Historic Film AKA National Film Archives

Overview

National Film Archive, Aston Clinton, London. Shots from very early news reel (Pathe's own) of the 1896 Derby. Inter-title - "The Queen God Bless Her". More very old shots of a royal parade. C/U of a reel of 35 mm film on a winding bench. C/U of a clipping being taken from the film. The clipping is dropped into a test tube to be analysed for signs of deterioration. An alizarin-red indicator is tucked into the tubes - if it bleaches the film is badly deteriorating. M/S of a white coated archivist taking cans of film from shelves in a vault. C/U of an old projector in action. Shots from the 1913 version of Hamlet starring Sir Johnstone Forbes Robertson. C/U of an archivist holding a piece of film up to the light. M/S of the archivist at a winding bench, he is measuring a piece of ageing, shrunken film. Some shots of a hand-coloured Pathe fashion item from 1912.