Skip to main content
BFI logo

Home

Film

Television

People

History

Education

Tours

Help

  search

Search

Screenonline banner
Mitchell and Kenyon: SS Saxonia in Liverpool (1901)
 

BFI

Main image of Mitchell and Kenyon: SS Saxonia in Liverpool (1901)
 
Mitchell and Kenyon 233: SS Saxonia in Liverpool
35mm, black and white, silent, 109 feet
 
Production CompanyMitchell and Kenyon
Commissioned byRalph Pringle

Passengers prepare to disembark from the SS Saxonia after it arrives at Liverpool.

Show full synopsis

The Cunard line ship 'Saxonia' was launched at the John Brown shipyard, Clydebank, Scotland on 16th December 1899 and set out on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Boston on 22nd May 1900. The passengers would be returning from Boston - a 7-day voyage - or from Queenstown (now Cobh) in Ireland, the only other stop. The ship is referred to both as SS (steam ship) and RMS (Royal Mail ship), implying that the Cunard contract to carry the mails was agreed sometime after her launch.

As with many Mitchell & Kenyon films, we can see evidence of staging by the filmmaker. As the workers are unloading the mail, one young sailor picks up a crate marked 'fragile' and 'this way up' and throws to his mate on the quay.

Bryony Dixon

Click titles to see or read more

Video Clips
Mitchell and Kenyon 233 (2:04)
GALLERY / SCRIPTS / AUDIO
SEE ALSO
Mitchell and Kenyon: Cunard Mail Steamer 'Lucania' (1901)
Mitchell and Kenyon: Cunard Vessel at Liverpool (1901)
Mitchell and Kenyon: Earl Roberts and Viscount Kitchener (1902)
Mitchell and Kenyon: Employees Leaving Alexandra Docks (1901)
Mitchell and Kenyon: Liverpool Street Scenes (1901)
Mitchell and Kenyon: Trafalgar Day in Liverpool (1901)
Mitchell and Kenyon: Visit of the Prince of Siam (1901)
Liverpool: Across the Mersey