BFI

The Royal review of the various fleets of the British Navy was an elaborately staged event with a long ancestry, but was particularly frequent in the early years of the 20th century. A naval arms race had begun between Britain and Germany which was intensifying by the time that the event took place in June 1909. Despite this intensification however, the Review of the Home Fleet and the newly formed Atlantic Fleet was essentially a well-choreographed form of entertainment rather than a practical manifestation of its ostensible purpose, the inspection by the monarch and a genuine training opportunity.

Contemporary commentators were dismissive about the Review's value either as a training exercise or as an accurate representation of the Fleet itself. Even one of the stars of the show, the newly commissioned HMS Invincible, had limped into position with poorly functioning gun turrets. The manouevres were elaborately arranged like a great naval ballet, with impressive mock attacks by fast torpedo boats and submarines. Tacked on to this Gaumont release were scenes of the attack on Whale Island, in which marines repulsed a mock invasion, taken at the 1907 event but presumably thought worth recycling. The whole film is impressive in its quality and perhaps presaged British Gaumont's long-term move into prestige non-fiction production.

Bryony Dixon

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