Likely in June 1897, a group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.
The Battle of Arnhem, fought in the early autumn of 1944, remains without a doubt the most hotly debated battle of the North West European Campaign, both then and now. From its inception in the sixteen cancelled airborne operations during August, we will chart the problems, many of which were ignored by men desperate to get into battle, the compromises and mistakes that pitched lightly armed and ill equipped paratroopers and glider infantry into an unequal struggle against an SS panzer troops. We follow the eight mile route that 2 Para took to reach the bridge at Arnhem, slipping through the German defences.In Part 2, a separate film we look at their epic battle.
A 1936 documentary film about the London to Portsmouth railway. A lesser known contemporary of Night Mail, also featuring the music of Benjamin Britten and poetry of W.H. Auden.
Different species of fish and frogs, inside an aquarium.
Marquesas in their sedan chairs.
Lyon, Men rescue rabbits from flood.
A crowd of spectators listen to President William McKinley's speech during his inauguration ceremony outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
19th century carnival ride.
People gather at the exit of the St. Trophime cathedral in Arles.
Pedestrian and various vehicles traffic on Place Bellecour, in Lyon.
Horses and their riders make their way into the compact and agitated crowd of spectators.
The main market square in the heart of Brussels.
Coach W. Hickenbotham takes "Newhaven" out of his box and places the horse at the center of the paddock. Gardiner, the jockey, saddles up the horse, rides it and begins to spin, slowly.
Panorama during the ascent of the Eiffel Tower.
A street scene in Berlin near Hallesches Tor.
Panorama of the port of Algiers.
A street scene with a government building in the background.
Carrara, Italy. A train loaded with marble exits a tunnel.
A small boat is approaching waterfalls, shrouded in thick fog, in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland.
A group of women dressed up as Commedia dell'Arte characters dance together.