Wednesday, September 23, 2020

The tidal Thames in colour (1935)


In this 1935 colour film we follow the tidal Thames downstream from Teddington through the Pool of London to Docklands and beyond. (A comment on YouTube identifies the locations and vessels for us.)

It all looks beautiful, though I doubt the river was terribly clean in 1935, but the choice of music makes the film seem even longer older than it is.

I recall a series of videos (now vanished) that showed footage of the last days of British steam accompanied by Motown classics and other music that was in the charts in those years.

As so much of that music still sounds modern, it was a counterbalance to easy nostalgia. Here the music pushes down that side of the scales hard.

Thanks to Isle of Dogs Life.

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