Story of the life of William Henry Fox Talbot 1800 - 1877
Film Made for 100th anniversary of birth of Fox Talbot Lacock Abbey 1950.
A fellow in a Stove Pipe hat is seen behind the titles.
A title appears, stating: "The 150th anniversary of the birth of Talbot Fox was commemorated at Lacock, Wiltshire in February 1950"
Title: "This film endeavours to provide a permanent record of that occasion"
"On February 11th 1800 at Melbury in Dorset, was born William Henry Fox Talbot"
Most of his life was spent in the village of Lacock in Wiltshire. The village, with Elizabethan housing and a horse pulling along a wooden cart, with male driver. Some wooden bracing on a house, followed by a shot of Talbot's house. The village church.
"Fox Talbot's cameras were made in the village workshop of John Cale."
Inside the workshop, with a wooden workbench taking up much of the floor space.
"Talbot's experimental work was carried out at Lacock Abbey" (There is a nice establishing shot of the abbey)
"Founded in A.D. 1229
A bell tower through an ornate archway as part of a wall. The entrance to the abbey has an elaborate stone stairway.
"Miss Matilda Talbot, grand daughter of Fox Talbot, now occupies the abbey"
"Mr. Harold White has spent much time compiling the biography of Fox Talbot" Two people sitting at a table, looking over some old books of Talbot.
"Talbot invented the Calotype, forerunner of the photographic of today"
The two people examine photographs. One is of a Greco-Roman building (possibly the Acropolis in Athens.)
The possibility of the Camera Club organising a commemoration for 150th Anniversary arises. The two look at a programme of the cinema club.
"Trowbridge Camera and Cine Club was interested in the deal.
"The idea was to suggest a restaging in period costume, of some of Talbot's calotypes.
Some scenes of the re-staging of the pictures. A man in a pair of chequered trousers stands in front of a box , mounted on a tripod. He is then given some instruction by a man in a long black coat.
The hallway of a living room, and see some letters falling through the front door of the house. Some slippered feet come downstairs and collect the letters. A fellow in a dressing gown looks at the letters and opens one of them, examines it and puts it on the table.
A town hall, where a meeting is taking place, a man on the panel, on the raised platform rises and addresses the assembly.
"Volunteers are required" (There is much pipe smoking that ensues)
Then in different scenes, on different days, that are denoted by the peeling off of days on a calendar, both men and women are shown signing up for taking part in the re-construction. People are then seen trying on costumes, and we see a poster advertising the event, and a man coming along and pinning a sign on the top of it saying "Today".
Some shots of the village - it is tipping down with rain. A a bus full of people, rounding a corner and heading down a wet road. People get off the bus and stand outside the town hall with their umbrellas up"
"The restaged scenes create considerable interest"
One of the scenes that is being re-constructed is that of a young family posing for a portrait - there is a father, mother and young boy. People in contemporary clothes stand by and watch.
Next, a man with a white 'Abraham Lincoln' beard sets up a tripod. We see another middle-aged man put a monocle up to his eye and look at the camera.
A Calotype picture is being taken, modern photographs of this scene are also being taken by the crowd of onlookers.
The next Calotype picture to be taken is of a man standing in the open doorway of a barn, on the second floor of the barn-building, with the man at the top of the ladder.
"Within the abbey,"
A corridor, with a bookcase covering one of the walls and a piano to the right, and also a music stand.
"The calotype process was evolved in 1840"
There is a shot of some old cameras on display in the house. The public are milling around the house.
"The earliest form of camera" (We see this)
Miss Talbot looks through some books that Fox Talbot wrote. One is called "The Pencil of Nature"
"The window, subject of Talbot's first photographic experiments"
"The representatives of all branches of photography were present …and so the day ended"
Miss. Talbot is then presented with a bouquet of white roses.
There is a shot of Fox Talbot's grave in the churchyard, and a wreath being laid at it,.
"But a far greater memorial than this, he has raised himself"
"For every photograph taken is a reminder of the man who made it possible"
There is a final shot of Fox Talbot, with the title over the top: "William Henry Fox Talbot, 1800 - 1877".
The End.
