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Schoolchildren at St. Ignatius School, Preston (1904)

Jubilant schoolchildren spill out of a Catholic primary school in Edwardian Preston.

Non-Fiction 1904 2 mins Silent

Overview

While the younger children in this lively film are vigilantly corralled by their schoolmistresses, the older boys get special dispensation to react freely to Mitchell & Kenyon's cameras. As so often in these films, the action is partly staged. The schoolchildren's neat and healthy appearance is in contrast to the often visible poverty of the workers in many of the filmmakers' factory films.

Schoolchildren were a popular subject for Mitchell and Kenyon, who knew that their appearance in the films would encourage family members and friends to attend the local screenings.