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| Festival Year |
Festival Section |
| 2008 |
Early Cinema: The Corrick Collection (1901-1914), 2 -- Prog. 2 |
| Film Title |
LIVING LONDON |
| Alternative Title 1 |
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| Alternative Title 2 |
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| Alternative Title 3 |
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| Country |
GB |
| Release Date |
1904 |
| Production Co. |
Charles Urban Trading Co. |
| Director |
Charles Urban |
| Format |
|
Speed (fps) |
| 35mm |
|
16 |
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| Footage |
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Time |
| 653 ft. |
|
11' |
| Archive Source |
National Film and Sound Archive, Australia (Corrick Collection #74). |
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| Print Notes |
Senza didascalie / No intertitles. |
| Program Notes |
“LIVING LONDON IN RANGOON: The famous series of living pictures under the above heading will be shown to-night in conjunction with the Corrick entertainers at the Jubilee Hall. The 'Living London' pictures have met with universal success throughout the world. Street scenes abound with familiar objects and landmarks to the Londoner, and every inch of this expensive and unique film throbs with ceaseless interest. Those who would be reminded of familiar scenes and all who would witness the mighty wonders of the daily life in the greatest city in the world, should not fail to pay a visit to the Jubilee Hall this evening.” (The Rangoon Gazette, 25 April 1908)
The Corricks' screening of this sweeping portrait of turn-of-the-century life in the British capital was an event in and of itself, particularly in areas like British-colonized Burma. For those living far from their ancestral homes, films shown by itinerant exhibitors allowed familiar landscapes to be recalled in unprecedented depth and detail. With its wide variety of sights from throughout the city - ranging from grand views of streets and parades to a simple shot of an elderly woman asleep on a bench - coupled with Urban's deft editing, Living London bears resemblance to later city portraits such as Vertov's Chelovek s kinoapparatom (Man with a Movie Camera; 1929) or Ruttmann's Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927). The Corrick Collection's 11-minute fragment is currently the only footage from Urban's 40-minute film known to survive. - LESLIE ANNE LEWIS
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