Flying the Foam and Some Fancy Diving (1906)

Self-styled pier entertainer 'Professor' Reddish was a specialist in the "flying the foam" stunt, which involved mounting a bicycle and riding it down a steep ramp and then off the end of Brighton's West Pier into the sea. To this, director James Williamson adds additional layers of entertainment, firstly by showing the stunt from multiple angles (or rather several stunts, as the surrounding crowds differ from shot to shot) and then by showing it in reverse motion so that Reddish appears to be performing the impossible feat of riding his bicycle vertically out of the sea. Similar treatment is then given to more conventional footage of pier divers. Reddish's foam-flying stunts were clearly a regular attraction, as local photographer George Ruff Jr. took a picture dated 17 June 1904 that could easily have doubled as a still from Williamson's film, but which was presumably not shot at the same time, as no cameras are visible. (Michael Brooke) All titles on the BFI Films channel are preserved in the vast collections of the BFI National Archive. To find out more about the Archive visit http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collect...