0:00:04 > 0:00:08The 1930s was the decade when colour film first started to erode
0:00:08 > 0:00:11the long domination of the monochrome image.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18A series of technological breakthroughs in film processing
0:00:18 > 0:00:21made it possible for amateur as well as professional film-makers
0:00:21 > 0:00:25to record the rich, vibrant colours of the natural world.
0:00:28 > 0:00:34Several processes such as Dufaycolor, Kodacolor and Technicolor reached the market,
0:00:34 > 0:00:36a development that presented enthusiasts
0:00:36 > 0:00:39with a new world of creative possibilities.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43At last, colour film was used to capture everything
0:00:43 > 0:00:47from major historical events to the intimate details of everyday life.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53Colour film was expensive,
0:00:53 > 0:00:56so it largely remained the preserve of the wealthy.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59They used it to record special moments in their lives,
0:00:59 > 0:01:04including encounters with distinguished personalities,
0:01:04 > 0:01:05and journeys to exotic lands.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13One of the first to appreciate the exciting potential of colour film
0:01:13 > 0:01:18was the wealthy British adventuress, Rosie Newman.
0:01:18 > 0:01:23On her travels, Rosie trained her lens on spectacular parades...
0:01:25 > 0:01:30..And some of the great treasures of antiquity.
0:01:30 > 0:01:31And closer to home,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34her cameras glimpsed fun and games in the north...
0:01:37 > 0:01:40..And fleeting moments in the life of a young princess
0:01:40 > 0:01:43who did not yet know she would become a queen.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00Born on the 25th July 1896,
0:02:00 > 0:02:02Rosie Newman was the daughter
0:02:02 > 0:02:05of the Bavarian banker Sir Sigismund Neumann,
0:02:05 > 0:02:09who'd made a fortune from the diamond mines of South Africa.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11One of five children,
0:02:11 > 0:02:17Rosie spent her early years between the family's rented stately home at Raynham Hall in Norfolk
0:02:17 > 0:02:20and the bustle of their home in the heart of London.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25It was number 146 Piccadilly.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28It was next door to the home, or one of the homes
0:02:28 > 0:02:30of the Duke and Duchess of York,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34who later became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37who we knew as the Queen Mother.
0:02:37 > 0:02:42The Newman family's prodigious wealth ensured they were admitted
0:02:42 > 0:02:46to the highest circles of Britain's political and aristocratic elite.
0:02:46 > 0:02:51Rosie's contacts in the Diplomatic Service would prove particularly valuable,
0:02:51 > 0:02:53as she was determined to travel the world.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57In 1928, before a trip to North Africa,
0:02:57 > 0:03:00she decided to take up what she called the "amusing hobby"
0:03:00 > 0:03:03of amateur cinematography.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06She started filming at home, practising with her camera
0:03:06 > 0:03:09and then filmed while on holiday.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13From this material she made a short film called Morocco 1928,
0:03:13 > 0:03:16which she then showed to friends and family.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33When planning her next, more adventurous holiday in India in 1935,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35she again took with her her camera.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38This time she took a stock of Kodacolor film,
0:03:38 > 0:03:42the first amateur colour film available.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49On the 22nd December 1934,
0:03:49 > 0:03:54Rosie and her mother Anna boarded the P&O steamship Rajputana,
0:03:54 > 0:03:56which was heading for the Orient.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Joining the Newmans in First Class
0:03:58 > 0:04:01was one of the richest and most extravagant of India's princes,
0:04:01 > 0:04:05The Maharaja of Patiala, Bhupinder Singh.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09He's one of the larger than life characters on the Indian scene at that time.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13Very keen on shopping. He'd come to Europe and he'd buy up entire shops.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17Very keen on pearls, as you can see, that wonderful pearl earring,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19a giant pearl earring in his ear.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21And also very keen on sex.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24He had a large harem, which he was constantly adding to.
0:04:33 > 0:04:34After two and a half weeks at sea,
0:04:34 > 0:04:40the Rajputana finally docked in front of one of the most recognisable symbols of the British Raj,
0:04:40 > 0:04:44the Gateway of India in Bombay.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48She checked into one of the grandest hotels in Asia, The Taj Mahal,
0:04:48 > 0:04:52where India's high society stayed and played.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57Rosie belonged to a kind of international plutocracy
0:04:57 > 0:05:01of whom the most eminent figure was the Aga Khan.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06He was the titular head of millions of Muslims.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09And he was immensely rich.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11He was an international playboy.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15And the fact that almost the first thing that Rosie did
0:05:15 > 0:05:18when she got to India was to play golf with the Aga Khan
0:05:18 > 0:05:23indicates the extraordinary kind of status that she occupied.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34"In response to a charming invitation from the Aga Khan,
0:05:34 > 0:05:36"we lunched at the Bombay Racecourse.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38"There, one certainly sees racing
0:05:38 > 0:05:42"under the most ideal and picturesque conditions,
0:05:42 > 0:05:45"enhanced by the lovely saris worn by the Indian ladies."
0:05:48 > 0:05:51Circulating exclusively on the Bombay social scene,
0:05:51 > 0:05:56Rosie's trip had so far been untroubled by political unrest.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00Yet at the time, Mahatma Gandhi's civil disobedience movement
0:06:00 > 0:06:03was posing a real threat to British colonial rule.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07The Raj was in a fragile state by 1935,
0:06:07 > 0:06:11because the nationalists were on the rampage
0:06:11 > 0:06:17and Gandhi's moral dominance was quite overwhelming.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20Many people felt that the sands of time were running out
0:06:20 > 0:06:23for the British Raj in India.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28'This newsreel sure is a riot!'
0:06:30 > 0:06:34Britain's heavy-handed response to demands for national self-determination
0:06:34 > 0:06:38had brought turmoil to the streets of some of India's biggest cities.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44At Chowpatty Beach in Bombay,
0:06:44 > 0:06:48Rosie's camera glimpsed some of the unrest that was engulfing India.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51Although Rosie herself didn't fully appreciate
0:06:51 > 0:06:54what was happening in front of her lens.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Chowpatty Beach becomes hugely important
0:06:56 > 0:06:58in Indian political history
0:06:58 > 0:07:00and it became a sort of Speakers' Corner.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03And all the political orators came here
0:07:03 > 0:07:05and Rosie pans across the beach
0:07:05 > 0:07:07and she misses this political meeting that's going on.
