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Professional footballers answer the call of duty and get in training; many would go on to fight in the Battle of the Somme.
Non-Fiction 1915 1 mins Silent
Can you imagine today's star footballers going off to fight a war? Or staying behind and playing games while others fought and died in their thousands? Despite the hi-jinks in this film, and their propaganda value, the 17th Service Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment - or the Football Battalion - was no gimmick, and proved to be all-too 'final' for many, who would fall at the Somme and elsewhere.
News 1968 7 mins Location: Belfast
Flush on wages of £160 per week, George Best ponders money in the game, the pressures of fame and his footballing future.
News 1962 8 mins Location: Cleobury Mortimer
Lionel Martin is just fifteen years old but with eight top football clubs wanting to sign him his future appears mapped out.
Non-Fiction 1912 5 mins Silent Location: Wrexham/Wrecsam
Action shots of the great Billy Meredith, the ‘Prince of Wingers’, the legendary soccer star who played for Manchester City, Manchester United and Wales.
Sport 1976 5 mins Location: Plymouth
Argyle's Mariner scores in front of Bobby Robson
News 1964 5 mins Location: Sunderland
A day in the life of stylish “Gentleman George” Hardwick, the new manager of Sunderland Football Club.
News 1977 5 mins Location: Leicester
What does it take to manage a football team? Two former players talk of the tough role at the top in a world where players are demanding Ј200 a week in wages.
Amateur film 1975 1 mins Silent Location: Shepherd's Bush
A short but sweet show of stylish and colourful characters, parading to bring pride and power to the queer community in Central London.
Amateur film 1996 8 mins Silent Location: Shepherd's Bush
Sandcastles and sound systesms replace cars and bikes as 6,000 protestors 'reclaim' the M41 Motoway in the name of community ownership.
Amateur film 1969 8 mins Silent Location: Spitalfields
From Petticoat Lane to Portobello Road, London's street markets are always full of life.
Sport 1923 2 mins Silent Location: Shepherd's Bush
Goals from the 1923 FA Cup 4th round, featuring QPR v Sheffield Utd, Charlton Athletic v Bolton Wanderers & Tottenham Hotspur v Derby County.
Comedy 1910 12 mins Silent Location: Shepherd's Bush
A fascinating visual record of London's White City fairground, in which an elderly couple experience some bizarre rides.
1924 12 mins Location: Kennington
Part of Wonderful London, the BFI National Archive’s programme of restored London travelogues, filmed in the capital in the 1920s.
Advert 1985 2 mins
Take a fighter jet, a Top Gun pilot with sunglasses and a brand new SAAB 900 and you have a sure-fire vehicle to launch a Hollywood career.
Promotional 2019 10 mins
A wandering warrior dreams of a new form of expression, in this promo for UNKLE’s album The Road: Part II / Lost Highway Pt. II directed by Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones.
1935 16 mins
A rare glimpse of 1930s London in colour: the Thames has never looked lovelier.
Advert 1946 1 mins Silent
Life is looking up! The war is over and the “Corona” Man can visit his “Corona” families once more, door-to-door.
Advert 1962 0 mins Location: Rhyl
Cinema advertisement for Marine Lake & Ocean Beach, Rhyl, a popular destination for crowds set on a day's fun on free rides.
Advert 1942 7 mins Silent Location: Blaenau Ffestiniog
Who could deny these advertising claims: "Attractive hair is the ambition of every woman", and "Your family will enjoy Lincoln potatoes"?
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