Little Gems: The Mountbatten family 1930s home movies

Whilst we’re generally very happy with our lot here at Clips & Footage, there are certain parts of the collection which show such ridiculously glamorous and fun lifestyles that we wish we could wind back the clock and be there. The biggest culprit for this is the Mountbatten home movies from the 1930s, centred around the exploits of handsome Lord Louis (Dickie) Mountbatten and his wife Edwina. As the original jet set elite, they travelled all over the world capturing their trips to destinations such as Australia, Russia and Egypt as a remarkable video diary. The films show their lives as an endless round of planes, parties, silver service picnins and fast cars, accompanied by a coterie of Royalty and celebrities such as Charlie Chaplin and Vivien Leigh:



That said, behind the high life there are some chilling hints that their carefree world was on the brink of drastic change. The rise of fascism in the UK is alluded to as Oswald Moseley makes an appearance at a garden party, at the other end of the political spectrum, during a visit to 1930s Russia they are careful to document the extreme poverty and snaking breadlines of the Communist reigime. There is also footage of a visit to a Warsaw Jewish market in the 1930s just before the Nazi pogroms, one shot shows an old man standing by a pile of shoes, foreshadowing similar images of Jewish people’s posessions taken at the concentration camps in a few years time.

One post is nowhere near enough to do this collection justice, so look out for more gems from the Mountbatten Collection coming soon to the blog.  

Subcultural Roundup: Pt2.2 Jack's Tour of London 1977-1980

Following on from the last post, we've also recently taken on amateur 8mm footage shot by Canadian Jack Kiljan during his visits to London between 1977-1980. Jack was an enthusiast for all aspects of UK culture from theatre and films to punk rock. Much of his films focus on London's Soho and Piccadilly Circus where he shot graffiti, newspaper headlines, band posters and signs for films and shows with an almost obsessive attention to detail creating a cultural timecapsule back to the days of seedy Soho, The Great Rock n Roll Swindle, The Slits and The Empire Strikes Back:



Whilst in London, Jack also visited and filmed various gigs at venues such as  the Marquee Club in Soho,  the Roundhouse and also larger music festivals including the Chelmsford Punk Rock Festival and Rock Against Racism in the late 1970s. Positioned in the the audience, Jack captured performances from famous artists like The Boomtown Rats and Elvis Costello, plus more underground acts such as Slaughter and the Dogs. His eye was also often drawn to the punks he encountered at gigs and on central london streets, giving a view of the subculture which veers between the familiarity afforded by being a fellow punk rock fan and the strange detachment of experiencing first hand a foreign culture that he'd, until then, only been able to admire from afar:



As with Captain Zip, the amateur quality of the footage not only lends it an intimacy but also fits well the with unpolished punk aesthetic. Having been locked away in film cans for years, this footage has never been broadcast, giving viewers a new glimpse of an era in UK culture which holds enduring appeal to programme makers and music fans alike.

Subcultural Round-up: Pt. 2.1 UK Punks Zipped Up

We've recently been lucky enough to take on not one but three new collections of UK punk footage from the 1970s and 80s, making Clips & Footage the place to find punk clips.

First up is the remarkable collection of Captain Zip. As an amateur filmmaker and punk himself, Zip was much more accepted by the punks than professional film crews or tourists who were often greeted with suspicion or open hostility. Zip's footage gives an intimate glimpse of the punks and punkettes as they clown for the camera, showing that their anti-establishment rage was measured by youthful playfulness (look out for the punkette eating a very non-punk ice lolly). Zip also followed the punks off the street visiting shops and squat parties with his 8mm camera.

This collection is ideal for those interested in punk fashion. It includes a shot of the grande-dame of punk herself Vivienne Westwood wandering along the King's Road and shows that punks went further than safety pins and zips in their search for extreme fashion accessories (check out the unique earring sported by punkette Tampax).