Cinema a century ago was a new, exciting and highly democratic form of entertainment. Picture houses nationwide offered a sociable, lively environment in which to relax and escape from the daily grind. With feature films still rare, the programme was an entertaining, ever-changing roster of short items with live musical accompaniment. 100 years on, this special compilation from the BFI National Archive recreates the glorious miscellany of comedies, dramas, travelogues and newsreels which would have constituted a typical night out in 1914. Our selection includes a comic short about a face-pulling competition, a sensational episode of The Perils of Pauline, scenes of Allied troops celebrating Christmas at the Front, and an early sighting of one of cinema’s greatest icons.
Gustav Hamel
(archive footage)
Bentfield Hucks
(archive footage)
Emmeline Pankhurst
(archive footage)
Florence Turner
(archive footage)
Tom Powers
(archive footage)
Herbert Kitchener
(archive footage)
Fred Evans
(archive footage)
Lancelot Speed
(archive footage)
Pearl White
(archive footage)
Night Will Fall76%
Spider-Man: All Roads Lead to No Way Home67%
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound69%
Directed by John Ford70%
Being James Bond77%
The Class of ‘9271%
That's Entertainment!73%
Sidney70%
Elstree 197661%
In the Realms of the Unreal71%
A Plastic Ocean75%
Love, Antosha74%
Cameraperson67%
Attack of the Hollywood Clichés!60%
Seduced and Abandoned61%
Sherman's March67%
Tricked: The Documentary61%
As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty77%
42 Up75%
EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert83%
