This film is part of Free
Water Polo - Worthing Swimming Club
Brief but lively snatch of a game in progress
Overview
Water polo was on the up in the late-Victorian era, and this short but energetic bit of film gives us glimpse of a game in progress at an open-air pool in Worthing, West Sussex. It was shot in William Kennedy-Laurie Dickson's own 68mm format, which accounts for the unusually high resolution of the images and allows us (on a big enough screen) to see the faces of the players.
This was one of a number of films made by during a trip to Worthing (just along the South Coast from Brighton and Hove, already well established as centres of pioneering film activity thanks to the efforts of EsmΓ© Collings, G.A. Smith and James Williamson). A significantly longer version of the film survives in standard 35mm format.
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