Shortly after assembling the research materials for my previous post on the Penn-Gray Society, I began thinking more deeply about the number of “lost” photographs of M. R. James that may lay waiting to be discovered in unexplored paper or digital archives. This thought led me to pose the question to myself as to whether there exists any actual film footage of James, and if so, where it may be found. I had personally never seen any film purporting to show James, but it did seem entirely possible that it might exist, given the period he was alive.
If anything were to be found, I suspected that the source would almost certainly be old newsreel footage, and the likely eras of James’ life that may have given cause for such film to be taken would be his provostships at either King’s College or Eton. As far as British newsreels are concerned, the two main companies operating during James’ lifetime were Pathé News and British Movietone News (the latter now held by the Associated Press). Thankfully, the complete archives of each have been digitised and made available online.
The obvious place to begin was to query both archives to ascertain whether James’ name appeared in any associated textual metadata but this was, as expected, a dead end. A subsequent search of newsreel clips relating to King’s College likewise yielded no fruit. However, I held out hope that a perusal of the archives for material relating to Eton could yet produce an identification, particularly given that James’ provostship of the college took place in his later years, during a time in which newsreel film was becoming more commonplace. The results of this search did not disappoint.
In total, I believe I have been able to locate five separate newsreel clips which provide us with moving images of Montague Rhodes James. I am reliably informed that three of these – those held within the archives of British Pathé – are previously-known filmic records of James, while the remaining two appear to be “new” discoveries. The caveat is of course that, owing to a threadbare set of accompanying notes, the sightings have by necessity been based on knowledge of the dates of James’ provostship of Eton, an examination of events likely to have called upon presence of the provost, and most importantly a study of known still photographs of M. R. James in the relevant time periods. In addition, I passed my findings to the curator of the photographic archive at Eton, who while unable to provide further information on the content of any of the newsreels, did concur with each of my identifications. Eton College itself holds no film footage of James within its archives.
Below you will find each of the five clips with accompanying notes. Initially I had hoped to license these directly for hosting on Antiquarian Ghosts, but costs proved prohibitive with a single-site license for a five year period running to around £300 per clip. As such, I have instead included embedded versions linked to the British Pathé and Associated Press YouTube channels, both of which host their full digitised archives. I have also included links to each of the clips’ pages on the official archive sites, as personal licenses are available for a much lower price should you be interested in purchasing a particular newsreel for your own viewing.
For the British Pathé newsreels, I would recommend viewing the YouTube version as these are of higher quality than the website previews, while the British Movietone News clips are somewhat clearer on the official site, particularly in full-screen mode.
Newsreel clip #1: “35 Etonian Generals Visit Old College (1919)”
The first of the newsreel clips is the earliest in date, filmed in 1919 during the second year of M. R. James’ provostship at Eton. The clip itself depicts a visit by thirty five British Army generals and former Etonians to the college in the aftermath of the First World War. They can be seen touring the college grounds and giving a speech to an assembled crowd of Eton boys. Sadly there is no audio track present, and so we are unable to hear what was said.
James can be seen leading the procession at the very beginning of the clip, on the left hand side of the frame, as shown here:
I believe James is also visible at the end of the clip at the top of the staircase to the far left, although unfortunately his face is obscured by a large lamp, making conclusive identification difficult.
Here is the clip itself, from the British Pathé archives:
Here is the link to the British Pathé archive page for this clip.
Newsreel clip #2: “New colours for Eton OTC (1930)”
The second clip in the Pathé archives brings us forward in time to the 1930s, during the later years of M. R. James’ life and the decade in which all of the subsequent newsreels were filmed.
This particular newsreel features a ceremony held at Windsor Castle, during which King George V and Queen Mary present new colours (flags) to the boys of the Eton Officer Training Corps. (OTC). James can be seen walking directly behind the King and Queen in a procession around the grounds of Windsor at around the 0:30 mark, as illustrated in this screen capture:
The identification of James here is evident to anyone familiar with known photographs from the time. Note the robes being worn here – despite the footage being monochrome we can observe a difference in tone between the main robe and the section over the shoulders. Sir Gerald Kelly’s 1936 portrait of James illustrates this in colour, with the top section being red, over black robes. I’m unclear as to whether this particular style of Eton academic dress signifies the wearer as provost, or if it had a more general usage. Also of note is the walking cane being held in James’ left hand; this serves as a good clue to his identity in all of the subsequent clips, each filmed post-1930.
The clip itself, from the British Pathé archives:
There are two other versions of this particular clip held within the Pathé archives (attributed to Reuters), but the above is of the greatest clarity.
