Evening Entertainments (Fun Palace outtakes)

London at play, 60s style. These varied, fascinating scenes were shot in 1963 as part of a survey of London leisure by theat re director and filmmaker Joan Littlewood, and they offer a window into ordinary lives spent in the city centre. This London isn't exactly 'swinging': we move from the pinball and slot machines of an amusement arcade to a candid view of customers of a cheap and cheerful restaurant, lost in thought over a cuppa. A curtain call of Littlewood's stage hit Oh, What a Lovely War! is followed by scenes in a boxing gym.

The footage was shot for a film to support Littlewood's idea for a 'Fun Palace' - a huge movable construction that would house education and entertainment attractions. In 1963 Littlewood shot 60 reels of 16mm rushes around London to show what people currently did for leisure and to demonstrate that something else was needed. The film was finished but is now lost, and sadly Joan's Fun Palace never got built. However, the rushes paint a fantastic picture of the period, with many expertly filmed by cameraman Walter Lassally, who also shot We are the Lambeth Boys and A Taste of Honey.