BFI

The South London Borough of Kensington is usually thought of as one of the capital's most prosperous, but it was by no means immune to the slums and housing shortages that blighted Britain in the period after the Great War.

This short Topical Budget item shows Queen Mary visiting part of Kensington's own response to the problem, a new terrace of small workers' cottages. Typically for non-fiction films of this period there are no interior shots due to technical restrictions. The film shows the Queen disappear into one of the cottages, but the cumbersome camera equipment and the low light levels do not permit filming indoors. Therefore the film cuts immediately to the Queen reappearing and the key event of the news story - her visit to one of the new cottages - is scarcely shown. Fortunately the excitement of the crowds outside generates sufficient interest to sustain the story, together with the incongruity of seeing the royal entourage walking along a row of terraced houses.

Ros Cranston

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