0:07:11 > 0:07:16Although she failed to grasp the significance of political developments in India,
0:07:16 > 0:07:21Rosie was entranced by the spectacle of Bombay's street life.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27In January 1935, Rosie and her mother took the first of many train journeys
0:07:27 > 0:07:31that would carry them all over the sub-continent.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34En route, Rosie would often disembark from her carriage
0:07:34 > 0:07:40to shoot the lives of those living and working on the platforms of India's vast rail network.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44What is lovely is that she spent time here to photograph people
0:07:44 > 0:07:48going abut their business, washing and waiting for the train,
0:07:48 > 0:07:53and you can see all Indian society on the move.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56The railways were a huge Imperial enterprise.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59By the time we left India,
0:07:59 > 0:08:03we had built about 40,000 miles worth of railway.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09The British built railways much as the Romans built roads.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12They were really designed to move troops about
0:08:12 > 0:08:16to preserve the security of the Raj, but what actually happened
0:08:16 > 0:08:20was that Indians started to travel in huge numbers.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22By the time Rosie got there in the 1930s,
0:08:22 > 0:08:27all India was to be seen on the railway stations.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36Rosie's films capture some of the divisions within Indian society
0:08:36 > 0:08:39that would ultimately lead to the partition of the country
0:08:39 > 0:08:42into India and Pakistan in 1947.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48You have Hindu water for Hindus, Muslim water for Muslims,
0:08:48 > 0:08:51and the Europeans would have their own refreshment rooms.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56Everybody going their own ways, and within that a further system relating to the women.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00On the railway station you actually have areas
0:09:00 > 0:09:03where the women and their families can go,
0:09:03 > 0:09:05secluded, away from public gaze.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11Two days after leaving Bombay, Rosie arrived in Madras,
0:09:11 > 0:09:15where she was the guest of the city's Governor, Lord Erskine.
0:09:15 > 0:09:20His palatial residence came with its own dedicated troop of guardsmen.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28Rosie was at home when filming familiar scenes of the British at play,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31but when she ventured onto the streets it was another matter.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35The intertitles she edited into her films suggest that once again,
0:09:35 > 0:09:37she didn't really understand what she was seeing.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42What she's photographing here is the brothel area, called 'the cages',
0:09:42 > 0:09:46and the women here, behind the cages, behind the bars,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48are in fact the local prostitutes.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56After a 2,000 mile journey up the coast,
0:09:56 > 0:09:59Rosie arrived at the former capital of the Raj, Calcutta,
0:09:59 > 0:10:02where she was the guest of the Governor, Sir John Anderson.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04In the years to come,
0:10:04 > 0:10:07he would introduce the famous Anderson air raid shelter,
0:10:07 > 0:10:10over two million of which were built in Britain during the Blitz.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17In Calcutta, Rosie continued to enjoy the refined luxury of British India.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25Inland, lay the hill station of Darjeeling,
0:10:25 > 0:10:29a perennially popular resort for the wives of Raj officials
0:10:29 > 0:10:32seeking respite from the heat and humidity of Calcutta.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37Most people who made the journey would go by the tiny Himalayan Railway.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44But Rosie had the Governor's car at her disposal.
0:10:44 > 0:10:49Even so, her journey into the mountains was perilous.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51Rosie's very struck by Darjeeling
0:10:51 > 0:10:53because it's so different from the rest of India.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57You can see why straightaway, because the peoples there are totally different.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01These are hill peoples and they're from Tibet, from Nepal, from Burma,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04they're from Bhutan and Sikkim.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09And the marketplace is full of these exotic figures,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12most of them, of the women in fact, are Nepalese.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15You can identify them by their wonderful necklaces.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23One of the great sights of Darjeeling was to go up to a particular point
0:11:23 > 0:11:28and look at Kanchenjunga due north and then pan over to the left,
0:11:28 > 0:11:31and you just see Everest in the distance.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Now Rosie for some reason gets it wrong, and she pans to the right,
0:11:34 > 0:11:38towards Assam and Bhutan, so who was guiding her, I do not know.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45Returning to the heat of the plains,
0:11:45 > 0:11:50the travellers' next stop was the holy city of Benares, now called Varanasi,
0:11:50 > 0:11:56where Rosie filmed life on the stepped riverbank terraces, known as ghats.
0:11:56 > 0:12:01Varanasi is probably the most important Hindu city.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05It has a continuous history of over 2,500 years
0:12:05 > 0:12:08and it's supposed to have fallen to earth from heaven
0:12:08 > 0:12:12and it's supposed to be the earth-bound living place
0:12:12 > 0:12:14of the god Shiva.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17For all sorts of reasons like this,
0:12:17 > 0:12:22Varanasi is deeply, deeply sacred in Hindu ritual belief systems.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27To bathe in the Ganges is very auspicious.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34Most particularly, to die in Varanasi
0:12:34 > 0:12:37is supposedly to free yourself,
0:12:37 > 0:12:41to gain 'moksha', to gain transcendence, to finally die.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45And therefore death and cremation rituals don't have the stigma
0:12:45 > 0:12:49that they have in the rest of India.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54So you actually see the cremation ghats,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57you know, next to the bathing ghats.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08After her immersion in the unique culture of Varanasi,
0:13:08 > 0:13:12Rosie headed to the capital of British India, Delhi.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16In 1911, at the great Coronation Durbar,
0:13:16 > 0:13:22George V moved the capital of India from Calcutta to Delhi.
0:13:22 > 0:13:27The British have spared no expense to lay out a magnificent capital
0:13:27 > 0:13:29for what they regard as a magnificent Empire,
0:13:29 > 0:13:31the jewel in the crown.
0:13:31 > 0:13:36And they have made every effort to replicate and exceed Mogul excess.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38They want to show the Indian population
0:13:38 > 0:13:41that the British Raj is here to stay.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43Designed in the Classical style
0:13:43 > 0:13:47by the architects Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker,
0:13:47 > 0:13:50New Delhi also had Hindu, Buddhist and Mogul features,
0:13:50 > 0:13:55including water gardens and lotus petal fountains.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02It's hard to believe that independence was only 12 years away,
0:14:02 > 0:14:04and yet here the British have built this vast folly,
0:14:04 > 0:14:08this extraordinary statement that they're here to stay,
0:14:08 > 0:14:12which exceeds all previous capitals in India.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14It's magnificent and it's bizarre.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21At the centre of the new city was the Viceroy's House,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24which when Rosie arrived was occupied by Lord Willingdon.
0:14:24 > 0:14:30Together with his wife Marie, he lived a gilded existence.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32They had little sympathy for the aspirations
0:14:32 > 0:14:35of those striving for democracy.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37Their rule was described as a combination
0:14:37 > 0:14:40of "masked balls and terror".
0:14:40 > 0:14:43Although renowned for her charity work,
0:14:43 > 0:14:46Lady Willingdon revelled in the opulence and influence
0:14:46 > 0:14:48of those in command during the Raj.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52She would have enjoyed it enormously I think, to be a viceroy's wife.
0:14:52 > 0:14:57Because she liked power. She was a lady who definitely liked power.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59Lady Willingdon, charming though she was,
0:14:59 > 0:15:02had a bit of a reputation in India, particularly among the princes.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04She was something of a kleptomaniac.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08She did like to pick up souvenirs as she travelled.
0:15:08 > 0:15:13And so the princes tended to hide away some of their best treasures
0:15:13 > 0:15:15when the Willingdons came to stay.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21She expected to be given anything she admired.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23And it did become, as she grew older,
0:15:23 > 0:15:26it did become slightly embarrassing. People had to watch her.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31The Newmans joined the Viceroy
0:15:31 > 0:15:34for one of the highlights of the social calendar.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37Rosie obviously arrives in Delhi just in time for Delhi Horse Show,
0:15:37 > 0:15:41which was the climax of the Delhi season, the winter season,
0:15:41 > 0:15:43when British India comes together
0:15:43 > 0:15:48and enjoys itself with gymkhanas and polo weeks and regattas.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52And the Delhi Horse Show is the top society feature.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57"In the brilliant eastern sun, the state arrival of Their Excellencies
0:15:57 > 0:16:01"was a scene of splendour and magnificence beyond description."
