IT'S Liverpool as you have never seen it before. Well not unless you are getting on a bit.
Defining moments in the city's history, captured in cinema newsreels, are among more than half a million films going online today for the world to see for the first time on You Tube.
In the days when television was in its infancy, cinemas were the main source of moving picture news, with British Movietone on of the key players.
News reports were key part of a visit to the cinema as one of the obligatory "shorts" in the build up to the big picture.
Among more than one million minutes of digitised film footage, made available today by the Associated Press and British Movietone, are a number of items featuring Liverpool.
These include:
Liverpool dock strike – 1911
Opening of the Mersey Tunnel by George V in Liverpool – 1934
Heavy snow fall turns Liverpool white – 1936
Evacuation of children overseas during war time – 1940
Liverpool’s heaviest blitz – 1941
Liverpool sees Royal film performance – 1952
Queen Elizabeth II inaugurates the Langton-Canada dock – 1962
The Beatles attend Liverpool premiere of ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ – 1964
Beatles fans protest and present petition to Prime Minister Harold Wilson asking him to help keep the Cavern Club open – 1966
Consecration of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King in Liverpool – 1967
The collection represents one of the world’s most comprehensive newsreel archives, giving access, via YouTube, to events showcasing moments, people and events that shape the world.
“It will be the largest upload of historical news content on the video-sharing platform to date,” said a spokesman for AP and British Movietone.
The two channels will act as a view-on-demand visual encyclopedia, offering a unique perspective on the most significant moments of modern history.
The newsreels will be available for all to explore, with the channels also becoming a powerful educational tools and a source of inspiration for history enthusiasts and documentary filmmakers, not to mention a lucrative source of revenue from online ads.
The YouTube channels will comprise a collection of more than 550,000 video stories dating from 1895 to the present day.
Viewers will be able to watch video from the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, exclusive footage of the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, Marilyn Monroe captured on film in London in the 1950s and Twiggy modeling the fashions of the 1960s.
Alwyn Lindsey, AP’s director of international archive, said: ““The AP archive footage, combined with the British Movietone collection, creates an incredible visual journey of the people and events that have shaped our history.
“We are always astonished at the sheer breadth of footage that we have access to, and the upload to YouTube means that, for the first time, the public can enjoy some of the oldest and most remarkable moments in history.”
Content on the channels will also include surprising videos from different regions across the UK, including Liverpool and Merseyside, fashion through the ages, sporting coups, entertainment, extreme weather, technological innovations, the evolution of eating and drinking habits, political milestones and historical moments. They will be continually refreshed with up-to-date contemporary footage.
You Tube’s Stephen Nuttall said: "Making this content available on YouTube is a wonderful initiative from AP and British Movietone that will breathe new life into their footage and no doubt delight our global community - from students researching history projects to curious culture-vultures and the billions in between. It's an historical treasure trove that will give YouTube users around the world a moving window into the past and I can't wait to explore it.”
British Movietone is considered to be the world’s greatest newsreel archive, spanning the period 1895 – 1986. Its newsreels were shot on 35mm film. Their newsreels were the first to include sound, the first to use colour film, the first to break many exclusive stories.
