Underground Gala

22 Oct 2009

We dive into the BFI National Archive and resurface with special images from the long-awaited restoration.

The Programme

This is the original souvenir programme for Anthony Asquith's expressive tale of young working class Londoners, Underground, which will be screening at the London Film Festival's Archive Gala. This was the first feature to be filmed on the London tube, and has been little seen since its original release in 1928. Now in a newly restored print, Underground is brought back to the big screen in a special event with live music from Neil Brand.

The Film

The image here shows the two main characters by the escalators at Waterloo, and is one of several scenes filmed in the station showing ordinary people going to work, in much the same way we do 80 years later. The story of 'Underground folk' concerns Bill, an Underground porter, and Nell, a shop girl, who meet and fall love on the escalator. This is complicated by Bert, an electrician (who also covets Nell) and Kate, his discarded girlfriend. The drama unfolds both below and above ground, taking in some beautiful London locations before returning underground for its thrilling climax.

The People

The director of Underground was the son of the former Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith. He overcame considerable resistance to his chosen career to become one of Britain's best known directors. Like Hitchcock, Asquith looked to European and Russian films of the time for inspiration. Though only 26 when the film was made, his style is assured, efficient and sparse, with the occasional impressive flourish.

Asquith was much helped by his cast. The lovely Elissa Landi (Nell) was born in Venice, but was brought up in England and had a successful film career before moving to Hollywood. She would go on to play opposite greats such as Cary Grant, Robert Donat and Charles Farrell, and also wrote novels and poetry. Brian Aherne (Bill) likewise had a long career in film in Britain, before being lured to Hollywood. He continued to act into the 1960s, appearing in several TV series, notably The Twilight Zone and Rawhide. Cyril McLaglen (Bert), the cast's sole Londoner, belonged to a family of actors, including his brother Victor McLaglen. The fourth member of the cast, Norah Baring, plays Kate and went on to work with Asquith on Cottage on Dartmoor and starred in Alfred Hitchcock's Murder!

The Restoration

The BFI National Archive has longed to restore what is considered to be one of the finest British films of the silent era. However, the material that survived was badly decomposed, making the project impossible until new material was discovered at the Cinematheque Royale in Brussells.

The Archive team went to work on the newly-emerged print, using two reels of original camera negative to improve the image quality in some scenes and even resorting to the use of a battered old nitrate print to replace a scene missing from the French copy. New digital techniques as well as traditional photochemical work has enabled the restoration team to make a print that we can, at last, present to the public.

Bryony Dixon

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