0:16:06 > 0:16:09After leaving the pomp of the Viceroy's world,
0:16:09 > 0:16:12Rosie headed west to the Princely States of Rajputana,
0:16:12 > 0:16:18where the extravagance almost matched the Willingdons' circus of excess.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22Here Rosie was entertained by some of India's richest men.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26The Princely States were semi-independent.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28They occupied about a third of India
0:16:28 > 0:16:34and they were governed by their old feudal rulers, the Indian princes.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36These rulers have no real power.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39That power was taken away from them by the British,
0:16:39 > 0:16:42and indeed they have a British agent on their shoulder
0:16:42 > 0:16:44who's telling them how to rule
0:16:44 > 0:16:45and the moment they step out of line,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48the British agent can get rid of them.
0:16:48 > 0:16:53At Udaipur, Rosie shot landscapes in what's known as the City of Lakes.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Udaipur has been built over a process of hundreds of years,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59each ruler adding a little bit to the palace.
0:16:59 > 0:17:04And so you get this magnificent city made entirely of marble.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08"At beautiful Udaipur, rightly called the Venice of India,
0:17:08 > 0:17:11"the Maharaja's lovely barge was put at our disposal.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13"Rowed up the glorious chain of lakes,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16"we were entranced by the beauty of the water palaces,
0:17:16 > 0:17:20"designed in such perfect architecture."
0:17:20 > 0:17:25There's a lot of debate about why the princes were so ostentatious.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27One view is that when the British take over,
0:17:27 > 0:17:31when they quite clearly become, in a sense, the puppets of the British,
0:17:31 > 0:17:36what is left to them really, except to manifest their authority
0:17:36 > 0:17:41and status through extreme ostentation?
0:17:41 > 0:17:43The other argument is that the British themselves
0:17:43 > 0:17:48were very susceptible to displays of extreme ostentation
0:17:48 > 0:17:51and these princes competed intensely with one another
0:17:51 > 0:17:54for status in the eyes of the British.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00One of the princes closest to the British was the Maharaja of Jaipur,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03who invited Rosie to stay at his palace.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07Jaipur had the huge advantage of having a very modern looking ruler
0:18:07 > 0:18:11in Sawai Man Singh who was always better known as Jai.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14He was the famous polo playing Maharaja of the 1930s.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17He's very good looking, he's dashing, he's outward looking,
0:18:17 > 0:18:20and the British take to him in a big way.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24At the palace in Jaipur, Rosie joined other notable guests,
0:18:24 > 0:18:26including the Maharaja and Maharani of Indore,
0:18:26 > 0:18:29to watch an extraordinarily lavish procession.
0:18:37 > 0:18:42What she's captured here is a little glimpse into medieval India.
0:18:42 > 0:18:47These are the royal infantry, the royal cavalry of the House of Jaipur
0:18:47 > 0:18:52as they would have been four, five hundred years ago.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59This is really going back to the days of Saladin the Great.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01This is extraordinary.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03The British have emasculated the princes,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06they've taken away their power to fight.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10They have no modern army, all they've got is this parade,
0:19:10 > 0:19:15a purely symbolic presence and yet how touching it is to see it here.
0:19:20 > 0:19:25Rosie's visit coincided with that of the exiled King George II of Greece.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27She took her camera to Bhopal
0:19:27 > 0:19:32where a spectacular tiger hunt had been organised in his honour.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35By now, Rosie was running short of colour film,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38so she shot much of the hunt in black and white.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41The Nawab of Bhopal, who's arranged this,
0:19:41 > 0:19:42and the King of Greece,
0:19:42 > 0:19:47go up to a platform where they sat in complete safety
0:19:47 > 0:19:50while the bearers down below beat the undergrowth
0:19:50 > 0:19:53to encourage the tiger to appear.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57So all the King of Greece had to do was lean over and shoot the tiger.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01"Suddenly, the jungle seemed to stir.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03"The eerie stillness was broken,
0:20:03 > 0:20:05"and for a second we were held spellbound
0:20:05 > 0:20:07"as we saw a tiger creep out.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10"I quickly filmed him, before he was shot by the King of Greece.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12"It was a thrilling moment."
0:20:15 > 0:20:18What we're seeing here is something much more than a tiger being shot.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21We're actually seeing an instrument of policy,
0:20:21 > 0:20:23a sort of weapon of state.
0:20:23 > 0:20:29What was absolutely crucial was that your European VIP got to shoot a big tiger,
0:20:29 > 0:20:31because that would make the European VIP happy
0:20:31 > 0:20:34and therefore more likely to grant
0:20:34 > 0:20:37whatever particular favour that you wanted.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42Then out would come the Royal tape measure which was slightly...
0:20:42 > 0:20:44gave slightly exaggerated figures.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49And this was so that they could measure the tiger that the European VIP had shot
0:20:49 > 0:20:51and tell them that they'd shot an 11-foot tiger
0:20:51 > 0:20:55whereas in fact they'd actually only shot a ten-foot one.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05Looking to experience the thrill of wild colonial India,
0:21:05 > 0:21:07Rosie travelled to Peshawar.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10Today it is one of Pakistan's most dynamic cities,
0:21:10 > 0:21:14but when Rosie visited in 1935, it was a bustling trading post
0:21:14 > 0:21:18situated on India's north-west frontier with Afghanistan.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21It was a notoriously dangerous area,
0:21:21 > 0:21:25so the travellers were accompanied by armed guards.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30Afghanistan was extremely difficult to control.
0:21:30 > 0:21:36It occupied the area between the British Empire and the Russian Empire.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40And so it was almost bound to be a kind of permanent war zone.
0:21:43 > 0:21:49There's this great sense of Wild West about that part of the world.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52"Seeing Peshawar surrounded by barbed wire entanglements
0:21:52 > 0:21:56"made one realise that living on the frontier is full of adventure.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59"As someone remarked, 'Life is held very cheap up here.'"
0:22:03 > 0:22:07There's a tiny strip of land which was unadministered territories
0:22:07 > 0:22:10and these are inhabited by the Bhutan tribes,
0:22:10 > 0:22:15the Afridis, the Shinwaries, the Waziries, the Masuds et cetera,
0:22:15 > 0:22:18who are all constantly marauding against the British.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23"We were greatly impressed by the fine, manly type of Muslims
0:22:23 > 0:22:26"living on the frontier, and much amused by their red moustaches,
0:22:26 > 0:22:31"which we were told they dyed in order to disguise old age."
