C/U of a young girl and boy chatting; she wears a large straw hat and sips from a bottle of lemonade through a straw; panning left to show a hand-written sign reading 'Bohemian Special, Sat, 7th May'. M/S and C/U of Ray Owen, owner of The Tollington Park Dance Club, putting an LP on a record player; C/U of the record going round on the turntable.
M/S of the dance floor where many young couples (aged about 14 to 18) are dancing; one couple, Janet Perry and Patric Burgess, are sitting at a table with bottles of orangeade (?) with straws. Some of the dancers are dressed in bizarre clothes - girls in dark glasses, men's hats and jackets, or in frilly bloomers worn as trousers; the boys seem to be dressed more conventionally.
Commentator says "Bohemian dancing it's called, and these kids start dressing up where the 'teds' and 'weirdies' left off. The craze started here at The Tollington Park Dance Club in North London, but it's already catching on in other areas". Low angle M/S showing two girls jiving together; both wear frilly bloomers; one wears a red layered net petticoat over hers, plus yellow socks and red carpet slippers. C/U of Patricia Best dancing, wearing a black top hat. M/S of couples dancing.
C/U of a girl with bunches (could be Janice Best) dancing with another girl who wears a straw hat and cat eye sunglasses. C/U of Margaret Pearce in large straw hat dancing with a girl who looks vaguely 1920s in a headband and pendant; tilt down to show their feet dancing - the other girl has strange, stripy, loose pedal-pushers. C/U of MP's backside; she has a large heart-shaped patch on the seat of her trousers saying 'Stuck On You' with a picture of Elvis Presley - crazy, man!
M/S of couples dancing; C/U of Diane Harris (with pigtails) dancing with Margaret Humphries (?) in a man's shirt, sunglasses and trilby hat; C/Us of other girls dancing and of two young boys looking on. Commentator says "the most conventional clothes on view are the new pointed shoes, presumably not for squares!" as we see in C/U two pairs of men's feet wearing winkle-pickers, then a girl's feet tapping to the music wearing brocade pointed shoes with a diamante buckle and bow. C/U of Janet Perry and Patric Burgess drinking orangeade and talking.
M/S of couples dancing (one girl wears a man's shirt back to front); C/U of the record spinning round on the turntable; high angle M/Ss showing the dancing; one girl partners two others as they jive. Commentator says "The idea is to look like nothing on earth - even if it means looking like a nightmare". C/U of someone wearing a straw hat; as they dance the crown which has been cut bounces like a lid. Low angle M/S showing various kinds of footwear as they dance; C/U of the feet of a boy and girl - he wears winkle-pickers, she wears very pointed white high heeled shoes - tapping to the music. Nice C/U of a boy and girl dancing very slowly; C/U of their feet as they dance.
More M/Ss and C/Us as several couples dance, showing their footwear, swirling skirts, long white woolly socks; one girl dances with bare feet; the camera tilts left and right in a couple of shots.
Note: bizarre film about this minor craze. On file are notes on the people dancing (they are quite confusing so names in my description may not be correct) and an article from 'Woman's Mirror' about the dressing fad.
90,000 historic films, all SEARCHABLE on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/british... Join us on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/britis... Tweet us @britishpathe FILM ID:105.29
Originally collected by
fetching...
(
less)