1914 on Film

A handsome steam launch ferries the future PM downriver to the luxury yacht 'Enchantress'.

Two budding photographers enjoy a day's happy snapping in this quaint comedy caper.

The campaign for women's suffrage steps up as Emmeline Pankhurst is arrested at the gates of Buckingham Palace.

An aeronautical accident is caught on camera at a Parisian 'Aéro-Parc'.

Skilled artist Lancelot Speed brings his cartoons to life to mock the German navy at the start of WWI.

Swimming champion Walter Brickett enters the record books with an incredible feat of physical endurance.

Blissful scenes of tourists arriving by boat and then sea bathing on a beach in the Venetian lagoon.

Talented and obedient Red Cross dogs prepare to rescue Berlin's wounded from the Front.

Two gifted servants perform magical feats for their employer with the aid of some impressive cinematic trick effects.

Mixing lightning sketches with animation, this propaganda cartoon comes to life in defence of the British fighting force of 1914.

Ear-to-ear grins prove that an army marches on its stomach in this poignant film of young WWI reservists at a field kitchen far from home.

Colonial troops greet London's new Lord Mayor in a patriotic wartime ceremony.

A visit to the famous Brooklands race track in Weybridge, Surrey, where Saturday afternoon crowds gather for the big race.

A memorial to Lord Nelson in Trafalgar Square inspires new heroes as war rages again in Europe.

A hospital ship is tragically wrecked off the North Yorkshire coast during World War I.

Legendary theatrical actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree steps back in time as guest of honour at a historical pageant in East Sussex.

Exotic visitors cause a stir at West London's Brompton Cemetery

Lovingly rendered version of a traditional Welsh folk tale of thwarted romance, set in 17th-century Cefn Ydfa.

Cut! An aspiring thespian runs amok on a film set in this slapstick silent comedy.

British submarine inspection at Spithead just before the start of World War I. This was issued in December after a sub sunk a ship in the Dardanelles action of 1914.

Poignant scenes of Allied troops enjoying their Yuletide rations at the first Christmas of WWI.

Gregarious tramp Winky tries to get one over on the local innkeeper in this daft silent comic short.

An inventor develops a magnifying glass that can see though solid objects, but when he uses it on his family it proves more curse than boon...

Rare shots of the London Scottish Battalion, also known as 'Cockney Jocks' or 'Piccadilly Allsorts', fresh from a gallant victory at Ypres.

Beautiful and chilling newsreel pictures of the worst maritime disaster in Canadian history.

Belgium's defiance in the face of German occupation is poignantly captured in one long take.

A comedy clot takes up phrenology and tries to find his ideal partner by feeling the bumps on women's heads, only to end up as a cannibal's dinner.

Retreating Belgian troops arrive in Ostend in the wake of the Siege of Antwerp.

Extraordinary early WWI footage of Belgian army delaying the German advance - aided by bicycles, armoured cars and machine-gun pulling dogs.

20th century golf measures up against its own past in an intriguing match play game.

A vicar is caught flirting with an improperly-dressed chorus girl in this saucy silent comedy.

Scots soldiers are drilled in trench warfare techniques in leafy English countryside.

Moving theatre-set Christmas tale of a former dancer and her child

Munitions workers down tools, weeks before Britain enters WWI.

Ernest Shackleton's sledge-dogs pause to promote 'Spratt's Dog Cakes', en route to the South Pole.

"East is east and west is west": an Indian maharajah falls for an Englishwoman with disastrous consequences in this early fiction short.

Bizarre comedy in which an overfed diner has a peculiar dream involving a spectre and magical gloves.

Boxing stars Georges Carpentier and 'Gunboat' Smith pull the crowds ahead of their title bout for the World White Heavyweight Championship.

Striking WWI scenes demonstrating a wary Belgian army's treatment of German prisoners - and newsreel cameramen...

Moving scenes of wartime devastation in the historic Belgian city of Ypres.

