London in Documentaries
Each week students will watch a classic London documentary film, find out about its background, and discuss what we can learn about London from it.
Who is this course for?
This course is for anyone with an interest in the history of London.
What can I expect?
Each class will involve a screening of documentary films from a different era, starting in 1890s. There will then be a presentation about the background to the film, the filmmaker, and the issues in the film.
Need to Know
You will learn
- How London has been portrayed on film
- The work of different documentary filmmakers
- How film can be used for political and social purposes
Meet the Tutor
Robert Smith
My love affair with London began at the age of ten when my father took me on a whirlwind tour of London. I knew from that moment I would come to live in London and I have been living and working in the capital for nearly thirty years.
I studied London History at Birkbeck College and then qualified as a guide at the University of Westminster. I love the stories hidden on the streets of London, especially stories about crime, spies, military and industrial history.
As well as guiding, I teach London history at Morley College and South Thames College.
Course Overview
Week 1
London’s First Films
We will explore what we mean by documentaries and discuss the first films of London in early cinema, factory gate films and hidden rides. We will also look at London’s first controversial documentaries.
Films:
- Horse Drawn Traffic by Charles Goodwin Norton
- HMS Albion Disaster by Robert Paul
- An early Friese Greene film
- The Shows of London
- Cosmopolitan London
Week 2
London on Film in the 1930s and 40s
Topics:
- Travelogues and Quota Quickies
- Filming away from the tourist spots – the London of Parkinson and Miller
- The Empire Marketing Board and film
- The Crown Film Unit
- Wartime film makers such as Humphrey Jennings, Ruby Grierson, Kay Mander
Films:
- Housing Problems
- So This Is London
- London Can Take It
- Proud City: A Plan for London
Week 3
London Rebuilds on Film
Topics:
- Post-WWII nationalised film industries
- British Transport Films led by Edgar Anstey
- Free Cinema as a reaction to state and sponsor control
- Increased competition from TV and London Documentary TV
- BBC2 as a new home for documentaries
- Marketing London and Britain
Films:
- This Year – London
- The Elephant Will Never Forget
- Every Day Except Christmas
- We Are the Lambeth Boys
- Look at Life
- Living at Thamesmead
- Know the British
Week 4
Reinventing the London Documentary
Topics:
- Fly on the wall documentaries
- Molly Dineen
- Recording Notting Hill Carnival - two ways to portray same event
- Reinventing the 30s documentary (Patrick Keiller)
- Documentary in the age of YouTube
Films:
- Heart of the Angel
- London
- The Odyssey
- Carnival 1981
- Grove Music
Dates and Times
London in Documentaries
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