BFI

James Kenyon and Sagar Mitchell formed a partnership in the late nineteenth century and made films until 1913. The vast bulk of their output of nearly 800 films comprised actuality films, commissioned by travelling exhibitors for showing at local fairgrounds, theatres and town halls. The 'factory gate' film is an identifiable category within Mitchell and Kenyon's films: the commissioner of the film - often a fairground showman - would often request that as many people as possible be captured within the frame, to encourage the largest possible audience when the film was then screened at a fairground or local venue. Given the sheer numbers of people employed in industry at this time, films of workers leaving coal mines, engineering works, factory gates or, as here, shipyards, proved popular.

Vickers, a Barrow-in-Furness shipbuilders, and Maxim, a munitions company, had merged in 1897. Workers are seen here leaving the gates of Vickers and Maxim's, largely indifferent to the camera, in contrast to the group of boys who lark around in the foreground throughout the film.

Shona Barrett

*This film is included in the BFI DVD compilation 'Tales from the Shipyard', with piano accompaniment by Stephen Horne.

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