Lieutenant Pimple and the Stolen Submarine
- Twickenham
- 1914
A grand turn out for the last Henley Royal Regatta before World War I.
The 1914 Henley Royal Regatta was as popular as ever despite the war clouds gathering. Staged annually since 1839, Henley is a solid British tradition awash with prestige and ceremony: perfect fare for the newsreels. Boaters and bow-ties abound in these charming scenes of well-to-do spectators surveying the action from the vantage of their punts. And you can just see some rowing in the background!
High-profile international sporting contests roused Britain's patriotism then as now. In 1914, the home teams clearly didn't fare so well, with Harvard Athletic Association winning the Grand Challenge Cup and Italians winning the Diamond. Perhaps that's why the camera focuses on the crowds, all-but ignoring the action. This would be the last Henley Regatta until the end of the First World War in 1919.
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.