This film is part of Free
Water Polo - Worthing Swimming Club
Brief but lively snatch of a game in progress
Overview
Water polo was on the up in the late-Victorian era, and this short but energetic bit of film gives us glimpse of a game in progress at an open-air pool in Worthing, West Sussex. It was shot in William Kennedy-Laurie Dickson's own 68mm format, which accounts for the unusually high resolution of the images and allows us (on a big enough screen) to see the faces of the players.
This was one of a number of films made by during a trip to Worthing (just along the South Coast from Brighton and Hove, already well established as centres of pioneering film activity thanks to the efforts of Esmé Collings, G.A. Smith and James Williamson). A significantly longer version of the film survives in standard 35mm format.
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