London in the 1920s.

I just came across this film. It's beautifully shot and the colours are remarkable for its time. This section of the film is from a bigger piece which captures a journey across Britain, ending up in London. It was made in 1927 by Claude Friese-Greene (cinematographer and son of moving-image pioneer William) who used an experimental biocolour process to produce it.

It's interesting to think back to the events of this period - The Great War had finished 9 years before, and I imagine nobody was really expecting there to be a second World War. Women still did not have suffrage - this came one year after the film was made.

There are so many contrasting scenes throughout - with images of the Thames, the Tower of London, Greenwich Observatory, the London docks, Whitehall, the Cenotaph, Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park, Marble Arch, Petticoat Lane, the Oval, the Changing of the Guard, Rotten Row, and the Houses of Parliament.

I adore the romantic visions of Hyde Park (04:47 mins in), contrasting with the hustle and bustle of the 'gentlemen' on Petticoat Lane (05:59) and the sweet scene of little children packing the roasted peanuts into tiny paper bags (06:52 mins in).

The BFI had recently restored this video using digital intermediate technology to remove the technical defects of the original.

There is more information on the BFI website, here