Missionary Life in India (1906 - 1907)
Facts
| Director | Henry Howse |
| Countries | India United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Titles |
(Alternative)
Life in India
|
| Production | |
| Distribution |
Categories
Black and White Brahim Buddhism Everyday Life Funeral Hinduism Idolatry Islam Missionary River Salvation Army Short Sickness Silent Film Torture ShortBlack and White, Brahim, Buddhism, Everyday Life, Funeral, Hinduism, Idolatry, Islam, Missionary, River, Salvation Army, Sickness, Silent Film, TortureDescriptions
Mr Henry Howse, of the Walturdaw Cinematograph Company, has been touring India, and has returned with living pictures of Christian work and native life in India of the most remarkable character. In addition to photographing living pictures of missionary operations, many illustrating heathen rites and practices have been secured, which will be very helpful to the missionary cause and give a fresh stimulus to these operations. Prominent among the work extensively dealt with is that of the London Missionary Society, the Wesleyan Medical Mission at Medak, Pandita Ramabnai's Child Widows of Mukti, Kedgaon, the Salvation Army, the work connected with Dr. Grattan Guinness of the Regions beyond Missionary Union, and of Mr Gnanamutthu Joseph Israel’s Madras Tamil Mission and Orphanage. While in India Mr Howse conducted evangelistic meetings at the new school for orphans and Indian Christian children in connection with the Madras Tamil Mission. A deep impression was made. Eternity alone will reveal the results of this mission. Mr Howse also gave straight talks on "Holiness” in the Sunday morning meetings at Tondiarpett.
Source: Shields Daily News, June 2, 1906
IMDb has two series of "Life in India", one is from 1906 and the other is from 1907. The description in the Shields Daily News from 1906 matches much better the 1907 version on IMDb called "Missionary Life in India" and the scenes seem to overlap - so I belive them to be the same film distributed differently.
14 Scenes
"The Ganges and the pilgrims bathing"
As below, seemingly not an official title, and could easily be one of the other titles below.
"An Indian Funeral Pyre"
Not the official title, it seems. From Kinematograph weekly: "The Walturdaw Co. have just put another Indian subject on the market. It shows the famous Ganges and the pilgrims bathing, and in another section an Indian funeral pyre, and is a good addition to the already long list of Indian subjects published by the same firm."
"The Ceylon Tea Industry"
Probably a different film altogether, as mentioned in Kinematograph weekly "Their Ceylon Tea Industry is a comprehensive picture, showing every phase of the work, from the actual picking of the leaf to its dispatch.".
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A street busy with pedestrians and animal-drawn carts is filmed from a static camera position. Many of the Indian men are naked to the waist, some carry loads, several men and women carry umbrellas against the sun. No Europeans are visible. To the left side of the street are stalls with awnings over (126ft)
The film feels artificial and orchestrated, so Westerners could amuse themselves with the primitive bathing rituals of native Mowglis. Produced by the Walturdaw Company, it was one of a number of subjects around India the company announced in its catalogue for 1906, including A Native Street in India, which is also available on BFI Player. Most of the others, sadly, are believed lost. Meenakshi Shedde
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INTEREST. An Indian baby is held in various positions on the knees of an Indian woman, while another pours several jugfuls of water over it. A man wearing a turban sits watching (92ft)
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Cast
Crew
| Henry Howse | - | Director |
Reviews
Even if only two scenes seem to survive, what we do have seem to be nice scenes to illustrate Indian life as part of a longer documentary piece. It would have been nice to also have the images of the missionary work and rituals, but unfortunately, we can only guess how those are.