British Universities Film & Video Council

moving image and sound, knowledge and access

Ballad of the Bard

Synopsis
Cinemagazine. A look at how Stratford celebrated Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary. Views of Stratford including the cottages of Anne Hathaway and Shakespeare’s birthplace. Tony Sheridan strums a guitar and sings, he joins the pop group Bobby Patrick’s Big Six for a pop version of ‘There was a lover and his lass’ from As You Like It. Lewen Tugwell has made a sculpture of Shakespeare which, because it is cut concave not convex, follows you with its eyes, actor Donald Gray is one of the people looking at it. Looks at how mead is made by pressing apples and adding honey; people dressed in Shakespearean costume in Goodwood having a feast and eating boar’s head, a pig roasting on a spit. Shots of a wrestling match between the Robinson brothers. Other activities include bowling, apple bobbing and puppet shows. A man sits in stocks and is pelted with flour. Brief shots of Birmingham and the souvenir shops. People sitting outside the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the Shakespeare Centre which is giving an exhibition of his career. More views of Stratford again and Bobby Patrick’s Big Six are still singing. The commentary by Thomas Wilfrid ends ‘The rest is silence, or it damn well ought to be’.
Series
Colour Pictorial
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Medium
Film
Technical information
Colour / Sound
Recording date
5 Jul 1964
Duration
6 mins; 800 feet

Credits

Contributor
Donald Gray; Thomas Wilfrid
Cast
Bobby Patrick’s Big Six 
Tony Sheridan 

Additional Details

Production type
Documentary/Educational/News
Subjects
Travel & tourism
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Stratford-upon-Avon; Heritage industry

Notes

Notes
Issue number 497. The film may be viewed online at www.itnsource.co.uk
General
First released in March 1918, the Pathe Pictorial was a cinemagazine carrying stories of general interest that were not associated with any particular news event

Production Company

Name

British Pathé News Ltd

Distributor

Name

ITN (Getty Images)

Email
https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/customer-support
Web
https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/footage/itn External site opens in new window
Phone
0800 376 7977
Address
Getty Images
6th Floor South, Duo
280 Bishopsgate
London
EC2M 4AG
United Kingdom

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