Directed by Not credited • Documentary • With Queen Elizabeth II • 1960 • 16 minutes
Compilation newsreel portraying Queen Elizabeth II from her childhood to the early days of her reign, sponsored by the Central Office of Information. This film starts with early footage of the Queen as a girl and young women, including some images of her during the Second World War. Important events in the young Princess’s life depicted include a visit to South Africa at the age of 21, her engagement to Philip Mountbatten and subsequent Royal Wedding, as well as King George VI lying in state. We follow the Queen on visits to Commonwealth countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Nigeria, and to European neighbours such as France where she gets a warm welcome from the people of Paris. There is footage of the King and Queen of Thailand’s state visit to the UK followed by other official engagements the Queen carries out such as ship launches, a tour of a coalmine, and the opening of a new telephone system. We also see Queen Elizabeth as a mother and surrounded by her family. The film stresses her responsibilities as monarch and depicts it as a lonely role, but the commentary ends on an uplifting note with the following words: “Alone, but sustained by the love of her family, and the love of her people.”
Up Next in The Sixties
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The Human Pyramid
Directed by Jean Rouch • Documentary • 1961 • 93 minutes
At the Lycée Français of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Rouch worked with students there who willingly enacted a story about the arrival of a new white girl, Nadine, and her effect on the interactions of and interracial relationships between the wh...
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A Look at Madness / Captive Feast
Directed by Mario Ruspoli • Documentary • With Dr. François Tosquelles • 1962 • 53 minutes
Ruspoli had a standing interest in isolated and marginal communities, very much on display in films he shot in Lozère, in France’s rugged, unforgiving south. In A LOOK AT MADNESS and CAPTIVE FEAST, it’s pa...
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Sierra Leone Greets the Queen
Directed by T. Cummins • Documentary • 1961 • 22 minutes
Record of the royal visit by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip to Sierra Leone between 25th November and 1st December 1961. The Royal yacht Britannia arrives in Freetown. Formal greeting from dignitaries including the Prime Minister Sir...
