Mick Hartley

A 7-minute film from the BFI showing the Thames in the 30s, in glorious Gasparcolor (via):

"This film is tricky to describe: is it a boat study, a film-poem, an experiment, a picture postcard? One thing is certain: it's a rare colour snapshot of the Thames and London in the 1930s – and it looks quite magical.

Its artistic qualities may look a bit old-fashioned to us today; the slow pace, orchestral music and moody colours definitely belong to a bygone era, strikingly peaceful and undemanding. Yet colour film was still a novelty for audiences in 1935, and the photography (using the new Gasparcolor system) succeeds in accentuating the sharp contrast between the vivid green banks of the countryside and the drab tones of the industrial landscape."

Also from the BFI: London traffic in 1903, before the congestion charge, and Petticoat Lane, also 1903. A shame they didn't have sound – I'd love to hear the spiel from the stall-holder at 52 secs in. He can't've been too pleased, the way everyone stared at the camera instead of him.