|
Thought to date from 1920, this collection of various shots of central London is believed to have been made for an unidentified feature film - at one point, two news vendors in Trafalgar Square display a decidedly theatrical headline 'YOUNG WOMAN SHOOTS HUSBAND'. Whatever the filmmakers' aims, the footage is fascinating in its own right, with all the locations easily recognisable. It starts with the exterior of the Houses of Parliament, shot from the other side of the Thames. A motor boat passes under Westminster Bridge and cruises along the river, with St Paul's Cathedral visible through a gap in the riverside buildings. We then move to Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Mansion House and assorted side streets (noting in passing that horse-drawn carts were still a common sight) before ending up on the Embankment. We then follow a car as it passes Buckingham Palace, before the film concludes with shots of horse riders in Hyde Park. Michael Brooke
| 
Complete film (6:10)
