Britain Prepared

On September 28th, 1903, the Urban Mountaineering Expedition, headed by Frank Ormiston-Smith, left Zermatt to attempt the conquest of the Matterhorn. On the 29th, the conquest was completed by the filming of the panorama from the actual summit of the mountain. The film consists of 20 scenes and illustrates the whole ascent from Zermatt through the Hornli Ridge. A copy of the film was found in Zermatt in 1953 and was was erroneously attributed to Frederick Burlingham and dated 1901. Since then, the film has been widely publicized as the first mountain film under the title of 'Cervin 1901', but this is incorrect. Ormiston previously had made 'Alpine series' (1901), 'The ascent of Mont Blanc' (1902), 'Climbing the Great Schreckhorn' (1902) and 'Ascent of the Jungfrau' (1903). The pictures and descriptions of the Charles Urban Trading 1903 film catalogue show without any doubt that 'Ascent of the Matterhorn' and 'Cervin 1901' are the same film.

1906, produced by Charles Urban, cinematography by Frank Ormiston-Smith.

A nature documentary depicting the variety of changes undergone by plants and animals as the seasons of the year change. A deer is shown shedding his antlers, then growing new ones, while other examples of flora and fauna go through corollary changes.

A documentary and propaganda film which shows the British Army's preparations for, and the early stages of, the battle of the Somme.

"Percy Smith (1880-1944) was world famous as a photographer of plant life. Probably the first British example of time-lapse photography as applied to the growth of plants." Monthly Film Bulletin, November 1955.

Using a futuristic submarine, pirates kidnap a young couple, torpedo a passenger ship, travel under the sea to salvage bullion, then make their escape by taking to the air.

A proto-"documentary" film depicting workers of a mine owned by the Wilgan Coal and Iron Company

With a dual motion a cruise ship and a fishing boat pass one another on the Nile and butlers in turbans set up a wooden gangway. Thanks to a rope and pulley system cows climb skywards then disappear into the hold of the sailing vessel. On the bank, black-haired women rock back and forth, bursting out laughing and showing the first signs of going into a state of trance. Never-before filmed gestures and faces of the people of the Nile succeed one another, uprooted to an unknown, magical world. The Banks of the Nile is one of the first experiments of film in colour that uses the Kinemacolor process.

King Edward VII's coronation ceremony.

The 280 different views comprising this series depict sights along a route over the most important thoroughfares of London, not merely showing street scenes with the principle edifices, monuments, bridges, etc., but include “snapshots” of the various human types and their different occupations and pleasures to be found in all the districts touched upon in our “Bioscopic Ramble,” from fashionable West End London to the slums of Whitechapel etc.

An intensely unhappy woman hatches a plot to switch the babies of a poor family and a rich family. But the nurse hired to pull off this transfer refuses to go through with it, leaving each baby with its proper family. When the babies are grown, the man from the poor family (who has been led to believe that he did come from the rich family) goes to the house of the other and throws him out. The remainder of the film deals with the frustrations of mistaken identity.

An early British Kinemacolor short, in which delicate tones and shades of color are beautifully reproduced in examples of highly cultivated sweet pea flowers.

This film footage of the Ziegler North Pole expedition was reissued in Britain by Charles Urban in 1909 when all things Polar were of almost obsessive interest to the British film-going public.

Documents one of the most important wrestling matches of the early 20th century between the legendary Estonian strongman Georg Hackenschmidt and the American Joe Rogers. Originally filmed in February 1908 and produced by the well-known Charles Urban, this rare footage is a significant find that offers an authentic glimpse into the golden age of wrestling. The only known film footage of a wrestling match featuring the legendary Estonian wrestler Georg Hackenschmidt, who wins this two-round title match.

Holidaymakers setting out from Glasgow, and travelling by train and steamer down the coast to Rothesay and Ettrick Bay.

A travelogue of the largest and most eastern of the great lakes of Northern Italy, enclosed by Alpine ridges on both sides, and dividing the Austrian Tyrol from the old Italian provinces of Venetia and Lombardy. This color film was made by the Natural Color Kinematograph Company in 1910. Back then, the northern tip of Lake Garda belonged to Austria-Hungary. Many of the buildings shown still stand today.