0:22:34 > 0:22:37The British had never successfully brought them under control
0:22:37 > 0:22:42despite several attempts, several campaigns in the late 19th and early 20th century.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45These people were pretty effective fighters.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49They were tough people who had retained some autonomy
0:22:49 > 0:22:53and to whom the British had to deal on something like an even level,
0:22:53 > 0:22:54and they didn't like that.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Journeying up to the Afghan border,
0:22:57 > 0:23:02Rosie braved the dangers of the strategically sensitive Khyber Pass.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06As you can see, this was a very war-like area.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08On every side you can see there are forts,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10there are armed men, there are guns.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13The whole area is really up in arms.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16She goes down into tribal territory,
0:23:16 > 0:23:21into this area where the British law no longer extends.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24And she gets to visit this famous rifle factory
0:23:24 > 0:23:26where the Afridis are busy turning out guns
0:23:26 > 0:23:29to fight against the British.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32But as difficult to control as the North West Frontier was,
0:23:32 > 0:23:36the armed and war-like tribes did provide a buffer zone
0:23:36 > 0:23:40against any possible invasion by the Russians.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43The area was the Achilles heel of the Raj
0:23:43 > 0:23:47and remains a place of intense volatility even today.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55Rosie travelled in a bubble, seeing India through her camera lens
0:23:55 > 0:23:59and never really experiencing it directly for herself.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03Her films celebrate the pomp and splendour of the Raj.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06When she reflected on her Indian odyssey,
0:24:06 > 0:24:11she evoked a wistful and uncritical picture of British Imperial rule.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17"India is a country of treasure, romance and glory,
0:24:17 > 0:24:21"but also of greater contrasts in climate, caste and religion than any other land.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25"Travelling from end to end of the peninsula as we have done,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28"we realised the gigantic achievement of Great Britain.
0:24:29 > 0:24:35"The name of the King-Emperor George will live for ever in his Indian Empire."
0:24:36 > 0:24:38What Rosie has done, almost inadvertently,
0:24:38 > 0:24:43is she's created a record of an India just about to change for ever.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45This is part of India's past.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47In 12 years, it'll all be gone.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59At the end of March 1935, Rosie returned to England.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02She edited her films together
0:25:02 > 0:25:07and arranged special screenings for her high-society friends.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09In the beginning, I think, she took her films
0:25:09 > 0:25:12to show her friends and family where she'd travelled
0:25:12 > 0:25:14and to share her journeys with them.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16Then, I think she was encouraged by friends,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20particularly Lord Willingdon, to show her films to a wider audience.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27Rosie's screenings were attended by some of the most prominent figures of the day,
0:25:27 > 0:25:31including Queen Mary and Clementine Churchill.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40Rosie was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
0:25:40 > 0:25:44in February 1936 in recognition of her growing reputation
0:25:44 > 0:25:45as an amateur filmmaker.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53Later that year, Rosie toured Scotland.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01Scotland for the upper classes is about play.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03They come to enjoy the beautiful scenery,
0:26:03 > 0:26:06they come to hunt and shoot and perhaps go to the races
0:26:06 > 0:26:10and you see that all over Rosie's film.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13"A long day's run from London,
0:26:13 > 0:26:15"passing though the ancient border town of Berwick upon Tweed,
0:26:15 > 0:26:17"and one reaches Edinburgh."
0:26:19 > 0:26:23The main focus of Rosie's trip seems to have been the new town, Princes Street,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25and the area there where she has the altercation
0:26:25 > 0:26:28with the traffic policeman who's waving the traffic around.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32"Suddenly, I was stopped by a rather dour policeman,
0:26:32 > 0:26:36"who asked me, 'What do you think you're doing, crashing though the traffic?'
0:26:36 > 0:26:39"I apologised, whereupon he became less dour
0:26:39 > 0:26:42"and told me not to do it again."
0:26:43 > 0:26:47Throughout her tour, Rosie indulged in her passion for sport.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50Horse racing had long been a family obsession
0:26:50 > 0:26:54and while on the west coast, Rosie dropped in on the races at Ayr.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06After motoring north towards Glasgow,
0:27:06 > 0:27:09Rosie boarded the ferry from Greenock across to Dunoon,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12to watch one of Scotland's most famous sporting events.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16The modern Highland Games are very much a product of Sir Walter Scott
0:27:16 > 0:27:20creating, if you like, the romantic image of the Highlands,
0:27:20 > 0:27:25inspiring a great tourist industry among the wealthier classes.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29And it was to show the strength of the highland male
0:27:29 > 0:27:31in various athletic pursuits.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40The other thing about the Highland Games
0:27:40 > 0:27:43is it's very rooted in Scottish martial traditions.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54After the games, the crowds aboard the steamer taking the return journey
0:27:54 > 0:27:57were packed so tight that the ship listed under their weight.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04Over on Scotland's east coast, Rosie visited one of her favourite haunts
0:28:04 > 0:28:06at North Berwick, near Edinburgh.
0:28:06 > 0:28:11At the outdoor swimming pool, divers showed off in front of her camera.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25Rosie adored being on a coastal stretch
0:28:25 > 0:28:28boasting some of the finest golf courses in the world.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33"The famous North Berwick Links are the Mecca of golf.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36"On entering Ben Sayers' shop, one's whole existence seems transformed.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40"Worries are quickly forgotten, all that matters is golf!"
0:28:40 > 0:28:45"A glorious day and to be on one's game is utopia."
0:28:48 > 0:28:51Intending to drop in on some friends,
0:28:51 > 0:28:55she headed north, filming the rugged Highland landscape along the way.
0:28:57 > 0:28:58"Our progress by car was slow.
0:28:58 > 0:29:03"The Highland road is so narrow that signposts have been placed at certain distances,
0:29:03 > 0:29:06"marking passing places where the road has been broadened out."
0:29:10 > 0:29:13Roads are a really potent symbol of the future,
0:29:13 > 0:29:15when you're gonna get this surface
0:29:15 > 0:29:20that will allow tyred vehicles to come, and they will come en masse.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22When you're talking about the Highlands wanting good roads,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25that's a great symbol of modernity and the future.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32"We motored right across to the west coast,
0:29:32 > 0:29:34"and were much amused seeing the only train of the day
0:29:34 > 0:29:36"puffing along on its way."
0:29:36 > 0:29:38"We named it the Daily Mail
0:29:38 > 0:29:41"as indeed it did bring the daily papers."
0:29:41 > 0:29:45Rosie's serene progress through Scotland
0:29:45 > 0:29:49ended at Loch Maree in the north-west Highlands.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52As in India, she'd filmed the scenic, sporting and frivolous,
0:29:52 > 0:29:57but avoided recording the social and economic realities of the times.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03It's a fascinating insight into the minds of the upper classes,
0:30:03 > 0:30:04because this is the '30s,
0:30:04 > 0:30:10this is when Britain and Western Europe have undergone absolutely immense depression.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13And in Scotland there's a huge amount of poverty.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16And yet here she is showing all the nice, pretty things,
0:30:16 > 0:30:20the exotic, it's almost like her finger's in the dyke of change.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25In the summer of 1936, Rosie left Scotland
0:30:25 > 0:30:28and returned to her home at Piccadilly in London,
0:30:28 > 0:30:30where she had a brief encounter
0:30:30 > 0:30:33with the children of her royal neighbours.
