Here is my entry, in 5 parts, as these come from a set of old reels, labeled, and belonging to the WOCC (War Office Cinematograph Committee), which later became the British Department of Information, and later, still, the Ministry of Information.
These tins of film were discovered at Meols Hall, Churchtown, Merseyside, during the building's reconstruction in 1961. It's anybody's guess how they arrived at Meols Hall, though the prominent theory is that Charles Hesketh somehow acquired them sometime before, or shortly after, he purchased the estate in 1919.
Nevertheless, the main point of interest is the striking (and dare we say
too uncanny) similarities that exists between these small reels and the much later big budget Hollywood films of the 1970s and '80s.
Therefore, without further ado, we present to you this early cinematic short, so that you may be the judge as to which came first, the bayonet or the lightsaber.
PART I...