Harold Defries Bar Mitzvah

From the collection of

London’s Screen Archives is a network of over 50 organisations with a collective vision – to preserve and share London’s history on film. The network is managed by Film London and we work with our partners to digitise, preserve, and offer access to their moving image collections.

Harold Defries Bar Mitzvah

London’s Screen Archives
Redbridge
1960-01-01
Silent
8m

Some serious moves can be seen by guests of all ages in his lovely film showing the Bar Mitzah celebrations of Harold Defries in London in 1960.

1960 was the year of the twist and that is one of many moves on display at this Bar Mitzvah celebration in London. It starts so politely, with guests in evening dress formally welcomed by a doorman in red tailed jacket. Things get busier when the guest of honour arrives and he's dragged round the dance floor by an older relative. Soon, everybody's dancing – young and old – with many showing off the recently introduced twist and others jiving, waltzing or just generally boogieing.

1960 was the year of the twist and that is one of many moves on display at this Bar Mitzvah celebration in London. It starts so politely, with guests in evening dress formally welcomed by a doorman in red tailed jacket. Things get busier when the guest of honour arrives and he’s dragged round the dance floor by an older relative. Soon, everybody’s dancing – young and old – with many showing off the recently introduced twist and others jiving, waltzing or just generally boogieing.

Jewish Britain

Jewish life on screen: a century of insights and hidden histories

This collection uncovers insights, injustices and hidden histories across a century of Jewish life on British screens. It brings together documentary and first-person accounts of Jewish life in the UK, alongside historical dramas and artists’ work exploring the 20th century Jewish experience. The earliest surviving depictions of Jewish characters in British cinema offer a troubling insight into antisemitic representation, yet prejudice was later tackled head-on, with newsreels documenting the anti-fascist movement of the 1930s.

Drop in on joyous family weddings and community gatherings, and see the ways in which UK Jewry supported Jews young and old, and those fleeing persecution, in a selection of fascinating films from the 1900s to the 1980s.

This collection is generously supported by the Neil Kreitman Foundation, Shoresh Charitable Trust, John S Cohen Foundation, and Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation.