Beauty and Brightness No. 4

All of London's a stage in this summery, Shakespeare-themed tour of the capital.

All of London's a stage in this Shakespeare-themed jaunt around the capital. Shots of the Trooping the Colour in Horse Guards Parade and a summery Hyde Park with boys bathing in the Serpentine don't seem immediately Bard-related. But the action moves to the site of the old Globe theatre in Bankside; plans were afoot even then for a new Globe, though these wouldn't come to fruition until the 1990s. Charming scenes of a makeshift performance of As You Like It at Borough's famous Old George Inn - a brewer's dray the traditional stand-in for a stage - conclude the tour.

Director Harry B. Parkinson worked on a number of popular travelogue series, including Wonderful London (1924) and Wonderful Britain (1925), several editions of which are available on BFI Player. This film was originally released as the fourth part in a similar series.