Canterbury Amateur Film Archive

Count Zborowski Film

Home

Count Zborowski Film

In the summer of 1924 millionaire racing driver, Count Zborowski made a series of home movies with friends, attempting to replicate favourite scenes from silent Hollywood films.

The Count starred as a villain alongside his friend Clive Gallop in search of hidden treasure and included many scenes featuring the Count’s private, mile-long, 15″ railway which circled his estate at Higham near Canterbury. The film had been presumed lost and languished for 70 years in a cupboard until discovered in a collection of amateur films made by well-known Canterbury business man, Sydney Bligh, who died in 1942. Now digitised, the films provided a unique view of the rich at play and an early example of amateur filmmaking. When discovered, the two rolls of 16mm film were unedited and included a number of separate scenes with only a loose connection between them. Film Lecturer Tim Jones has edited the material to form a clearer storyline and has created inter-titles to help convey the narrative. Now with music by Tor Bekken, sit back and enjoy THE MAP, a film that took over 90 years to be completed!

To see the film go to: https://vimeo.com/404046028

Share this page:

Comment on “Count Zborowski Film

  1. What a unique piece of amateur film making, and footage of Count Louis ,which must have been taken only weeks before his untimely death, on 19th October, 1924. There cannot be many, if any,other shots of his railway at Higham. The camera work is of a high standard for an amateur 16mm effort. All the shots seem to be tripod based and well framed. Could a professional cameraman have been used?
    Congratulations on sorting and editing the footage and adding a fitting musical accompaniment. Well done!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *