enginehistory.org

[pshort]

I have just been reading about the Elton Collection at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum in England. This was the lifetime collection of Sir Arthur Elton, he was interested in Great Britain's industrial and transport heritage and collected many paintings, books and all sorts of remarkable stuff.

His "real job" was that of being a documentary film maker, and the book says that one of the "landmark documentary films" he made was "Aeroengine" in 1932 which chronicled the manufacture and testing of aeroplane engines.

Aeroplane magazine for 1933 said "After 4000 ft of lovely cinema showing the aero engine being made, the magnificent moment comes: the first flight. For pure visual thrill, and impressionistic beauty, and cinematic value, the sequence of the aeroplane's first flight is unsurpassed."

Now....I must admit that review worries me a bit - "lovely cinema" wouldn't include any out-of-focus shots would it, or showers of sparks etc, and it almost sounds like the 4000 ft of engine construction was only redeemed by the flight at the end......

Well, I just wondered if anyone had seen this film, or knew if it was available?

I think Arthur Elton made a lot of films for Shell - they used to have a huge catalogue of films, not sure what has happened to them now. I bought one from them a few years ago showing Cornish pumping engines, filmed in B&W back when they were still being used.