Comparison between the old fashioned girl of the late 1800s and the modern flapper of 1930.
"Twenty-five years ago, when flickering figures glided jerkily across our crude screens - " Shot of women in old-fashioned dress walking in a park. A policeman is seen in the background. The scene is presented in negative - presumably to make it look older than it actually is! It also looks very flickery - this is possibly because it is a dupe of an item that was originally hand coloured, certain areas of the picture (umbrella's, hats etc.) flicker from light to dark. Slow footage of people walking along also in negative.
"At the seashore -- when there was little to see but sea. (Atlantic City - 1987)" High angle shot of a boardwalk. Again presented in negative and very flickery. "Long dresses hid everything but the shoes and gentlemen walked for exercise only." M/S of pedestrians passing the camera. "Men were brave in those days -- and blind!" M/S of a man and woman on a beach, others watch while the man takes the woman's photograph.
"Bathing girls then won under false pretences." M/S of a group of girls posing on the beach in lovely sun dresses with parasols. "A particularly bold and daring costume!" M/S of a woman posing in an old-fashioned swimsuit by the sea. She stretches her arms out then above her head, enjoying the sea air. "The lady's stock line then was "Lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine!"M/S of an actor and actress acting a scene in a drawing room. He takes her arm and she smiles.
"You ought to be glad you're living in a modern age and have a modern girl for a pal!" M/S of a flapper type woman who wears a cloche hat, pearls and a fur stole. She stands in a garden smiling at the camera. "All in favor (sic) of the modern girl -- applaud!" C/U of the woman who winks at the camera. She laughs then winks with the other eye. In big capital letters the next intertitle reads: "LOUDER" There is then an extreme C/U of the woman smiling, looking coy and winking. Another plea to the audience in wiggly capitals "LOUDER", followed by another C/U of the woman smiling and laughing.
Was probably an item in Eve's Film Review issue number 449. Note: This is a strange mixture of Walter Futter's Curiosities print material and Eve's Film Review negative title and intertitle. The print sections are amber tinted. It is possible that the film went out as it is, with WFC intertitles but unlikely. A mystery.
Unknown user says
I believe that many of the flickery shots are from "A Visit to the Seaside" (1908 - see Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Visit_to_the_Seaside) which was filmed in Kinemacolor, an early red-green additive colour film process. Someone on Youtube has reconstructed how some of these shots might have looked if projected as originally intended: http://youtu.be/eY2EyLEGsyA
MIKE2019 says
Here is a version of this footage with the color restored: https://vimeo.com/debergeracproductions/review/353678832/421bb342f9 thank you, British Pathé for making this footage available.