Bertie's London

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

Under the cut is an embed of a very early 10-minute color film of London in 1927. This is the sort of world Bertie and Jeeves would have lived in.

Comments

[storyfan.livejournal.com]

This is a treasure. This entire film can be used as a reference for excellent period detail. Thanks for showing it to us.

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

I was sure this comm would really appreciate it!

[who-is-small.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Thames is a he? I always thought about it as her :)

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

I found that a bit odd myself, but some rivers are apparently "he".

[blackletter]

(It's 'cause the Latin name for the Thames "Tamesis" is masculine. So the Romans evidentally thought that the Thames was a he-river, like the Tiber.)

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

This makes sense. Yay for Classicists!

[mxdp.livejournal.com]

♥ ♥ ♥
(love the "romantic atmosphere" with a cop walking right at you but then there's a doggie, so that's alright)

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was a bit taken aback that a bobby could be "romantic" myself.

And then I wondered if Bertie was going to nick his helmet.

[bulldogscram.livejournal.com]

What a different world. Thanks for sharing this!

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome!

[janeturenne.livejournal.com]

Ooo, very cool stuff, thanks for sharing!

And I'm with Small, the Thames is DEFINITELY a lady.

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

I would have thought so as well.

[chibi-wolvie.livejournal.com]

Very very inspiring. I have a better view after the film about the 1927 of London.

Thank you very much for sharing! ^^

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

You're quite welcome. The streets seemed so open, didn't they? Almost no cars at all!

[thistlethorn.livejournal.com]

This was remarkable! Thank you for posting it.

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

My pleasure! I got it from a steampunk email list, of all places.

[chaoticchaos13.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing!

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome!

[captainpellew.livejournal.com]

OUCH!
American Jokes.
C'mon now. That was a cheap shot.

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, but it was 1927. What else did the Brits have to do with their time?

[elmyraemilie.livejournal.com]

So very few private automobiles! What a wonderful piece of film this is.

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

I know. That was one of the things that most struck me as well. Almost everything on the streets were either commercial lorries or busses.

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

My pleasure!

[random-nexus.livejournal.com]

That was very, very awesome.
Thank you!
:)

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

I hope you'll find it inspiring :D

[lady529.livejournal.com]

Whoa. This is just unbelievable. Thanks so much for sharing!

The Lady 529

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

My pleasure.

[axmxz.livejournal.com]

"Rotten Row, where London's society takes the morning air."

That can't be good for their health...

What a fantastic video! Thank you for posting it!

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know. "Rotten Row" -- just where every society man wants to be.

[axmxz.livejournal.com]

I love the totally gratuitous puppy-fondle in the end. It's like a 1927 lolcat. "This film needs more puppy, stat!"

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Puppy-fondling FTW!

[closetofheroes.livejournal.com]

Amazing. I didn't know there was any colour film from that period. The quality of the film was incredible!

What struck me most was how very slowly everything seemed to move. I thought at first it was just the film speed, but the movement of the pedestrians seems quite natural, so I think they must have actually driven that slowly.

Weird too seeing people looking at the Cenotaph (war memorial). I've walked past it plenty of times but never even considered trying to actually get at it since there's a steady stream of fast traffic. (They close the street for Remembrance Day).

The crowds on Petticoat Lane were not much more busy than Oxford Street is now!

Thanks so much for this.

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

The pace of everything back then was so much slower. I think I would find it incredibly relaxing (the pace, not the sexist, racist, homophobic culture), but I often wonder how poor Bertie and Jeeves might react if they were tossed into our world suddenly from 1927 to 2009. We would probably seem both irredeemably crude and entirely insane.

[georgeodowd.livejournal.com]

Ah, life in the land of lower population density! I continue to wish I had lived back then for a number of reasons...
Thanks for sharing! That was fascinating.

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

You're quite welcome. I'm not sure I'd have wanted to be a woman back then, especially not a queer Pagan one, but a visit might be interesting.

[free-spoons.livejournal.com]

slightly off topic, but that little girl by the Peter Pan statue? Talk about some fierce hair :D