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The filming of the silent feature-length biopic ‘The Life Story of David Lloyd George’ was completed in 1918. Under mysterious circumstances however, the film was suppressed before being shown, and was subsequently believed to have disappeared until it was rediscovered by the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales in 1994. The two and a half hour long feature was found amongst material deposited by Viscount Tenby (Lloyd George's grandson), and was fully restored and brought to the screen by the Archive in 1996. The film provides a fictionalised account of the prominent Welsh politician and First World War prime minister up to the end of the War and, although the title role is played by an actor, the film also includes brief footage of Lloyd George himself. A book ‘David Lloyd George: the Movie Mystery’ investigating the intriguing story behind the film and its disappearance, and tracing its journey from restoration to premiere presentations with music, is co-edited by The National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales’ Research Officer Dave Berry and Simon Horrocks, lecturer at the University of Wales (published by the University Of Wales Press in 1998). Other films in the archive’s collection made around the time of the ‘The Life Story of David Lloyd George’ include the 1918 film of the ‘The Opening of the Prince of Wales Hospital’ amongst others. The archive holds other moving image records of David Lloyd George’s life and work including newsreel and amateur footage. The collection includes extraordinary personal footage shot in colour by Lloyd George’s private secretary A. J. Sylvester. These films reveal the Welsh statesman in various diplomatic roles and include scenes from his visit to Germany in 1936, where he dined with Hitler and discussed his agricultural policies. Other interesting films from the run up to the Second World War held in the Archive include the surprising amateur fiction film ‘Pink Shirts’ (1934/5) which parodies the British fascist movement of Oswald Mosley’s ‘Black Shirts’ in the mid 1930s. |
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