0:30:33 > 0:30:37The Newman family lived next door to the Duke and Duchess of York on Piccadilly
0:30:37 > 0:30:41and it does appear that the Newmans visited them in their home.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44And we have some marvellous footage
0:30:44 > 0:30:49of Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret in their garden.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52This film, which has never been broadcast before,
0:30:52 > 0:30:56is the earliest known colour footage of the Queen.
0:30:56 > 0:31:00It was shot just before the destiny of the young Princess Elizabeth changed for ever.
0:31:08 > 0:31:14In January 1936, her uncle Edward VIII had succeeded to the throne.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16But before the year was out,
0:31:16 > 0:31:21the new King's relationship with the American divorcee Wallis Simpson
0:31:21 > 0:31:24would create a constitutional crisis.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29On 10th December 1936,
0:31:29 > 0:31:33a week after the revelations of their liaison became public,
0:31:33 > 0:31:35Edward abdicated.
0:31:35 > 0:31:38In a BBC broadcast, he told the nation
0:31:38 > 0:31:42that he couldn't discharge his duties without the woman he loved.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49Edward had been a dashing and glamorous figure.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52But he was succeeded by his younger brother George,
0:31:52 > 0:31:55who lacked Edward's popular appeal.
0:31:56 > 0:32:03Even so, George's coronation in May 1937 was a spectacular affair.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15The coronation of George VI was a particularly brilliant pageant,
0:32:15 > 0:32:19and it was designed to be so for two particular reasons.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23The first was to wipe out memories of the abdication,
0:32:23 > 0:32:28the brief and tragic reign of Edward VIII.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33And the second reason was to pull the nation together
0:32:33 > 0:32:36at a time when war seemed to be closer
0:32:36 > 0:32:38than it had ever seemed before.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41The cavalry escorting George would be no match
0:32:41 > 0:32:45for the hardware being amassed on the Continent.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48Hitler's Germany was putting on a more convincing and menacing show
0:32:48 > 0:32:50of modern military might.
0:32:53 > 0:32:57The contrast is between what I see as the pantomime of pomp in London
0:32:57 > 0:33:02and the brutal theatre of power in Nuremberg.
0:33:02 > 0:33:04And what I think is revealed
0:33:04 > 0:33:08is that Britain was rather an old fashioned state.
0:33:08 > 0:33:10In some respects, an obsolete state.
0:33:12 > 0:33:19In May 1937, Rosie had been invited to film the new King's Review of the Fleet at Portsmouth.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23It was designed to reassure a nervous British public
0:33:23 > 0:33:27that militarily, Britain still had a navy to be reckoned with.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29From Victoria's reign onwards,
0:33:29 > 0:33:33the fleet was the symbol of Britain's greatness
0:33:33 > 0:33:36and to see it all together in one place
0:33:36 > 0:33:39was very comforting, very reassuring.
0:33:39 > 0:33:44These are the equivalent of the wooden walls that defended Britain,
0:33:44 > 0:33:49and Rosie shows us in the background aircraft carriers and submarines,
0:33:49 > 0:33:51waiting to be reviewed by their King.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02It was only through the strength of these great, grey leviathans,
0:34:02 > 0:34:05these mighty warships, that the British Empire,
0:34:05 > 0:34:08which was spread across a quarter of the world,
0:34:08 > 0:34:10could be secured for the future.
0:34:10 > 0:34:14But overhead, the appearance of Britain's air force
0:34:14 > 0:34:17did little to inspire confidence.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22The RAF flypast was designed to improve morale
0:34:22 > 0:34:26and to show that we could stand up to the Luftwaffe,
0:34:26 > 0:34:30the German air force which was just coming into being at this time.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32Unfortunately, what it proved
0:34:32 > 0:34:37was that our own aircraft were hopelessly obsolescent.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41They were no match for the new Messerschmitts and Junkers
0:34:41 > 0:34:44that were being manufactured in Germany at this time.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52Ignoring the threat of war,
0:34:52 > 0:34:57on 4th March 1938, Rosie embarked on another foreign adventure.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59Caught up in the vogue for all things Egyptian,
0:34:59 > 0:35:02created by recent archaeological discoveries,
0:35:02 > 0:35:04she headed for North Africa.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11For the first leg of her journey,
0:35:11 > 0:35:15she boarded an Imperial Airways plane at Croydon Airport,
0:35:15 > 0:35:18and flew to Le Bourget in Paris.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26Air travel was a new experience for one passenger,
0:35:26 > 0:35:27who was the worse for wear
0:35:27 > 0:35:30after drinking champagne to calm her nerves.
0:35:36 > 0:35:40"Up we soared into space, far above the clouds,
0:35:40 > 0:35:44"a carpet of white ermine contrasting with the deep blue sea below,
0:35:44 > 0:35:48"where the toy-like ships seemed to dance on the waves."
0:35:48 > 0:35:52From Paris, Rosie took the express train to Genoa
0:35:52 > 0:35:54where she boarded the steamship Esperia.
0:35:56 > 0:36:00After the ship docked at the Bay of Naples, Rosie went ashore,
0:36:00 > 0:36:04and in a park, happened upon a group of nannies.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14When she returned to the harbour,
0:36:14 > 0:36:20Rosie saw evidence of the growing military menace in the Mediterranean.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23She saw an Italian warship which was, I think,
0:36:23 > 0:36:29an indication of Mussolini's attempt to gain naval control of the Mediterranean
0:36:29 > 0:36:33and perhaps even to cut the jugular vein of the Empire,
0:36:33 > 0:36:35namely the Suez Canal.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41On 9th March 1938,
0:36:41 > 0:36:45Rosie's ship reached Egypt's biggest seaport, Alexandria,
0:36:45 > 0:36:49where she was helped ashore by teams of porters.
0:36:50 > 0:36:56There's one person in particular who comes up in his uniform with a sword as well. And he's so proud.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00He looks so fine, and I thought "What a wonderful way to be greeted to Egypt!"
0:37:00 > 0:37:04Rosie set out to follow the course of the Nile,
0:37:04 > 0:37:09travelling south to take in Egypt's many temples and antiquities.
0:37:12 > 0:37:13She headed to Cairo
0:37:13 > 0:37:17where she stayed with friends from the British Embassy.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21Soon, with her camera, she was exploring the largest city in Africa.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32Rosie goes to the more traditional part of the city, the old city,
0:37:32 > 0:37:35and she takes some great footage along Muski,
0:37:35 > 0:37:37along the main shopping street,
0:37:37 > 0:37:42which is still the main shopping street in old Cairo, in the souk.
0:37:44 > 0:37:46Another thing that she shows in this part of the city
0:37:46 > 0:37:48is a lot of men who are dressed...
0:37:48 > 0:37:51Well, some of them are dressed half-way Western,
0:37:51 > 0:37:53they're wearing sports jackets.
0:37:54 > 0:37:56They're also wearing the Tarboosh, the fez,
0:37:56 > 0:38:00which is a hangover from the Ottoman Turkish period.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03And below that some of them are wearing a gallabeya,
0:38:03 > 0:38:06a long gown which is from the Arab period.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09So in a way, you see these men walking down the street,
0:38:09 > 0:38:11they're a walking historical document
0:38:11 > 0:38:13in the way that they're dressed.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18"Sometimes an old man would sit outside a small shop,
0:38:18 > 0:38:19"contentedly smoking his hookah,
0:38:19 > 0:38:22"a little opium often being added to the bowl."
