This film is part of Free
Morris Dancing at Berkhamstead
A noble English dance tradition is preserved in Hertfordshire.
Overview
A noble 600-year-old tradition is alive and well on the streets of Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire (home to the BFI's J. Paul Getty Conservation Centre). This charming amateur film from the early 1950s shows the morris men, accompanied by the traditional pipe and tabor, making merry outside the town's fabulous Art Deco Rex Cinema, with an impressively sizeable crowd lining the High Street to watch.
Berkhamsted's Grade II listed Rex Cinema, opened in 1938, narrowly avoided dereliction and redevelopment to be restored to former glories in 2004. But the morris dance itself is the true survivor - having enjoyed a resurgence in popularity around the 1950s (when this film was shot), around 800 British troupes currently ensure that this traditional dance is not allowed to die out.
Related
Visit of H.R.H. Prince of Wales to Berkhamsted, 1935 Visit of H.R.H. Prince of Wales to Berkhamsted, 1935
Amateur film 1935 3 mins Silent Location: Berkhamsted
Amateur footage of a royal visit to the Hertfordshire town of Berkhamsted by the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII.
Worker and War Front No. 7 Worker and War Front No. 7
Government sponsored film 1943 8 mins Location: Berkhamsted
A wartime magazine made to motivate and inform war workers, commissioned by the Ministry of Information in 1942 and exclusively screened in factories.
Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A
Inside Film 2024 22 mins
The director of a documentary about British funk pioneers Cymande joins the band at BFI Southbank to talk about the film.
The West Case The West Case
Action and Adventure 1923 28 mins Silent Location: Tilbury
Plotting world domination, Devil Doctor Fu-Manchu steals plans for a new aero-torpedo in this earliest surviving thrill-a-minute serial instalment.
Enter the Scala!!! Enter the Scala!!!
Inside Film 2024 16 mins
Filmmakers Jane Giles and Ali Catterall discuss their documentary Scala!!!, revisiting the legendary and inspirational cinema venue and some of the most notorious films that screened there.
Smith Smith
Charity appeal 1939 10 mins
Long thought lost, this Powell-directed promotional short for a veteran’s charity was only rediscovered in 2003.
An Airman's Letter to His Mother An Airman's Letter to His Mother
Documentary 1941 6 mins
A poignant, stirring letter from a recently deceased pilot to his mother is read by John Gielgud.
The NHS75 Celebration The NHS75 Celebration
Short documentary 2023 3 mins
Former Bristol Poet Laureate, Miles Chambers reads a poem specially commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the NHS.