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West Indies, 1960

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/RCMS 20/3/6

Scope and Contents

A 16mm, colour cinefilm, without sound. The only clearly identifiable place is Dominica as a sign is pictured at the airport.

0 - 17sec. People at beachside locations.
17sec - 22sec. Man line fishing on some rocks.
22sec - 39sec. Scenes taken from a moving boat, showing other boats, the sea, people snorkelling and swimming, and others on the boat.
39sec - 1min 17sec. Group of people in a garden. Two men in uniform. The first is wearing a white pith helmet with a crest, a pale blue shirt, a dark belt with a crest buckle and a red/orange sash round his waist that extends down the sides and back of his dark trousers. The second is dressed in a white shirt with black tie and epaulettes, dark trousers and is holding a peaked hat.
1min 22sec - 1min 25sec. Men dressed formally in suits and ties.
1min 25sec - 1min 31sec. Cars in a car park with buildings and hills in the background. A man with crutches is seen being helped into, or out of, one of the cars. 1min 36sec - 1min 41sec. Roadside scenes of people with laden donkeys.
1min 41sec - 1min 44sec. Roughly constructed wooden dwelling.
1min 47sec - 1min 58sec. Market scenes, people buying and selling produce (including bananas), and a sign on a tree saying ‘Hello blues. Mon fans [illegible word] here comes darling Gladdy and warn [illegible word] present a night of blues [illegible word] stand pipe [illegible word] sound by [illegible word]’.
1min 58sec - 2min 7sec. Various flora including water lilies.
2min 7sec - 2min 14sec. Scenes across a road and expanse of water with a town with white buildings in the background.
2min 14sec - 2min 30sec. Airport taxiways with various propeller-engine aeroplanes and a four-engined Pan American Airways jet taxiing to a halt. Also showing three flags at the airport: a Union Jack, and two others. One closely resembles the flag of the Federation of West Indies except that the disc at its centre is coloured red rather than the usual yellow (denoting the sun). The other flag consists of four squares, two white and two burgundy, with a crest at the centre.
2min 30sec - 2min 33sec. A man and woman beside a swimming pool at dusk.
2min 33sec - 2min 34sec. Boats moored close to a beach, one of them has ‘Glass Bottom’ written on its side.
2min 34sec - 2min 39sec. Man walking along a road with a woman on a donkey laden with baskets.
2min 39sec - 2min 46sec. People on a beach.
2min 46sec - 2min 49sec. Low white jetty with empty chairs and, in the background, rocks with a small fortification sailing the Union Jack all surrounded by sea.
2min 49sec - 2min 57sec. Beach scenes including a boat pulling up with ‘Under water vision’ written on its side.
2min 57sec - 3min 7sec. Market scenes with lots of people (including children) buying and selling textiles, bananas and other foodstuffs.
3min 7sec - 3min 32sec. People dancing and a procession with people, many wearing costumes, playing steel kettledrums, twirling batons and lots of people generally milling around.
3min 32sec - 3min 37sec. Children at dusk by water with a few boats and buildings in the background.
3min 37sec - 3min 42sec. Landscape of rolling hills, the sea and a mountain, with a woman in the foreground.
3min 42sec - 3min 49sec. Scenes showing the harvesting, by hand, and loading of cane (sugar?).
3min 49sec - 3min 56sec. Seaside settlement with a natural ‘harbour’ from a hill. There are sailing ships at anchor in the bay in the background.
3min 56sec - 4min 6sec. Two men singing, one of them is playing a guitar.
4min 6sec - 4min 21sec. Seaside scenes and a beach with fishing boats.
4min 21sec - 4min 27sec. Garden flowers.
4min 27sec - 4min 38sec. Settlement of roughly constructed wooden dwellings.
4min 38sec - 4min 47sec. Scenes of a small port with small sailing ships.
4min 47sec - 4min 51sec. Two men dressed in suits and ties walking towards the camera.
4min 51sec - 4min 59sec. Woman with a small child in her arms, and various other people admiring a view.
4min 59sec - 5min 2sec. Scenes of an island taken from a plane.
5min 2sec - 5min 11sec. Cargo steam-ship ‘Saguena’ sailing into a natural harbour, passing a smaller ship. The port is a small town with a hillside fortification.
5min 11sec - 5min 15sec. Boats aground at low tide.
