SHANGHAI DURING THE JAPANESE ATTACK ON CHINA [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: SHANGHAI DURING THE JAPANESE ATTACK ON CHINA [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: MGH 6535
  • Other titles: AMATEUR FILM BY FRANK GEORGE [Alternative Title]
  • Summary: Amateur film shot by "Frank" Anthony Hastings George (1886-1944), who as British Consul in Shanghai (1935-1938), recorded his peacetime travels in China and Japan, as well as scenes in the International Settlement of Shanghai before and during the start of the Sino-Japanese Incident from July 1937 to Spring 1938, including Shanghai Volunteer Corps parades and the Japanese entry into the city.
  • Description: Reel 1: (Can marked: Japan 1934) Views of mountainous landscape, shrines, Japanese lady in kimono and Japanese men in western dress, temples (Kyoto?) and lake scenes. Reel 2: (Can marked: China) Street scenes in Chinese city, showing market, Chinese Army officers and waiting rickshaws in a line. Season is wintry. Europeans pose for camera. Inspection of British troops by official with plumed hat (Consul-General?), presumably in Shanghai. Chinese village scenes. Great Wall of China. Ancient tombs. Now in Japan, George holding paper poses for camera standing in village street. Japanese schoolboys and schoolgirls pose for camera. Buddha statue. Japanese temple garden. Boat trip. Japanese girls in kimonos pose in springtime (1935). Fruit stall. More spring blossom scenes. Japanese women and children descend steps. Schoolchildren in uniform stare at camera. Ceremonial dance and procession through street. (Undated Agfa stock) Reel 3: (Spool marked: Japan then Vancouver) Scenes of rural life in Japan. Japanese Army soldiers march past. View of George and his wife (tall), posing with other Europeans. Temple at Nikko. End of reel shot in Canada at start of Canadian Pacific Railways journey. (1935) Reel 4: (Spool marked: Japan to Vancouver) Scenes in Canada filmed during return on leave to England: parade by Canadian Army veterans, flag at half-mast (following death of King George V on 20 January 1936?), Atlantic crossing past icebergs. (1935 Kodak stock) Reel 5: (Can marked: Marseilles to Shanghai) George records places visited on voyage out from England to Shanghai, probably in 1936 (black armbands worn by British in Ceylon in mourning for King George V, died 20 January 1936): Marseille, Suez Canal, Aden, Bombay, Colombo (Grand Oriental Hotel), Penang, Hong Kong and Shanghai (?). Reel 6: (Spool marked: Hangchow Trip, April 1936) [Hangzhou] Country excursion into bamboo forest by English doglovers in China precedes trip to Hangchow on motor boat travelling slowly along Grand Canal, passing beneath ornate Chinese bridges and past scenes of local life and shrines. George and his wife relax on the boat, which flies the Red Ensign. Chinese women spin, while Chinaman with boatload of cormorants (for fishing) passes. Reel 7: (Spool marked: Pony races. Shanghai up to Peking) Shanghai pony races. Railway journey, passing Chinese Army soldiers with stacked rifles, into interior of China. Great Wall of China. Valley of the Emperors. Street scenes in Peking (?) and panoramic views of the interior (almost deserted) of the Forbidden City. Chinese Army soldiers at a railway station. Reel 8: (Spool marked: "Ambassador's Farewell Parade, 1936. SVC Parade 1936. SVC Parade 1935. Frank's Farewell Review Aug 19 1936") British Army soldiers on parade. Official wearing plumed hat (British Consul-General or Ambassador?) inspects guard of honour then takes salute at marchpast by component forces of Shanghai Volunteer Corps, including Scottish regiment in kilts, followed by three armoured cars and artillery. Black armbands are worn by some soldiers. Reel 9: (Can marked: A H George. Spool marked: Shanghai - War. Japs cross Soochow creek at Jessfield. Armistice Day 1937. Pootung burning.) Scenes in Shanghai after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese Incident in July 1937 record Union Jack flying over British compound (Consulate?) and on roof, as Japanese bombs fall in distance. Japanese soldier holds pistol threateningly. British Army officers with Chinese civilians. Warships (US cruiser USS Augusta and British cruiser HMS Cumberland, moored in line ahead, 11 November 1937) and liner in the Whangpoo River. Japanese floatplane circles overhead. Red Cross flag flies over building for protection. Clock indicates time as 1.55 pm. Waterfront area of Pootung, opposite the Bund, blazes after Japanese shelling (occupied by Japanese on 11 November 1937) Reel 10: (Can marked: Shanghai Spring 1938. SVC Parade. Kirkwood and Hagen at Hung Jiao) Shanghai Racecourse. Wedding scenes outside church, and later in grounds of British club. Spring blossom and boating on lake. Shanghai Volunteer Corps parade watched by military attaches, including French and Italian. Famous golfers Australian Joe Kirkwood and American Walter Hagen at Hung Jiao course in Shanghai (already occupied by Japanese Army as command post) demonstrate their strokes to watching Europeans and some Chinese children, before demonstrating to Japanese soldiers how to play golf.
  • Alternative Title: AMATEUR FILM BY FRANK GEORGE [Alternative Title]
  • Colour: Colour
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: MGH 6535
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM (MGH 6535)
  • Featured Period:
  • Production Date: 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: George, "Frank" Anthony Hastings (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: Colour Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: None
  • Technical Details: Format: 16mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 10 Footage: 2890ft (ca); Running time: 107 mins (18 fps)
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    MGH 6535

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