Here is the link to the British Pathé archive page for this clip.
Newsreel clip #3: “H.R.H. The Duke of Connaught at Eton (1934)”
The third clip depicts a visit by Prince Arthur, the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert), to unveil a memorial tablet to fallen Etonians of the Rifle Brigade at the college. Following an inspection of the OTC, we then see the Duke led by M. R. James through the grounds and a crowd of assembled boys.
This clip contains the greatest amount of footage of James in any of the five, and again the identification here is fairly self-evident. He first appears at 0:17 where he can be seen speaking to the Duke before gesticulating towards the route to be walked. The following shot at 0:25 clearly shows James again conversing with the Duke, and at 0:42 (and in a closer frame at 0:56) we can see both men walking through the crowd of assembled cheering Eton schoolboys.
Here is the full newsreel from the British Pathé archives:
Here is the link to the British Pathé archive page for this clip.
Newsreel clip #4: “Another Wall Game Ends Without Score (1932)”
Now we move on to the first of two clips from the archives of British Movietone News, which I believe will be new to those interested in M. R. James. There are many old newsreels depicting the famous St. Andrew’s Day wall game at Eton, but this appears to be the only one made during James’ provostship in which we can identify him with certainty.
Luckily, in the case of this clip the original audio track has survived, and helpfully contains a voiceover identifying one of the gentlemen appearing around the 1:48 mark as the college’s provost. I am certain that James’ is the figure stood slightly behind the rest of the group – again he can be seen holding a cane in his left hand, and indeed his trademark spectacles are visible when he turns toward the boy walking past him at 1:56:
In addition, the curator of the Eton College photographic archives kindly provided me with an image taken at the St. Andrew’s Day wall game two years later in 1934, which shows James dressed in an almost identical fashion:
Indeed, the above image gave me cause to re-examine a newsreel of the 1934 game held in the British Pathé archives, and while too far from the camera to provide any certain identification, it seems James may be visible in the distance stood with three other men in similar attire, in front of the crowd and inside the playing area. The circled figure appears to be the only one wearing a scarf, and as such leads me to suspect that this may be M. R. James.
Regardless, the earlier 1932 newsreel is much clearer, and can be viewed below:
The version held on the AP archive page for the clip is of greater clarity, particularly when viewed in full-screen mode.
Newsreel clip #5: “Queen and Princesses Kept Busy (1935)”
The final clip is also the last chronologically – filmed the year prior to James’ death – and features a young Elizabeth II (at the time Princess Elizabeth) alongside her mother, the Duchess of York, and grandmother, Queen Mary. The newsreel itself covers a number of activities of the royal party including a visit to Eton, during which James can be seen among the assembled dignitaries greeting the Queen:
The following shot provides us with a much closer view of James, although sadly only from behind:
The academic dress in this clip again corresponds with that seen in previous newsreels, and the cane, while not particularly visible, can be seen briefly in MRJ’s left and as he greets the Queen. Again, when studied alongside photographs from the time, this is quite clearly M. R. James.
The full clip:
As with clip #4, the version held on the AP archive page is clearer, particularly in full-screen mode.
The British Pathé archives contain several other newsreels which while holding promising titles, do not include any images of M. R. James: “The King at Eton (1934)” contains the original audio track and mentions the King and Queen being received by the vice provost “in the absence of the provost, who was indisposed”; and “The Retirement of Eton’s Head Master (1933)” which contains recorded audio of the speech given by the Head Master, Dr. Cyril Alington. Sadly James is not present in the clip, and any hope of hearing his recorded voice (assuming he also spoke at the event) went unrealised.
One final newsreel clip in the Pathé archives which may be of interest is “Eton’s New Provost (1936)”, which features James’ successor, Lord Hugh Cecil, being installed as provost. James is named briefly in the accompanying audio, but unfortunately there does not seem to be a counterpart newsreel of his own ceremony eighteen years earlier.
As discussed at the beginning of this article, the sparsely-documented nature of many of these old newsreel clips means that it becomes necessary to rely mainly on educated guesswork and simple visual identification when attempting to confirm those persons depicted, unless named directly in the title cards. Nevertheless, I believe my conclusions to be correct. My sincere thanks to Mr. Roddy Fisher, curator of the Eton photographic archive, for his help and support of my identifications, which have allowed me to publish this article with confidence in the veracity of the claims made.
I would be very interested to hear from any readers with additional information or thoughts on the newsreels, and indeed if you are aware of any film footage of M. R. James not covered here, please get in touch.
Duncan J. Rule.
Antiquarian Ghosts 