0:38:26 > 0:38:28"You also see the picturesque water carrier,
0:38:28 > 0:38:31tinkling his bell and shouting 'Two milliemes,'
0:38:31 > 0:38:35"the equivalent of a farthing, for a glass of drinking water."
0:38:43 > 0:38:46"Carts carrying as many as 20 women dressed all in black,
0:38:46 > 0:38:48"herded in close together.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51"That is how they transport their wives and women."
0:38:54 > 0:38:58The majority of the women you see are veiled.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02This tends to be actually an urban practice.
0:39:02 > 0:39:07De-veiling had begun to occur in Egypt by the time Rosie visited,
0:39:07 > 0:39:10but I think it is also fair to say that the feminist movement
0:39:10 > 0:39:13was very much an elite movement.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17After filming in the souk, Rosie stopped for drinks
0:39:17 > 0:39:20at the European expats' favourite watering hole.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23If you were wealthy, if you were glamorous,
0:39:23 > 0:39:24you would want to be seen at Shepheard's
0:39:24 > 0:39:27where you would have a drink and watch the world go by outside.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33Like the Shepheard's Hotel, the Gezira Sporting Club,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36built by the British after their occupation of Egypt in 1882,
0:39:36 > 0:39:41epitomised the British desire to create a home away from home.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45Imperial clubs were a way of separating the British,
0:39:45 > 0:39:49the ruling class, from the people they governed in the colonies.
0:39:49 > 0:39:54But few were as luxurious and magnificent as the Gezira Club.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00But at Cairo's racecourse, the atmosphere was more relaxed,
0:40:00 > 0:40:03and there was more of a mixing of cultures.
0:40:14 > 0:40:16Just a few miles away at Giza, stood a monument
0:40:16 > 0:40:21that testified to an age when Egypt was itself a powerful empire.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25"We saw the Great Pyramid, of unnumbered stones,
0:40:25 > 0:40:28"standing majestically, defying time,
0:40:28 > 0:40:31"disdainful of human criticism,
0:40:31 > 0:40:35"beside the colossal Sphinx, hewn out of solid rock.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38"It's the expression of man's greatness."
0:40:38 > 0:40:41It is fairly deserted while she's there
0:40:41 > 0:40:44and it certainly is a contrast to today,
0:40:44 > 0:40:46where it is a much busier scene.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49The Pyramids are virtually on the edge of Cairo now,
0:40:49 > 0:40:53they're virtually being swallowed up by the ever-expanding city.
0:40:59 > 0:41:04On 16th March, Rosie took the train from Cairo to Luxor,
0:41:04 > 0:41:07where she was spellbound by the temples,
0:41:07 > 0:41:10some of which were almost 4,000 years old.
0:41:11 > 0:41:12"We drove out to Karnak
0:41:12 > 0:41:17"and were amazed at the beautiful proportions of these colossal ruins,
0:41:17 > 0:41:19"the unique avenue of rams and the elegant columns
0:41:19 > 0:41:22"carved with papyrus and lotus plants.
0:41:22 > 0:41:27"The history of bygone days seemed still to linger there."
0:41:27 > 0:41:30Once again, Rosie had the luxury
0:41:30 > 0:41:33of exploring one of the world's great archaeological sites
0:41:33 > 0:41:35almost entirely by herself.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41Four days later, she took a boat down the Nile towards Aswan.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46Aswan was always the frontier of Egypt.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49At the time of the Pharaohs, it was a trading post.
0:41:49 > 0:41:53It's as far south as you can sail up the Nile.
0:41:53 > 0:41:58At that point you hit the cataracts, which are a series of rapids.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01Egypt goes on further,
0:42:01 > 0:42:04but beyond there is effectively another country.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10"We took a rowing boat and were followed by small black boys,
0:42:10 > 0:42:12"each in a tiny canoe made of tin trays.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15"They raced one another for baksheesh.
0:42:15 > 0:42:17"We named them the Water Babies."
0:42:19 > 0:42:22The entourage passed Elephantine Island,
0:42:22 > 0:42:25home to a population whose lives had been transformed
0:42:25 > 0:42:27by the construction of the first Aswan Dam,
0:42:27 > 0:42:31which was completed in 1902.
0:42:31 > 0:42:35You see this Egyptian agriculture, winnowing and water raising
0:42:35 > 0:42:38and she says "Look, this is what has been happening
0:42:38 > 0:42:42"for a thousand years, but look, here is this great dam.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45"Here is Western engineering and technology.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47"Here is the new world coming to Egypt."
0:42:49 > 0:42:51It's one of the world's great engineering projects,
0:42:51 > 0:42:56in the way that the Empire State Building was when it was built.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59And going across in that little box car as she does
0:42:59 > 0:43:02on the very small railway that was built across the top,
0:43:02 > 0:43:04would have been a great thrill.
0:43:04 > 0:43:06It would have been something you would have wanted to go and see.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11The dam had many economic advantages,
0:43:11 > 0:43:15but it left scores of Nubian villages 50 feet under water.
0:43:15 > 0:43:20One of Egypt's most important ancient monuments was also submerged.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25One thing they couldn't move above the water level
0:43:25 > 0:43:27was the Temple of Philae.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30And Rosie shows it as two bits of masonry
0:43:30 > 0:43:31sticking out above the water.
0:43:31 > 0:43:34But if you've ever seen a picture of Philae,
0:43:34 > 0:43:35you'll know that below the water
0:43:35 > 0:43:38there is one of the great temples of the world.
0:43:38 > 0:43:39It's an extraordinary building.
0:43:42 > 0:43:46In the desert near Aswan, Rosie visited the villages
0:43:46 > 0:43:49of the mainly Muslim and nomadic Bisharin people.
0:43:49 > 0:43:53The Bisharin are very clearly a Nubian tribe.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56That part of Egypt is in fact known as Nuba.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59It has its own culture, it has its own identity,
0:43:59 > 0:44:01which is quite strong even today.
0:44:01 > 0:44:06But in her memoir, Rosie dismissed Bisharin culture in terms
0:44:06 > 0:44:09that today would be considered derogatory and racist.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13"Early, we set off to see a camp of the Bisharin,
0:44:13 > 0:44:15"a wild poverty-stricken tribe.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18"Living in mud huts in the Arabian Desert,
0:44:18 > 0:44:20"they wore their hair 'golliwog fashion',
0:44:20 > 0:44:23"or in numerous plaits.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26"They skilfully performed a sword dance,
0:44:26 > 0:44:29"accompanied by strange noises."
0:44:34 > 0:44:37On the return journey, Rosie stayed at the home
0:44:37 > 0:44:41of the British Army officer Colonel Wilfred Jennings-Bramly
0:44:41 > 0:44:43in Egypt's Western Desert.
0:44:43 > 0:44:47She filmed nearby at the Burg al-Arab,
0:44:47 > 0:44:51an experimental community that had been created by Bramly in 1915.
