Detail

Title ID

8447

Collection ID

1196

Title

[The Soldier’s Courtship?] or [Tommy Atkins in the Park?]

Date

[1896 - 1898?]

Collection

Early Films

Genre/Type

Professional Fiction

Theme

Early film in the South East

Keywords

Leisure Time Activities Parks Old Age Play

Location

Local	London
Regional	Greater London
National	England United Kingdom

Credits

Production	Paul's Animatograph Works
Director	Robert W. Paul

Format

Black & White Silent

Duration

00:01:28:19

Summary

A couple get revenge on an old woman when she disturbs their privacy in this comedy by Robert Paul.

Description

A soldier and a nursemaid sit on a bench underneath a tree in a part. The maid lights the soldier's cigarette for him. The couple embrace and kiss each other. An old woman arrives and squeezes on the bench beside them, reading a book. The couple try to nudge her off the bench but she will not budge. The maid stands up and the soldier walks behind the bench, tipping it over so the woman falls forwards onto the floor. The couple laugh at the woman as she struggle to stand.

Related resources

Books

Barnes, John. The Beginnings of the Cinema in England 1894-1901. Five Volumes, n.p. University of Exeter Press

Date: 1996-1998 John Barnes’s archaeological study of early cinema charts its development between 1894 and 1901. Barnes founded the Barnes Museum of Cinematography with his brother William in the 1960s. The collection provided primary material for Barnes’s study of early cinema.

Low, Rachael. The History of the British Film 1896-1906. n.p. London: George Allen & Unwin

Date: 1948

Rossell, Deac. Living Pictures: The Origins of the Movies. n.p. Albany: State University of New York Press

Date: 1998

Barnouw, Erik. The Magician and the Cinema. n.p. New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press

Date: 1981 Investigation of the influence of magic on early film.

Gifford, Denis. British Animated Films. n.p. Jefferson/London: McFarland

Date: 1987

Collections

The Barnes Collection

Location: Hove Museum and Art Gallery Twins John and William Barnes founded the Barnes Museum of Cinematography in the 1960s. After the closure, the early part of the collection moved to Hove. The collection includes cameras, projectors and material relating to the Brighton School of film pioneers.
http://brightonmuseums.org.uk/discover/2015/02/26/the-barnes-brothers-collection/

Films

Location: BFI National Archive, British Film Institute, London Holds films made by Robert Paul.

Further Information on File at Screen Archive South East

BFI National Archive, copies kept on file SASE 950000.

Websites

Who’s Who of Victorian Cinema: Robert Paul

Biographical overview and further reading.
http://www.victorian-cinema.net/paul.htm

Who’s Who of Victorian Cinema: Brit Acres

Biographical overview and further reading.
http://www.victorian-cinema.net/acres.htm