Blackfriars Bridge
Top-hatted pedestrians and horse-drawn traffic pass over Blackfriars Bridge in London
This 'actuality' film of Blackfriars Bridge in London was taken by pioneer Victorian R.W. Paul in July 1896, with his camera positioned at the southern end looking northwards over the Thames. It was screened as part of his Alhambra Theatre programme shortly afterwards - certainly no later than 31 August, as it's included in a printed programme of that date (as Traffic on Blackfriars Bridge). Two or three of the pedestrians seem aware of the camera's presence.
Robert Paul: Giant of Early Film
The most prolific filmmaker of the pioneer period of British film
The multi-talented Robert Paul (1869-1943) was the first British filmmaker to project film for a paying audience, in 1896. A contemporary of the Lumiere brothers, Paul had been producing film, in partnership with Birt Acres, for his own brand of Kinetoscope viewer since April 1895. Shortly after, he began producing for his Theatrograph and Animatographe machines, enjoying a long run at the Alhambra in Leicester Square. As an engineer, Paul made a number of significant innovations - such as an intermittent mechanism for efficiently projecting film. But he also made key innovations in film language, such as the first two-shot fiction film, Come Along Do! (1898). To cap it all, he was a shrewd businessman, with an instinctive grasp of audience tastes.
51 videos in this collection
Aberdeen University Quatercentenary Celebrations
Drat That Boy!
The "?" Motorist
Blackfriars Bridge
Extraordinary Cab Accident
The Dancer's Dream
The Medium Exposed? Or, A Modern Spiritualistic Seance
The Derby
A Miner's Daily Life
Footpads
Coronation Durbar at Delhi
A Lively Quarter-day
The Waif and the Wizard; or, The Home Made Happy
The Launch of H.M.S. Albion
Nurses Attending the Wounded
Breakers
The Training of Infantry
Scrooge; Or, Marley's Ghost
Comic Costume Race
Come Along, Do!
Gordon Highlanders Leaving for the Boer War
Up the River
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Paul (St Paul's: South 3)
The Kiddies' Cakewalk
Robbery
Two A.M.; Or, The Husband's Return
Sirdar's Reception at Guildhall
Rough Sea at Dover
Rocky Shore
Surprising a Picket
Tom Merry, Lightning Cartoonist, Sketching Kaiser Wilhelm II
Undressing Extraordinary; Or, The Troubles of a Tired Traveller
Tetherball, Or Do-do
Mr. Pecksniff Fetches the Doctor
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee - Paul - St Paul's South - Arrival of Queen's Carriage
Tommy Atkins in the Park
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Paul (St Paul's: South 4)
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee - Paul - York Road - Front of Procession
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Paul (York Road 1)
The Gordon Highlanders
The Twins' Tea Party
His only Pair
A Delhi Durbar
The Extraordinary Waiter
The Deonzo Brothers
Royal Train
Artistic Creation
His Brave Defender
Queen Victoria's Jubilee
