Special Parade of St Matthews Pupils and Special March Past of St Joseph's Scholars (1905)

Rival displays of orderliness and frivolity in a parade of Lancashire schoolchildren.

Spot the bowler-hatted gentleman in this film. That's the filmmakers' showman collaborator, chaperoning the children in an orderly parade before rallying an energetic cheer - a guaranteed crowd-pleaser for the film's local audience. A brief return to order in the final procession is gleefully undermined by three of the oldest girls, who dance their way out of line, seemingly unprovoked.