Birkin family home movies, Part 1: 1917-1937

This brief compilation was put together for my parents' 40th wedding anniversary in 1983. My mother's father opened a cinema in 1916, and was thus able to call upon the occasional services of his projectionist's 35mm hand-cranked camera; meanwhile my father was given his first 16mm camera in 1930, so between them they had already amassed a fair about of footage prior to the arrival of 8mm in the late 1950s.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• David
• Birkin
• Judy
• Campbell
• Grantham
• Cambridge
• Nottingham
• Olympic
• Vesuvius
• Andrew
• Jane
• Linda
• Penelope
• Dudley
• Ward
• Russell

[AmazingShoestring]

Neat. I notice during the wedding scene something that looks like nitrate decomposition. Is it?

[laurenticwave]

Possibly, although the wedding was the only footage shot professionally - by Pathe, on 35mm (nitrate) - although the video transfer was done from a 16mm (safety) copy made in the 1940s. There's very obvious nitrate decomposition on the early 35mm, 1917-1919, shot by a Grantham projectionist, doubtless at the command of his employer = my grand-dad!

[Ramanujan88]

Gentle thrill like bubbles and blades of grass to see Judy as child...

[Ramanujan88]

David reminds me so much of your sons in a lot of these shots. Anno when he walks, Ned when he's up close (BUT also visa versa with that!) and younger David's air about.

[Ramanujan88]

The years in your eyes, the lands beneath your skin...and the white on the gray water that brings up fish and all these movements...!

[ManilaSyndicate]

Wonderful video laurenticwave, well edited and the music score is good too. Seeing a home vid here in You Tube from the 20's was quite overwhelming; to see one in the 10's is a marvel. Hopefully one can come across one from the aughts and 1890's!