Detail
Collection Bognor Regis Film Society / Guermonprez
Summary
This collection comprises over 50 films offering a unique portrait of life in Bognor in the 1920s and 1930s by Harry Guermonprez, co-founder of the Bognor Regis Film Society.
Collection ID | 1093 | Reference code | WS 090507 |
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Title | Bognor Regis Film Society / Guermonprez | ||
Dates | 1920s - 1930s | ||
Production | Harry Guermonprez | ||
Materials | FILM FILM EQUIPMENT EPHEMERA 9.5mm 16mm | ||
Access status | Contact Screen Archive South East for details |
Description
The Harry Guermonprez film collection dating from the 1920s and 1930s includes beach scenes in Bognor in the 1920s; various weddings in the town; a ladies’ motorcycle race in 1927; the visit by HM King George V in 1929 and several fiction, documentary, transport and local actuality films. The films were principally shot by local historian and naturalist Harry Guermonprez, who later went on to become co-founder of the Bognor Regis Film Society from 1938.
Guermonprez was a photographer by trade; first in Bognor where he managed one of the chemists and photography shops (seen in TID: 8157) owned by Edward Cleeves, and then in Chichester, where he set up Chichester Photographic Services. After the Second World War he photographed scenes taken in and around the city, many of them for the Chichester Observer. His collection of hundreds of glass plate negatives are now held at the West Sussex Record Office. See also the Bognor Regis Film Society collection CID: 694
Films in this collection:
Showing 1 to 15 of 49 results.
![[Bognor Day Trippers; Trooping the Colour] (1920s) A Still from [Bognor Day Trippers; Trooping the Colour] (1920s)](/wp-content/uploads/films/8183/image_a_thumb.jpg)
[Bognor Day Trippers; Trooping the Colour]
Date | [ca. 1920s] | ID | 8183 |
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A short film made by members of the Bognor Regis Film Society during the 1920s. The first part shows day-trippers visiting Bognor Regis and the second part features scenes of Trooping the Colour in London.
[Arundel]
Date | [ca. 1920s?] | ID | 8144 |
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A film showing a man walking down a rural lane smoking a cigarette, cutting to a shot of two men and a woman in portrait eating a banana in the countryside.
The SS Mango at Selsey
Date | [ca. 1920s - early 1930s] | ID | 8164 |
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This film appears to be a compilation of fragments and outtakes. Scenes include: men sitting on deckchairs on a beach; views of a stormy coastline at Bognor; boats at sea; a bi-plane landing; a man leaving a cricket pavilion; a series of intertitles documenting both a Scouting event and the SS Mango at Bognor but without the related footage.
[Bognor High Tide]
Date | [ca. 1920s?] | ID | 8145 |
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This two film compilation shows a very brief shot of a car driving through a flooded street in Bognor, followed by intertitled scenes showing a woman carding some wool; spinning wool by hand and later using a spinning 'Jenny' wheel before weaving cloth using a loom; end title.
[Goodwood Races]
Date | [ca. 1920s?] | ID | 8146 |
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This film shows views of Goodwood race track, with crowds sat on the grassy bank and litter scattered on the grass. Cars entering through a gate; closing with several horses entering the track.
[Two Women]
Date | [ca. 1920s] | ID | 8139 |
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This short excerpt from a Bognor Regis Film Society production features a woman on stage, being undressed by a man disguised as an old woman. The woman only realises the deception when all her clothing has been removed and she is nude. An intertitle reads: 'Horreur! Cette vieille est un vilain Monsieur! Sortez!!!' [Translated: Horror ! This is an ugly old man! Get Out!!!]. The film has been damaged so the visual quality is poor.
![Arundel [Swanbourne Lake] (1920s) A still from Arundel [Swanbourne Lake] (1920s)](/wp-content/uploads/films/8138/image_a_thumb.jpg)
Arundel [Swanbourne Lake]
Date | [ca. 1920s] | ID | 8138 |
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This short intertitled film begins shots of busy traffic on a street in Arundel in the 1920s. Several motorbikes and cars pass by. The film then shows people feeding swans and peacocks on Swanbourne Lake. The image is somewhat muddy and dark.
[Goodwood [?]]
Date | [ca. 1920s?] | ID | 8147 |
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A compilation showing a country road filmed from a moving vehicle; views of the Goodwood track and estate; portraits of two men and a woman sat on grass; followed by views of a village from a moving vehicle [?].
[Reynolds Store [?]; Child on High Street]
Date | [ca.1920s?] | ID | 8165 |
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This compilation shows a man walking with a young child in a harness on a seaside promenade [Bognor?] surrounded by a large crowd of people; the child runs out of shot. The film closes with portrait shots of the man holding the child. [shot seems to repeat?]
[Tea]
Date | [ca. 1920s] | ID | 8140 |
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In this very short film we see a table set for a wedding reception, with a wedding cake being cut. The bride and groom drive away in their car, while guests gather on the street to throw confetti as they leave Other street traffic is seen as they pull out of the driveway. The film is damaged and so the visual quality is poor.
[Girls in Garden]
Date | [ca. 1920s?] | ID | 8166 |
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This short film shows a young woman and a young girl playing a game of croquet [?] in a large garden. Shots are shaky and not well framed.
[Steam Train]
Date | [ca. 1920s?] | ID | 8167 |
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A compilation of very short shots that include a view of an approaching steam locomotive from a railway bridge, a shot of the sky; a group of men [Naval seamen in dress uniforms?] in a field at a distance from the camera - one with a pick-axe digging (?); closing with a bi-plane flying over head.
![[Wedding] (1920s) A still from [Wedding] (1920s)](/wp-content/uploads/films/8141/image_a_thumb.jpg)
[Wedding]
Date | [ca. 1920s] | ID | 8141 |
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A short film of a 1920s wedding. The film shows traffic in the road outside a church, bridesmaids arriving carrying flowers and the arrival of the bride. The bride and groom emerge from the church after the ceremony and leave in a car. The bridesmaids and guests pose on the steps of the church for the camera.

Southampton Ferry
Date | [ca. 1920s?] | ID | 8148 |
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A series of shots showing an open deck ferry at Southampton, approaching to dock to allow vehicles to disembark. On the ferry are several men on bicycles and foot passengers. The film then shows a De Havilland DH60X Moth aircraft [G-EBVC?] on the water with a naval vessel behind, followed by a view of the dockside. The film is somewhat murky.
[Family in Garden]
Date | [ca. 1920s?] | ID | 8149 |
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A short compilation showing a family group with a wheelbarrow in a domestic garden, playing together with the grass cuttings. Several older family members and a Labrador dog join in the game.
Showing 1 to 15 of 49 results.