0:44:52 > 0:44:56The Burg al-Arab village was this kind of social engineering,
0:44:56 > 0:44:59an attempt to create a model village
0:44:59 > 0:45:01and to settle the tribes
0:45:01 > 0:45:04and to turn them to useful productive tasks
0:45:04 > 0:45:08and integrate them more fully into the Egyptian nation.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12Social experiments such as the Burg al-Arab
0:45:12 > 0:45:14were by no means the only influence
0:45:14 > 0:45:17that Britain exerted on Egyptian life.
0:45:17 > 0:45:22At Alexandria, Rosie filmed Nile barges carrying bales of cotton.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24Because of British financial backing,
0:45:24 > 0:45:26it had become the country's biggest crop.
0:45:28 > 0:45:32A lot of Egyptian farmers were encouraged to grow cotton rather than food.
0:45:32 > 0:45:36And when the price of cotton collapsed on the world market,
0:45:36 > 0:45:42there was significant difficulty in the fields in Egypt.
0:45:42 > 0:45:47If Rosie was troubled by the poverty she encountered during her journey,
0:45:47 > 0:45:52she made few references to it, either in her memoirs or her films.
0:45:53 > 0:45:55She's trying to see Egypt,
0:45:55 > 0:45:59but she's still walking very well trodden paths
0:45:59 > 0:46:03and I don't think she truly breaks free
0:46:03 > 0:46:07or has a particularly independent view of Egypt.
0:46:07 > 0:46:12I think, in a sense, she views Egypt through rose-tinted spectacles
0:46:12 > 0:46:15and she rarely questions what she's seeing.
0:46:17 > 0:46:22Rosie captures the last hoorah of the British in Egypt.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25The Second World War, just one year away, changes everything.
0:46:25 > 0:46:27There's no hint of it in this film.
0:46:27 > 0:46:31If she'd gone and asked the people in the Gezira Club,
0:46:31 > 0:46:33"Would you believe that in two, three years' time,
0:46:33 > 0:46:36"you will no longer be masters in this way?",
0:46:36 > 0:46:38they would have said no, they wouldn't have believed it.
0:46:40 > 0:46:45On 26th March 1938, amid chaotic scenes at Alexandria's harbour,
0:46:45 > 0:46:48Rosie boarded a ship bound for home.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55"Then, as the ship steamed slowly out,
0:46:55 > 0:46:58"I felt Egypt had cast her spell in one brief month
0:46:58 > 0:47:02"and that I had seized the exceptional opportunities given me
0:47:02 > 0:47:04"of bringing home to others,
0:47:04 > 0:47:07"a living memory of a trip, which I had enjoyed so much.
0:47:07 > 0:47:12"We waved farewell to this ancient land of beauty, romance
0:47:12 > 0:47:15"and untold treasure, belonging to the Pharaohs."
0:47:25 > 0:47:28In the same month that Rosie returned to Britain,
0:47:28 > 0:47:32the Anschluss, through which the Nazis had effectively annexed Austria,
0:47:32 > 0:47:36had edged Britain closer to war with Hitler's Germany.
0:47:45 > 0:47:50Rosie would have been aware that many people feared war would happen.
0:47:50 > 0:47:54On the other hand, life was pretty good for those with money.
0:47:55 > 0:48:00And many people felt that that was what appeasement was about,
0:48:00 > 0:48:04that we shouldn't rock the boat, that we shouldn't provoke Hitler.
0:48:04 > 0:48:08Cushioned by her family's wealth, in the years before the conflict,
0:48:08 > 0:48:11Rosie toured Britain in her Rolls Royce,
0:48:11 > 0:48:16filming scenes of a world apparently untroubled by thoughts of war.
0:48:21 > 0:48:26I think Rosie was filming the Britain she wanted to see,
0:48:26 > 0:48:29the Britain she thought her audience would want to see,
0:48:29 > 0:48:32and giving it a kind of validation if you like.
0:48:32 > 0:48:36And reassuring herself, reassuring her audience
0:48:36 > 0:48:39that this was really what Britain was all about.
0:48:39 > 0:48:42The kind of merry England you see evoked by haystacks
0:48:42 > 0:48:45and horses in the field and so on.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47This was the Britain that she wanted to exist
0:48:47 > 0:48:50and that she believed really did exist,
0:48:50 > 0:48:53so it was partly self-delusion on her part.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00Rosie captured genteel, reassuring images
0:49:00 > 0:49:05representing the continuity of British institutions and traditions.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08On one occasion, she exploited her royal connections
0:49:08 > 0:49:11to film George VI's sister, Princess Mary,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14attending a Girl Guides' Rally at Sandringham.
0:49:15 > 0:49:19The Girl Guides and Boy Scouts were organisations that were set up
0:49:19 > 0:49:22during the Edwardian era when there was a feeling
0:49:22 > 0:49:26that we must strengthen society, that we must rally round the flag,
0:49:26 > 0:49:28and rally round the crown
0:49:28 > 0:49:31which was the great unifying force in society.
0:49:37 > 0:49:42Rosie's pictures represent a prosperous, carefree and contented country,
0:49:42 > 0:49:46but her films don't reflect the storm clouds of war
0:49:46 > 0:49:48that were gathering over Europe.
0:49:57 > 0:50:01After war was declared on 3rd September 1939,
0:50:01 > 0:50:03Rosie joined the Women's Voluntary Service,
0:50:03 > 0:50:05which informed people of the threat of air raids.
0:50:05 > 0:50:07But it was her filmmaking skills
0:50:07 > 0:50:10that would become important to the war effort.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13It was suggested that she could take her films out to France
0:50:13 > 0:50:15as entertainment of the troops.
0:50:15 > 0:50:19So under the auspices of the YWCA and the Red Cross,
0:50:19 > 0:50:23she travelled down to the south of France to show her films.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28While in Cannes, Rosie filmed French troops on leave.
0:50:29 > 0:50:33She also encountered some of the Tirailleurs Senegalais,
0:50:33 > 0:50:35the African sharpshooters recruited by the French
0:50:35 > 0:50:38from their colonies in sub-Saharan Africa.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41There were 63,000 Tirailleurs Senegalais
0:50:41 > 0:50:44on the French mainland at this time.
0:50:44 > 0:50:46Just a few weeks after Rosie filmed them,
0:50:46 > 0:50:50thousands of these soldiers were massacred by the German army
0:50:50 > 0:50:52as they swept through France.
0:50:54 > 0:50:55During a visit to Paris,
0:50:55 > 0:50:59Rosie showed her films to the troops of the British Expeditionary Force.
0:50:59 > 0:51:05By mid-May, Hitler's army was massing on the French border.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08Rosie left France on the last civilian airplane
0:51:08 > 0:51:13before the German invasion that led to the occupation of France.
0:51:13 > 0:51:15"Unescorted, we started off,
0:51:15 > 0:51:19"only to return to Le Bourget as German planes had been sighted.
0:51:19 > 0:51:21"I had a stiff whisky and soda!
0:51:21 > 0:51:25"Later we took off again, this time flying low over the Channel."
0:51:26 > 0:51:30With a German invasion of Britain now seeming inevitable,
0:51:30 > 0:51:34Rosie decided to use her camera to record Britain at war.
