This film is part of Free
Who needs the Boat Race? Not Hammersmith, with its own regatta - complete with greasy pole competition. Nearby, the Classic Cinema reopens to fanfare.
Non-Fiction 1951 5 mins
Bored by the Boat Race? Wondering who comes third? The Hammersmith Regatta declares itself the everyman's rowing event in this local newsreel, and makes a strong case with the addition of a greasy pole competition. Away from the riverbank, the reopening of the Classic as a repertory cinema gathers much interest - and not just because of the free sherry on offer.
An opening double bill of American B-movie thriller The Brute Man (1946) and Silvana Mangano in the Italian Bitter Rice (1949) suggests a somewhat eclectic programming strategy. Unfortunately the cinema was closed before the decade was out, and the building was later demolished.
Non-Fiction 1910 1 mins Silent Location: Trafalgar Square
Spot the changes and continuities in this majestic Edwardian panorama of Trafalgar Square.
Amateur film 1934 4 mins Silent Location: Spitalfields
A rare glimpse inside the Soup Kitchen for the Jewish Poor in the East End during the early 1930s.
Documentary 1971 12 mins Location: Croydon
Do you remember when the moon men came to Croydon? You can bet these kids never forgot the day Dogg's Troupe landed
1977 13 mins Location: Hammersmith
Environmentalists wage war on the Greater London Council in this eye-opening account of a battle to save Hammersmith's open spaces.
Amateur film 1963 3 mins Silent Location: Westminster
Excellent if somewhat jerky aerial shots of London taken from a helicopter and featuring close-ups of Waterloo, the docks and Tower Bridge.
1963 3 mins Silent
London in 1963 was a city in flux, as this spectacular aerial footage shows.
Industry sponsored film 1963 5 mins Silent Location: Hammersmith
London Transport engineers experiment with two options for the automatic ticket gates being developed for the Victoria line.
Amateur film 1958 7 mins Silent Location: Hackney
Hackney Downs School Cadets in athletics training and competition, filmed by teacher Joe Brearley.
1977 13 mins Location: Hammersmith
Environmentalists wage war on the Greater London Council in this eye-opening account of a battle to save Hammersmith's open spaces.
School programme and Educational film 1961 37 mins Location: Hammersmith
Watch – and learn – as the massive Hammersmith Flyover miraculously rises over Hammersmith Broadway during its complex construction period.
Non-Fiction 1925 4 mins Silent Location: Hammersmith
Oxford and Cambridge battle it out in traditional fashion on the River Thames.
Factual TV 1967 7 mins Location: Stevenage
In the 21st year following the first New Town designation to Stevenage, Anglia TV report on the quality of life of two of its residents, also 21, London-born Russell and David.
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"?
Do you recognise a place, building or location in this film?
Help us populate the Britain on Film map by spotting and plotting the street or location you know. This is a BFI project and anyone can help.
Go to our Britain on Film crowdsourcing site and contribute to our mapping mission – to identify locations within our archive films.
Add a location