Private Daly of the Connaught Rangers triumphs in the Aldershot Command annual cross country race, months before the outbreak of WWI.

Enjoy the chilly thrills and spills of a bobsleigh ride in an exclusive New York suburb.

Spectacular feats of early aviation at Hendon Aerodrome, North London.

An impressive WWI German field gun exhibited in the grounds of the War Office stands testament to the gains made by allied forces in Europe.

Rare film of soldiers working out before heading to the battlefields.

Recruits of Lord Kitchener's 'New Army' parade on Christmas morning.

A bungling bumpkin fails at a number of jobs in this slapstick comedy - before he finds his true calling.

HMS Benbow and Fairfield shipyard on the Clyde welcomes the King, Queen and Princess Mary.

A tantalising fragment from a drama of love and jealousy on the North Devon coast.

A rare glimpse of the WWI enemy at rest for British audiences

Alternative Ulster: a village pageant with a difference

A muted newsreel tribute to Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand - victim of an assassin's bullet in an event that would soon take Europe to war.

The police of Mexico City are given arms during the Mexican Revolution, but seem somewhat unconvincing in this ceremonial parade.

An introduction to the wonders of the automobile for curious WWI enlisties.

King George V reviews the British fleet at Spithead in July 1914, as Britain steels herself for war.

Newsreel cameras capture huge crowds thronging the Paris streets for the funeral of an assassinated newspaper editor.

Lord and lady reformers crusade for Dublin's civic advancement.

Early Vivaphone film capturing a jolly music hall routine about a maharajah's visit to London, made to be screened with a synchronised sound disc.

The ruins of an unnamed Belgian town early in WWI.

Belgian soldiers and civilian refugees gather in Ostend in early WWI, before evacuating to England.

A wartime call-to-arms performed by the Band of the Grenadier Guards.

Grinning Canadian troops arrive in England.

A moving eulogy to British ships sunk by the German navy in the early months of WWI.

Vigilant young Sea Scouts support the war effort by keeping a watchful eye on Britain's coastline.

Silent British star Alma Taylor finds love in this dramatic short, which packs forgery, blackmail and romance into its 15-minute running time.

Wonderfully clear newsreel pictures of a parade through Mexico City during the Mexican Revolution.

A grand turn out for the last Henley Royal Regatta before World War I.

Belgian infantry and artillery defend Antwerp against the besieging German army in an early battle of World War I.

George V and Queen Mary swap flowers for medals at an annual Fire Brigade display in Hyde Park.

A clumsy oversized cyclist causes chaos in this knockabout silent comedy.

Britannia rules the waves! Scenes of a battleship at gunnery practice, with fine shots of the guns firing.

Gun-toting Miss Wallace outshoots her fellow marksmen at the Imperial Rifle Meet at Bisley, Surrey.

Stage stars 'do their bit' at a charity fundraising fete.

Traditional pomp attends the reopening of the law courts, where bench and bar are on show

Children steal the show at a solemn South London procession.

Sir Edward Carson speeds through an inspection of members of the Ulster Volunteer Force before hot-footing it to London for urgent talks on the Home Rule crisis.

Legendary Punch cartoonist Harry Furniss leads a pictorial tour of the beautiful East Sussex town.

In Flanders fields - this educational compilation of WWI footage tries to teach the most important lesson of all: never again

A filmic record of Sir Herbert Tree’s legendary stage performance as Svengali.

A sneak peek at the shires of Shrewsbury on display for the King’s visit to the county fair

A winter paradise in the Peak District: beautifully-composed shots of snow-clad Buxton.

Princess Louise gets a rowdy reception as she lays the foundation stone for the new Marylebone Town Hall

Ulster’s loyalists on the march, on the final 12th July of the World War One years.

Cartoon drawings come to life to haunt the German Emperor in a witty piece of WWI propaganda.

Soon to be ex-champion Willie Ritchie prepares for his title bout with Freddie Walsh.

Richly detailed evocation of Hans Christian Andersen's heart-breaking parable.