Gestetner Works (1927)

Promotional film made about the Gestetner factory - very good footage of men, women and young boys at work making and testing duplicating machines. There is no main title for the film.



Aerial view of the Gestetner Works at Tottenham, London. Panning shot of men working on the construction of an extension to the factory. Mr S. Gestetner (Managing Director) and Mr J. Glatworthy (Works Manager) make their daily tour of inspection around the factory - moving shots include very young boys at work. Chemical Research Laboratory is shown - a man smoking a pipe conducts an experiment. The Gestetner Foundry - molten iron is poured into prepared moulds. L/S of men and boys carrying the moulds. C/U of the iron casting being turned. L/S of part of the factory where the moulds are "machined." The milling, drilling and gear generating section - C/U of machines. Two teenage boys sit and work at presses. C/U of boy at work pressing machine parts. C/U of a cylinder ring. C/U of boy working a machine which cuts round pieces out of a sheet of metal. C/U of another machine part. The Tool Maintenance department is shown - many men at work. M/S of men spraying enamel on Gestetner parts. Gold paint is applied by hand. C/U of a man doing detailed painting work. Very young boy (10 or 11?) watching over a machine with a foreman behind him. C/U of the impression roller being ground by a revolving stone. L/S of the stores. Man climbs a ladder whilst a colleague pulls a box from the large stack. Automatic machines are used to produce screws and other small parts. Panning shot - woman at work with several men. C/U of a machine in operation, a stream of water keeps the moving parts cool. C/U of a small metal part. L/S of men at work assembling the machines in the foreground, women in the background. Panning shot of men and boys assembling and testing the machines. C/U of the machines as various tests are performed. Young women turn handles and feed paper through. Panning shots of women cleaning the machines then packing them into boxes. M/S of men in the despatch department. Panning and tilting shot of large stacks of boxes. Docks - a lorry drives past with many boxes on the back - Gestetner products bound for the Far East. C/U of the boxes - some boxes are labelled "Vancouver" and Bombay. Cargo is loaded onto a ship.



Tables and flat duplicators made from selected and seasoned timbers are also made in the Gestetner factory. Panning shot of this part of the factory. The paper warehouse is shown - high angle panning shot of men stacking reams of paper. A consignment of Esparto Grass from North Africa arrives at the factory on the back of a cargo train. The processes involved in making Gestetner watermarked paper is described through intertitles. Various shots of vats of wood pulp, machines for washing the paper, for squeezing out the water, etc. C/U of a man's bare feet as he walks close to a large rolling machine. Various C/Us of men at work on the paper making machines. C/Us of paper being heated, rolled, cut to the required size etc. The paper is then examined and counted - mostly women at work in this section. High angle of the Paper and Stencil Department. - lots of women at work. C/U of a woman feeding sheets of letter headed paper onto a conveyor belt. C/U panning shot of women at work by a conveyor belt. Sheets of Durotype. Panning shot of women sitting at benches examining sheets of paper. Woman foreman walks between the benches. Wax stencil section. Good C/U of women at work.



C/Us of "the Ream Model" being constructed through camera dissolves. The parts magically appear one by one until the duplicator is complete. C/U of a woman's hand pressing a lever then turning the handle of the duplicator. Various shots of the machine in operation. C/U of a woman operating the duplicator, checking the print then walking away, leaving the machine in operation. She sits down at a typewriter. Good C/U of her typing. Machine carries on duplicating then stops when correct number of pages have been printed.



Note: Intertitles have "Gestetner" at the bottom where the name "Pathe Gazette" or similar would usually be. Due to bad shrinkage and decomposition the 35mm negative is virtually unusable. There is a Beta in the London office - reference number: Library Tape 397. Neg is labelled "Gestetner Reel 1" but no other reels have been found.
FILM ID:1647.02

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