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The Mitchell & Kenyon collection revolutionising early film history. |
IN A PHOTOGRAPHIC SHOP in Blackburn 780 original nitrate negatives sat in sealed barrels, unseen for over 70 years. Rediscovered by local historian Peter Worden, and subsequently acquired by the British Film Institute (bfi), this collection is the subject of an ambitious three-year restoration and research project. The collection represents the most important recent discovery in the field of early British cinema history. It is a unique document relating to a single regional company, and in many senses is of a national significance comparable to the Lumière and Gaumont archives in France and the Edison material in the USA.
Mitchell and Kenyon was a pioneer film firm based in Blackburn, previously best known for fictional titles and Boer War ‘reconstructions’ – the discovery of such a large number of non-fiction films will not only force a revaluation of Mitchell and Kenyon’s own output but is certain to revolutionise early British film history itself. It has become clear that the firm’s principal output was actuality films (films depicting ordinary life) shot around the British Isles and commissioned by travelling showmen for showing at fairgrounds and other venues. For the first time in the UK a body of films can be researched in the context of local exhibition, demonstrating direct links between commissioners, the audience and the development of the film programme.
Travelling showmen such as George Green, Pat Collins, and President Kemp commissioned Mitchell and Kenyon to film local people leaving factories and attending football matches, and other scenes of everyday life. These were then advertised in the week of the fair as “come and see yourself on the screen” or “local films for local people”. Set in their proper context these films amount to an extraordinary social record of early 20th century Britain. |
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‘Come and see yourself’: football supporters in Rotherham, 1904 |
The bfi National Film and Television Archive has embarked on an ambitious three-year preservation and restoration programme for the entire collection. Custom-built machinery has had to be constructed to deal with problems of variable shrinkage, discoloration and non-standard frame dimension in order to make new safety preservation material and viewing copies.
Alongside this preservation work, the National Fairground Archive at the University of Sheffield Library and the bfi are collaborating on a ground-breaking research project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB), which will date and contextualise each of the films – thus revealing the true importance of the travelling showmen in commissioning and exhibiting actuality film.
A selection of these films was recently presented in London and Sheffield by Patrick Russell, Keeper of Non-Fiction, bfi National Film and Television Archive, and Dr Vanessa Toulmin, Research Director, National Fairground Archive, University of Sheffield. Subjects from the Sheffield screening included traditional well dressings in Buxton, factory gate scenes at Brown’s and Vickers’ works in Sheffield, Salt’s works at Saltaire, football and rugby matches (including Hunslet v Leeds, 16 February 1901), tram rides through Sheffield filmed from the top deck, Preston egg rollers, and a Manchester cycle parade.
When the restoration and research project is complete in 2004, the bfi plans a range of events including a national tour of the collection showing the films once again to local people in the towns and regions where the films were first commissioned.
Photographs: bfi
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