British Film Institute

These lively Plymouth street scenes provide a revealing insight into early 20th Century city life in Britain. The streets that are lined with shops and filled with a rush of signs and advertisements are clearly ancestors of the modern high street. The sight of antiquated horse-drawn carriages running alongside modern trams and motorcars also suggest a city in transition. Yet the pure chaos of moving traffic, and the crowds that fill the street and spill into the busy roads, suggest that by 1912 city life has already become the hectic experience it remains today.

The camera transfixes the people of Plymouth, and many stop and stare directly into it, resulting in many vivid close-ups of long-gone faces. Their fascination suggests ordinary curiosity or, perhaps, a keen awareness that a lingering stare might result in brief fame at the local cinema.

Christian Hayes

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