Storm at Sandown I.O.W.

Crashing waves batter the seafront at Sandown on the Isle of Wight

Victorian filmmakers loved few sights more than crashing waves. Who those filmmakers were in this particular case is not documented, but they have chosen two fine vantage points from which to capture the scene. Unfortunately the excellent compositions are not well served by the exposure – moreover, sadly the nitrate print was decaying by the time it arrived at the BFI over forty years ago. The unsteadiness of the image was in that original print and therefore also in the copies made from it. For all its photographic flaws, the excitement of the film is still palpable.