Blackfriars Bridge (1896) User Reviews

Across the Bridge

[JoeytheBrit · 6/10 · 13 November 2009]

Robert Paul is a largely forgotten name today, but he was a major pioneer of British cinema, and was quick to grasp the commercial potential of cinema in ways that better known pioneers such as William Friese-Greene were not. He was more of a mechanic than a filmmaker making, with Birt Acres, his own camera on which to shoot films in 1895, and also Britain's first projector, the Animatograph, with which to screen them in 1896. Early in the 20th century he had a custom-made studio built in Muswell Hill.

Bridge and street scenes were pretty common subjects for filmmakers in the early days of cinema because of the amount of movement. Blackfriars Bridge was apparently fairly new when this film was shot, replacing the previous bridge which had been built in the 1700s. There isn't a car in sight and what traffic there is proceeds at a stately pace. You even see people walking along the middle of the road. You wouldn't get away with that for very long today. Not unless you were selling roses or washing windscreens anyway

Worth a watch for the people and scenery

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 12 October 2013]

Not much happens in this short film during its 45 seconds running time. Butz that's not all bad. We see a heavily-frequented street and it's a day like any other. Carriages rush over the bridge and occasionally you see a man or woman, dressed as elegantly as it gets walk on the side of it. It's an okay watch mostly for the dresses, pompous hats (most of the men wear cylinders) and people's reactions. It's longer than most films of its time, but still bearable before it starts to drag. Weather seems to be a bit foggy, or it's just the not-too great quality of the version I watched. Okay movie, there's much better and worse out there, even from 1896.

My Oldest watch, boring but that doesn't matter

[reidyq · 4/10 · 31 January 2022]

There isn't much in the film, just a bridge and people going across it, but it's cool how there is footage from this long ago freely available on things like YouTube, still boring and the only reason to watch is to see 38 seconds of how people lived in 1896. 4.5/10.

Blackfriars Bridge

[Michael_Elliott · 21 September 2018]

Blackfriars Bridge (1896)

The title tells you exactly what you're getting in this film from director Robert W. Paul. In the film, the camera is set up on the bridge as we see traffic going across. Yes, that's all that happens here for about thirty-seconds but this is just the type of film that was being made back in the day. I find movies like this interesting to watch today because it gives you a chance to see how life was back in 1896. We get to see the type of clothing that people were wearing, we see the type of buggies that they were riding in and we get to see a casual day as people went across this bridge.

Cool, but boring

[dofarisahuman · 4/10 · 31 January 2022]

My oldest watch and this 38 second film is really cool, the fact that we have footage from this long ago is insane. This film is still really boring though.

You're seeing a moment in time

[Tornado_Sam · 11 December 2017]

This effort by the early filmmaker Robert Paul is one of his fairly lesser films but its value and importance makes it a good watch for silent film lovers. It takes place on Blackfriars Bridge as the title says and we see various people crossing the bridge as well as plenty of buggies. It runs for about 40 seconds and is pretty uninteresting by today's standards. Nothing of much interest happens. But, and don't forget this, YOU'RE SEEING A MOMENT IN TIME!! There is no acting, no sets, no nothing--this is what happened one day on Blackfriars Bridge! Thus, it is a must-see for historians and film buffs. All the early actualities by the Lumiere Bros and Paul and what have you are all worth a watch for this reason. Interesting because it's a record of time.