Flying the Foam and Some Fancy Diving

Innovative early 'trick' film showing the popular 'flying the foam' stunt performed on - or rather off - Brighton's West Pier.

Pier-entertainer 'Professor' Reddish was a dab hand at 'flying the foam' - a popular stunt which involved riding a bicycle down a steep ramp off the end of Brighton's West Pier. James Williamson, the most inventive of Britain's film pioneers, shoots the action from all angles - and even in reverse - maximising the sheer joy of seeing a man plunge spectacularly into the sea... only to spring back out again.

This is thought to be a reissue of an earlier film shot by Williamson in 1902.