Film Record: Sir Christopher Wren

Identifier:

• 3855 (Source: East Anglian Film Archive)

Date produced: 1934

Country of Production:

United Kingdom

Languages:

English

Duration:

00:10:36

Length:

400 ft

Format:

16mm

Colour:

B&W

Sound Notes:

Silent

Description:

A biographical documentary about the architect Sir Christopher Wren made as if Christopher Wren was discussing his own buildings.

Resources:

IAC Film Library Catalogue (Silent and Sound). Institute of Amateur Cinematographers, 1975.
This film is part of the Institute of Amateur Cinematographers Collection held by the East Anglian Film Archive, Norwich, UK.

Locations:

• Cambridge, UK (Filming)
• East Knoyle, Wiltshire, UK (Filming)
• London, UK (Filming)
• Oxford, UK (Filming)

Club Affiliation:

London Amateur Film Club

Subjects:

• Arts
•      Art
•           Architecture
• Europe
•      England

Genre:

• Biographical
• Documentary

Form:

• Short

Tags:

Repository:

Institute of Amateur Cinematographers Collection, East Anglian Film Archive

Viewing Notes:

"Into this gathering, a man in day clothes of the earlier period introduces himself as Wren. He then proceeds to tell the story of 'his' life and work, with each of the subtitles comments followed by shots of buildings. These are; the birthplace at East Knoyle Rectory, Wiltshire. The village, church and graveyard. Westminster Abbey. Oxford - colleges and cloisters. Paris - Louvre and Sacre Couer. London - wall plaques giving details of buildings destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. The monument, St. Mary le Bow and St. Lawrence, Jewry. Royal Hospital, Chelsea with Chelsea pensioners. Oxford and Cambridge - college buildings, Hampton Court Palace and gardens. Sequence of St. Paul’s Cathedral and its architectural details. Finally, slowly and with much politeness and formal gestures out of place at a 1930s party, 'Wren' takes his leave. In the final conversation, the remaining guests wonder whether they have been visited by the great man's ghost." (EAFA Database

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