TOPICAL BUDGET 246-1 [Main Title]

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  • Title: TOPICAL BUDGET 246-1 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: NTB 246-1
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: I. Cyclist's Corps exercise. II. An American oil warehouse burns. III. May Queen ceremony. IV. Czechs demonstrate in London, ostensibly about the sinking of the Lusitania. V. A boy munitions worker.
  • Description: I. 'THE CYCLIST'S CORPS. The 25th County of London (Cyclists) carrying out 'An Attack' near their training headquarters in Middlesex.' Soldiers cycle past along a country road. Men fire prone from behind a barricade of bicycles set up across the road, while others crouch in a drainage ditch alongside. One man perches uncomfortably on a paling fence. An enemy column approaches from the opposite direction and, after dispersing at point blank range, overruns the position. There are some casualties, one man lying Saint Catherine-like on his bicycle. The attackers fall prone and fire past the camera after the fleeing defenders. II. 'U.S. WAREHOUSE FIRE. An enormous oil warehouse in the United States, is completely gutted, despite the efforts of the firemen to control the outbreak.' Hoses play streams of water onto burning building - the fire is obviously quite active. General scene of fire engines and hoses stretched across the ground. MCU as a fireman lays a ladder against wall of the warehouse. Firemen stand by the main entrance looking up, smoke billowing about them. III. 'LONDON'S MAY QUEEN. Miss Cecily Smith being crowned May Queen of London at Hayes Common.' Procession of 'Merrie England Children' with banners - small girls play violins. A May Queen of Norwood passes with her retinue. Miss Smith sits beneath a canopy on a wagon drawn by boys dressed in (?) Lincoln green. She is crowned - after some difficulty - with a flowered circlet. CU of Cecily - a helpful girl at frame left helps hold the crown in position. IV. 'LUSITANIA DAY. Czechs in native dress, and survivors of Germany's greatest crime of piracy, marching from the Embankment to Hyde Park.' Band precedes the parade which is led by a contingent from the British Empire Union. A large model of the Lusitania is drawn past in a glass-sided catafalque, followed by Czechs, some in national costume and many bearing banners and flags. Among the banners are 'WITH DEEPEST SORROW THE LONDON CZECHS REMEMBER LUSITANIA', 'HANG ALL PRO-GERMAN PEACEMONGERS', and - most to the point - 'SMASH HUNISH AUSTRIA, RESTORE FREE BOHEMIA'. A steady stream of London trams passes by in the background. V. 'BOY MUNITIONS WORKER. A capstan lathe at work, which is producing parts for searchlights. This machine is controlled by a thirteen year old schoolboy.' CU of a capstan lathe at work - it is clearly being operated by a woman who holds out the finished components for the camera. Cut to 3/4 rear profile of a young boy in charge of another lathe - in the background a man is busy at work with a hand file.
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: NTB 246-1
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM (NTB 246-1)
  • Featured Period: 1914-1918
  • Production Date: 1916-05-08
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: War Office (Production sponsor) Topical Film Company (Production company)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Smith, Cecily (person) British Army, London Regiment, Bn 25 (regiment/service) New York Fire Service (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: training, British military - combat (object name) transport, British military - 2/3 wheel: bicycle (object name) destruction, United States: fire in warehouse (object name) equipment, United States civilian - damage control: fire fighting equipment (object name) ceremonies, British - customary: May Queen (object name) politics, Czech - alternative: Lusitania protest (object name) equipment, British civilian - engineering: lathe (object name) industry, British - munitions (object name) Middlesex, England, UK (geography) New York, New York, United States of America (geography) GB, England & Hayes, Middx <Hayes Common> (geography) London, England, UK (geography) Children (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: 298 ft; Running time: 3 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    NTB 246-1

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