''The Battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands'' is a 1927 British
docudrama film directed by
Walter Summers
Walter Summers (1892–1973) was a British film director and screenwriter.
Biography
Born in Barnstaple to a family of actors, British motion picture director Walter Summers began his career in the family trade; his first contact with filmma ...
. The film focuses on the naval warfare around the
Battle of Coronel
The Battle of Coronel was a First World War Imperial German Navy victory over the Royal Navy on 1 November 1914, off the coast of central Chile near the city of Coronel. The East Asia Squadron (''Ostasiengeschwader'' or ''Kreuzergeschwader'') ...
and
Battle of the Falkland Islands
The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a First World War naval action between the British Royal Navy and Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 in the South Atlantic. The British, after their defeat at the Battle of Coronel on 1 November, s ...
during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. It was the last in a successful series of documentary reconstructions of First World War battles by
British Instructional Films made between 1921 and 1927. The film was produced at
Cricklewood Studios
Cricklewood Studios, also known as the Stoll Film Studios, were British film studios located in Cricklewood, London which operated from 1920 to 1938. Run by Sir Oswald Stoll as the principal base for his newly formed Stoll Pictures, which als ...
and on location off Malta and the Isles of Scilly. The film is an entirely fictional recreation with a strong documentary feel.
The film cost an estimated £18,000 to make. It grossed £70,000 in Britain alone. It was restored and re-released by the
BFI
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
in 2014.
Restoration
In 2014 the
BFI National Archive
The BFI National Archive is a department of the British Film Institute, and one of the largest film archives in the world. It was founded as the National Film Library in 1935; its first curator was Ernest Lindgren. In 1955, its name became the N ...
restored the film for the centenary of the events with a new score composed by Simon Dobson.
Historical background
On 1 November 1914, off the coast of
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
near
Coronel, ships of the German and British navies
exchanged fire resulting in the sinking of two British ships and with the loss of nearly 1,600 sailors. To counter the German squadron, the Royal Navy sent two battle-cruisers - and - to the South Atlantic. In December 1914, the British battle-cruisers, accompanied by smaller ships, engaged the German squadron during the
Battle of the Falkland Islands
The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a First World War naval action between the British Royal Navy and Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 in the South Atlantic. The British, after their defeat at the Battle of Coronel on 1 November, s ...
and sank the German armoured cruisers and near the Falkland Islands.
References
Bibliography
* Dixon, Bryon
''Battles of the Coronel and Falkland Islands, The (1927)'' BFI Screenonline.
* Low, Rachael. ''History of the British Film, 1918-1929''. George Allen & Unwin, 1971.
* Wood, Linda. ''British Films 1927-1939''. British Film Institute, 1986.
External links
*
1927 films
1920s English-language films
Films directed by Walter Summers
British silent feature films
Films shot at Cricklewood Studios
World War I naval films
British black-and-white films
British documentary films
1927 documentary films
1920s British films
Silent war adventure films
1920s war adventure films
British World War I films
{{WWI-documentary-film-stub