This film is part of Free
Hastings Calling
Town criers test their vocal mettle and there's a comic knees-up in this curious tinted newsreel item
Overview
Oyez! Sussex town criers show off their vocal prowess in this curious newsreel item. Assorted chaps take to the stage but it's the lone female competitor who really gives it some welly. There's also a great crowd relaxing in deckchairs, watching an odd competition in which women have their legs judged - the results of which we sadly never learn. Perhaps most intriguing about this short item is the damage to the blue tinted sections of the nitrate film stock, which gives the subjects a rather beautiful, ghostly shimmer.
Related
A Peep into the Future A Peep into the Future
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1946 2 mins Silent Location: Hastings
Post- war Hastings needs to brace itself for change in this short film from the Town Planning Department
Stranger on the Shore Stranger on the Shore
Short documentary 2016 13 mins Location: St Leonards
Concluding Michael Smith and Maxy Bianco's trilogy on Britain's coastal edgelands, this films looks specifically at the bohemian eccentricity of Hastings.
Hastings' Week of Pageantry: Sir Herbert Tree Unveils the Tablet to Kean & Elliston Hastings' Week of Pageantry: Sir Herbert Tree Unveils the Tablet to Kean & Elliston
Non-Fiction 1914 2 mins Silent Location: Hastings
A plaque commemorating the first theatre in Hastings is unveiled and Stone Age dwellers take to the lake for a race.
Seaside Scenes at Hastings Seaside Scenes at Hastings
Amateur film 1938 15 mins Silent Location: Hastings
Hastings looks marvellous in this sumptuous colour film from the late 1930s - complete with sunbathing, swimming and being slapped with a fish
Holiday in May Holiday in May
Amateur film 1952 17 mins Silent Location: St Leonards
Join the Youngs as they tour a number of historic coastal towns and resorts during a May holiday in the early fifties
Devon/Fishing Net Industry Devon/Fishing Net Industry
1911 14 mins Silent Location: Ilfracombe
Recreation rules the day at Ilfracombe, while work continues on Hastings beaches
China O'Brien: The Reunion China O'Brien: The Reunion
Documentary 2024 60 mins
Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton and Keith Cooke reunite three decades on from the groundbreaking martial arts classic.
Women in Action Panel Discussion Women in Action Panel Discussion
Inside Film 2024 28 mins
Action Xtreme - the UK's leading action film studio - hosts this panel discussion with four leading women in action cinema - Soo Cole, Jo Rolison, Jadey Duffield and Ioanna Karavela.
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.