: The route traces one explored by Captain Cook in his search for the North-West Passage. Two flying boats start from Vancouver city on the mainland of British Columbia. One is of the Curtiss/Felixstowe types, probably a Felixstowe F5, and the other, with a single engine, is probably a Curtiss H5. A cine-cameraman fits his camera into the open-nosed cockpit of the F5. The planes take off and follow the shape of the island round to Friendly Cove, part of Nootka Sound, where they land. The "natives", North American Indians in European dress, watch as the planes taxi to the shore. A disconcerted old lady is offered a coin to pose for the camera. The children and younger people seem happier at being filmed than their elders. The village is made up of substantial, European-style timbered buildings with decorative totem poles outside them. One such pole has a timber effigy of Captain Cook at its top. The cemetery contains the carved headstones of departed chiefs, and various grave goods. The settlement has its own mission station. The planes take off from the village, "leaving behind a trail of amazed wonderment in the minds of its quaint inhabitants".
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM (IWM 859)
  • Featured Period: 1919-1938
  • Production Date: 1922
  • Production Country: Canada
  • Production Details: Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau (Production company)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords: aircraft, United States - seaplane: Curtiss flying boat & [Canadian] (object name) aircraft, British - seaplane: Felixstowe flying boat & [Canadian] (object name) society, Canadian - ethnic (object name) arts, Canadian - ethnic (object name) journalism and record, Canadian - cameraman (object name) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (geography) Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada (geography) Friendly Cove, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada (geography) Race (concept)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: English Subtitle language: English
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 708 ft; Running time: 12 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Notes: Remarks: how many of the Indians in this film had seen a camera or an aircraft before is a moot point, but they were clearly considerably more sophisticated than the commentary is trying to suggest. This is not a visit by a 'great white bird' to superstitious savages, despite the attempt to make it appear so
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    IWM 859

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:
Register