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Dramatised account of Chinese rebels' violent confrontation with Christian missionaries, made in the wake of the Boxer Rebellion.
War 1900 1 mins Silent
These fictionalised scenes of Chinese 'Boxer' rebels attacking a Christian mission station were filmed by Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon in and around their home town of Blackburn. The Boxers were a Chinese secret society dedicated to expelling foreigners, particularly Christian missionaries, from China. Some of the actors here make less than convincing rebels, even dead ones!
This film was also known as Boxer Attack on a Missionary Outpost. Competing filmmaker James Williamson went to considerable lengths to ensure that his version, Attack on a China Mission, would be more dramatic, with authentic gunshots and explosions. Reconstructions of topical events like this were fairly common in early film, and Mitchell & Kenyon made several. They are sometimes described as 'fake' actuality films, although audiences were probably under no illusions that what they were seeing was genuine footage of the events depicted.
Comedy 1900 1 mins Silent
Early comedy in which a cruel joke is played on an old maid
War 1900 1 mins Silent
A grisly early fictional reconstruction inspired by atrocity stories from China's Boxer Rebellion.
Drama 1899 1 mins Silent
The first ever Shakespearean film - once thought to be lost - with Herbert Beerbohm Tree in the title role.
Pornography 1896 1 mins Silent
A treat for Victorian voyeurs - and Britain's oldest erotic film?
Drama 1900 1 mins Silent
A faithless wife, with a penchant for men in uniform, entertains a sailor before her policeman husband comes home.
Comedy 1901 3 mins Silent
Rare production footage of an early 'trick' film with a famous music hall performer.
Non-Fiction 1924 12 mins Silent Location: Blackburn
A show of scouting skills in Blackburn, Lancashire.
Current affairs 1976 26 mins Location: Blackburn
A fiery and harrowing investigation into the rise of the far-right in Blackburn
Documentary 1973 17 mins Location: Mottram in Longdendale
Matchstick men and so much more - the work and world of Lawrence Stephen Lowry, recorder of the industrial north.
Amateur film 1950 12 mins Silent Location: Blackburn
Mill workers and machines - a detailed look at the Lancashire textile industry.
Documentary 1976 25 mins Location: Norwich
An enjoyably odd public information film shot on the streets of Blackburn, Norwich and Oxford.
Non-Fiction 1905 13 mins Silent Location: Blackburn
A majestic Blackpool monument to Queen Victoria is unveiled by Princess Louise.
Non-Fiction 1898 1 mins Silent
The Victorian great and good mark the passing of a political titan
Non-Fiction 1900 2 mins Silent
For Britons during the Boer War, a welcome opportunity to support the troops - and march alongside them
Non-Fiction 1900 1 mins Location: Barrow-In-Furness
Factory gate glimpses at - we think - Barrow-in-Furness
Non-Fiction 1898 1 mins Silent Location: Worthing
Worthing waves at us in this mesmerising early film
Comedy 1898 1 mins Silent
Film's first joke? A fresh take on an old prank.
Non-Fiction 1895 0 mins Silent
This was one of a series of actuality films made by the Victorian pioneer Birt Acres during 1895. The film is thought to have been shot on June 20, on the occasion of the opening of the Kiel Canal by the German Kaiser Wilhelm II. Acres shot other films at the same time, but they have not survived.
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