5min 15sec - 5min 27sec. Market scenes, buying and selling of bananas and other produce, and general street scenes with cars and buses. Harbour side scene with small sailing ships tied up, buildings and cars.
5min 27sec - 5min 33sec. Sailing boat and beach scenes.
5min 33sec - 5min 36sec. Small boats by a low jetty.
5min 36sec - 5min 45sec. Scenes in a town including a four-wheeled cart drawn by donkeys, and other vehicles.
5min 48sec - 5min 52sec. Scenes showing an island from an aeroplane.
5min 52sec - 5min 55sec. White church or cathedral.
5min 55sec - 6min 4sec. Scenes at an airport with a twin-engine prop aeroplane, bearing the livery of Avensa, taxiing, with other planes and various uniformed people shown. Aerovias Venezolanas SA - AVENSA for short - began on 13 May 1943 as a freight airline of Venezuela by Venezuelan businessmen and Pan American Airways, who flew the services to this part of the world from America. By the 1960’s, the airline also flew internationally to Miami, Aruba, Jamaica and New Orleans. Consequently, this airport is likely to be in Jamaica.
6min 4sec - 6min 8sec. Two young deer with people petting them.
6min 8sec - 6min 23sec. Scenes at an airport with people at a terminal building, and a Pan American Airways plane.
6min 23sec - 6min 38sec. Sailing boats in a harbour, scenes from a motorboat looking back towards the shore. Shots of the skipper (?) of the boat.
6min 38sec - 6min 54sec. Pelicans on water, flying and catching fish. Then a beach with shells, seaweed and driftwood.
6min 54sec - 7min 3sec. Scenes taken from a moving boat of small islands, fishing nets and cages.
7min 13sec - 7min 18sec. Various forest scenes.
7min 18sec - 7min 24sec. Dark shot of a man on a horse or donkey, with another beside.
7min 24sec - 7min 28sec. Man petting a dog and then with a green parrot/parakeet on his shoulder.
7min 32sec - 7min 39sec. Scenes of islands taken from a plane.
7min 39sec - 7min 43sec. Forest scenes.
7min 43sec - 7min 53sec. People loading small boats at a wooden jetty, then a large cargo steamship.
7min 53sec - 8min 8sec. House and other buildings in a forest, various people also pictured.
8min 16sec - 8min 20sec. Showing a market, with a hat stall.
8min 20sec - 8min 35sec. Corrugated iron buildings, one of which has a sign reading ‘Dominica Airport Terminal Building’, porters and other people. Scenes of an island from a plane.
8min 35sec - 9min 3sec. Man and woman by fishing boats on a beach. A church by the shore and small boats anchored in a harbour area.
9min 7sec - 9min 25sec. Various scenes showing of schoolchildren in uniforms walking down streets.
9min 25sec - 9min 46sec. Scenes taken from a moving boat. Behind them is a Red Ensign flag, presumably either the British Merchant Navy or Bermuda variation.
9min 46sec - 9min 59sec. Scenes of a shoreline and a man cooking an animal over a fire, possibly a large rodent or lizard.
10min 5sec - 10min 10sec. Playing fields, stables and what appears to be a racecourse.
10min 10sec - 10min 24sec. Scenes of children dressed smartly and of women in dresses and hats.
10min 24sec - 10min 43sec. Airport with a BOAC four-engine prop plane, airport buildings and then views of clouds seen from a plane.
10min 43sec - 11min. Birds, including great and blue tits, feeding at a table.






























































Dates

  • Creation: 1960

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

From the Series:

With the exception of RCMS 20/3/1, the cinefilms may be viewed online with the University of Cambridge Streaming Media Service at:

http://www.sms.cam.ac.uk/collection/1532657

For copyright reasons, researchers wishing to view RCMS 20/3/1, (Colonial Cinemagazine 29, Colonial Film Unit, 1950) should make an appointment with the RCS Librarian to view the film in Cambridge University Library. Email:

rcs@lib.cam.ac.uk.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright Cambridge University Library.

Extent

1 item(s) (1 cinefilm)

Language of Materials

English

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Good condition.

Existence and Location of Originals

A copy of this film is available for viewing at University of Cambridge Streaming Media Service:

http://sms.cam.ac.uk/collection/1532657

General

SG.

Finding aid date

2003-08-26 12:38:55+00:00

Includes index.

Repository Details

Part of the Cambridge University Library Repository

Contact:
Cambridge University Library
West Road
Cambridge CB3 9DR United Kingdom