Lieutenant Pimple and the Stolen Submarine
- Twickenham
- 1914
On the brink of invasion, holidaymakers promenade while refugees shelter in beach huts on the Belgian coastline in 1914.
The summer of 1913 saw the last big bash of the belle époque at the World's Fair in Ghent, advertised in the background of this film. One year on, Germany's invasion of neutral Belgium brought the world's attention back to a very different scene. This topical travelogue clings nervously to the coast, while the promenading and larks in the sea are contrasted with the refugees in beach huts.
The outbreak of war in July 1914 came as a shock to most. But from our privileged position today, we can find among the films produced in the early 1910s scattered hints of the looming conflict that would split Europe in two.
One ominous sign was the proliferation of stories of international espionage and intrigue (played as drama or comedy), while newsreels offer evidence of the prominence of the armed forces in British society. Even so, the overwhelming majority of films of the period point to a nation blissfully unaware of the horrors to come.