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Credit
BMA world tour. Part 1a, Across America. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection.
BMA world tour. Part 1a, Across America.
- Date:
- c.1935
- Videos
- Online
About this work
Description
This amateur film, which has been edited semi-professionally with additional intertitles and maps to orientate the viewer, consists of footage shot in the second part of the BMA's World Tour as they travel across America. The group travel from Chicago via a special steam train through Kansas City, Topeka and Las Vegas. They stop at Isleta Pueblo, New Mexico, a Native American village. They arrive at siesta time; women from the party pose with children. The Rio Grande is seen. Then indigenous women at Isleta. Two men of the party pose by the Grand Canyon; then there is a shot of timelapse footage showing the shadows moving across the canyon. There is an exterior of El Tovar Hotel and then establishing shots of Los Angeles and Hollywood; Pershing Square, Cafe Trocedero, palm trees and typical residential architecture. The party then travel to Santa Monica; exteriors of the Bath House are followed by wide shots of the beach with people bathing and a small marina with a number of boats. Arriving at San Francisco, there are unsteady camera pans of the Oakland Bridge and the Docks which are shot from Coit Memorial Tower (the city is clearly very densely populated). Municipal buildings are then shown from ground level. The Department of Health building is in evidence. At the harbour, there is a paddle steamer in the bay and other harbour footage. Alcatraz prison is then seen in the distance. The Golden Gate bridge is seen being constructed in the bay. 1 segment.
Publication/Creation
UK, c.1935.
Physical description
1 encoded moving image (12.56 min.) : silent, black and white
Duration
00:12:56
Copyright note
Copyright previously held by British Medical Association and assigned to Wellcome in 2005
Notes
This film forms part of a group of films donated to the Wellcome Trust in 2006 by The British Medical Association.
This series of films (there are 6 in the collection) relate to the British Medical Association's Round the World Tour and Annual Meeting in Melbourne, 1935. The journey is also captured in a diary kept by Mrs. Katherine Harman which was acquired separately by the library (MS.7394) . The party travelled in style with the travel services arranged by Pickfords going by ship from Southampton to New York; across the USA via Washington, Chicago, Albuquerque, the Grand Canyon and Los Angeles to San Francisco; by ship to Hawaii, Fiji, Auckland (an excursion here to the Rotorua geothermal sites) and Sydney; by train to Melbourne and Canberra; by ship once more from Sydney to Brisbane, Macassar, Bali, Java (visiting Surabaya, Borobudur and Batavia (Djakarta)) and Singapore; by train to Kuala Lumpur and Penang; by sea again to Colombo, Bombay, Aden, Suez, Malta and Marseille; finally by train and ferry back to London.
Terms of use
Unrestricted
Public Domain Mark
Contents
Segment 1 This amateur film, which has been edited semi-professionally with additional intertitles and maps to orientate the viewer, consists of footage shot in the first part of the BMA's World Tour. The opening sequences are of a woman's hand in close-up turning the pages of a journal. Embarkation is via the boat train to Southampton (bystanders wave the departing train on) and then leaving for New York via the Cunard Line liner, MV Georgic. Games such as quoits are played on deck. The Statue of Liberty is seen as the ship arrives; there are views of Manhattan and the harbour from the ship. The entourage congregate for a group photo. On land, the skyscrapers are seen. The group are given a police escort which comprises of a lone cop on a motorcycle. The group visit Drs Bedell and Sondern of the Medical Society of NY State and are shown the Grasslands Community Hospital. Most of the group smoke as they wait outside. There are rostrum camera shots of Dr Anderson from the BMA, Drs Both and Hayden, a gala and various hospitals. There is a brief glimpse of Wall Street from a car. The group then visit the White House in Washington followed by the British Embassy there. There is a nice view of Congress shot from the Library steps with many cars of the period parked in rows. The group travel to Chicago, staying at the Edgewater Beach Hotel. There are high wide shots of the Chicago skyline. The empty grounds of Chicago's World's Fair in 1933 are shown, then exteriors of the Field Museum Aquarium and Panetarium. Alcatraz prison is then seen in the distance. The Golden Gate bridge is seen being constructed in the bay. Time start: 00:00:00:00 Time end: 00:12:56:00 Length: 00:12:56:00