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Topical Budget 149-1: Motor v. Aeroplane (1914)
 

BFI

Main image of Topical Budget 149-1: Motor v. Aeroplane (1914)
 
1/7/1914
35mm, black and white, 62 feet
 
Production CompanyTopical Film Company

A large gathering watch the Saturday afternoon car racing and aeroplanes at Brooklands, Weybridge.

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Just over a year after filming Captain Percy Lambert Motor Racing at Brooklands (1913), and six months after his untimely demise in the same place, Topical Budget returned to the famous race track in Weybridge, Surrey.

In addition to hosting the world's first custom-built car racing circuit, which had opened in 1908, Brooklands was also a major centre of aircraft production, with many flying schools established on the nearby airfield. Many major names in the business operated locally, including Sopwith, Blériot and Vickers.

Contrary to the tantalising promise of the title, the film does not depict any kind of racing rivalry between cars and aeroplanes. Instead, it merely consists of close-ups of two unidentified drivers (one in a car seemingly named after Enrico Caruso, at the time the world's greatest operatic tenor), bookending shots of motor racing. The final shot shows a biplane flying over the racetrack, in the middle of which a number of cars have been parked.

Michael Brooke

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Complete film (1:00)
GALLERY / SCRIPTS / AUDIO
SEE ALSO
Topical Budget 90-1: Motor Racing at Brooklands (1913)