0:51:36 > 0:51:37By the time of war,
0:51:37 > 0:51:41she was taking her filmmaking very seriously indeed
0:51:41 > 0:51:45and everybody wanted to play their part to defeat fascism,
0:51:45 > 0:51:46to protect the country.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49It was something that everyone joined in together.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56I think she used all her social connections
0:51:56 > 0:52:00and all the tools available to her in her social circle
0:52:00 > 0:52:02to fulfil what she wanted to do.
0:52:02 > 0:52:06After sitting next to an Admiral at a dinner,
0:52:06 > 0:52:09Rosie was granted permission to join HMS Berkeley
0:52:09 > 0:52:12and to film the ship out on patrol.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15To get permission to get anywhere near any of the hardware,
0:52:15 > 0:52:19you need to seriously pull some strings to get in there.
0:52:19 > 0:52:21She must have been able to persuade them
0:52:21 > 0:52:25that it was for a very good cause that she was doing this.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30She went out to sea on HMS Berkeley out of Portsmouth.
0:52:30 > 0:52:35Now that's unique to get an amateur filmmaker, and a female,
0:52:35 > 0:52:37on a serving ship during wartime.
0:52:37 > 0:52:42She arrived on board wearing very smart clothes
0:52:42 > 0:52:43and of course, a skirt,
0:52:43 > 0:52:48as a woman of her age and of her social class would.
0:52:48 > 0:52:52Obviously, that was not suitable for climbing around on board ship
0:52:52 > 0:52:54and the captain lent her a pair of trousers.
0:52:57 > 0:53:02For most Londoners, the war meant long queues for food,
0:53:02 > 0:53:08damaged houses, and an ever-present fear of German bombs.
0:53:08 > 0:53:11At Hyde Park, Rosie filmed piles of furniture
0:53:11 > 0:53:14salvaged from homes destroyed during the Blitz.
0:53:16 > 0:53:20She also captured normal life carrying on amidst the chaos.
0:53:23 > 0:53:26Rosie was one of the few amateur filmmakers
0:53:26 > 0:53:30who was given the permit required to record scenes of this kind.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36Courageously, Rosie also took her camera out onto the streets at night
0:53:36 > 0:53:42to produce a series of remarkable images of London in flames.
0:53:42 > 0:53:47She was aware of what she was seeing, was interesting, was curious, and wanted to record it.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50It was terrifying, but it was grand spectacle.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53"I had some close shaves during the Blitz.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56"You don't notice it when you're absorbed in your work.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59"My camera was to me like a gun was to a soldier."
0:53:59 > 0:54:02She has referred to her camera as her gun
0:54:02 > 0:54:05and she's also referred to running out of film stock
0:54:05 > 0:54:07as running out of ammunition,
0:54:07 > 0:54:09because that was always a worry for her.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12Because colour film stock during the war was very difficult to get.
0:54:14 > 0:54:17Throughout the Blitz, Rosie remained in London,
0:54:17 > 0:54:22taking her camera onto the streets to record the aftermath of the raids.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36Eventually, the war came even closer to home.
0:54:38 > 0:54:40"One night, a bomb fell on the house next door,
0:54:40 > 0:54:44"which had been occupied by royalty and it also damaged ours.
0:54:44 > 0:54:48"I was sleeping in the basement and was rather shaken."
0:54:55 > 0:54:58Her house in Piccadilly was seriously damaged by the bombing,
0:54:58 > 0:55:04so Rosie moved around the corner into the sandbagged Dorchester Hotel.
0:55:10 > 0:55:12The Dorchester was built in 1931
0:55:12 > 0:55:16and it was the first concrete and steel building in London.
0:55:16 > 0:55:18It was considered to be bombproof,
0:55:18 > 0:55:21which is why all the socialites came here.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24I mean, it was party time at the Dorchester.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28Everybody who had money was coming here, they'd dance the night away,
0:55:28 > 0:55:31oblivious to the fact there was a war going on in many cases.
0:55:31 > 0:55:35Except dear old Rosie was up on the roof photographing the planes coming over.
0:55:35 > 0:55:37Rosie grew so fond of the hotel
0:55:37 > 0:55:40that she stayed there for more than 30 years.
0:55:40 > 0:55:44She became affectionately known as "The Duchess of Dorchester".
0:55:46 > 0:55:49When I started at the Dorchester in 1958,
0:55:49 > 0:55:52Rosie was established, well established,
0:55:52 > 0:55:54one of the regular guests here.
0:55:54 > 0:55:57Everybody gave them top service, I mean, that was the manager's orders.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59Whatever Rosie wanted, Rosie got.
0:55:59 > 0:56:04Even in later life, Rosie's passion for filmmaking never waned,
0:56:04 > 0:56:07and she continued to show her work at special screenings
0:56:07 > 0:56:10for her society friends.
0:56:10 > 0:56:11For Rosie Newman,
0:56:11 > 0:56:14I think her filmmaking became part of her social life
0:56:14 > 0:56:17and part of her standing in society.
0:56:17 > 0:56:18She was known as a filmmaker.
0:56:18 > 0:56:23Though she was not short of suitors, Rosie never married.
0:56:23 > 0:56:26She continued to enjoy London's busy social scene
0:56:26 > 0:56:29and never lost her love for life.
0:56:29 > 0:56:32We always loved having Rosie to stay because she was great fun,
0:56:32 > 0:56:35because she was always laughing and she was hamming it up.
0:56:35 > 0:56:37You'd say something to her like,
0:56:37 > 0:56:40"Rosie, you're obviously a very good filmmaker",
0:56:40 > 0:56:45and she'd say, "But I was. But I was. I was very good."
0:56:45 > 0:56:47On the 16th February 1988,
0:56:47 > 0:56:51the intrepid film-maker Rosie Newman died aged 91.
0:56:51 > 0:56:54But she left behind a unique treasury of images
0:56:54 > 0:56:56that bear witness to a remarkable life,
0:56:56 > 0:56:59lived in extraordinary times.
0:56:59 > 0:57:04Absolutely certain she didn't set out to be a well-known filmmaker,
0:57:04 > 0:57:06but she sort of grew into it
0:57:06 > 0:57:09and it provided her with almost her own career,
0:57:09 > 0:57:12something she could do that others couldn't.
0:57:12 > 0:57:15And she enjoyed it and it served a very good purpose.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21In the 1930s, Rosie Newman was one of the few women
0:57:21 > 0:57:26in a position to travel the world and record her experiences on camera.
0:57:26 > 0:57:28She took her filming very seriously,
0:57:28 > 0:57:31and used her privileged position and high-powered connections
0:57:31 > 0:57:35to gain access to people and places that were off-limits
0:57:35 > 0:57:38to most amateur film-makers.
0:57:41 > 0:57:43Though she was spirited and intrepid,
0:57:43 > 0:57:48she was often oblivious to the more unpleasant realities of a decade
0:57:48 > 0:57:53overshadowed by economic depression and privation on a global scale.
0:57:53 > 0:57:58But her rich and vibrant films do show us in vivid colour
0:57:58 > 0:58:01the elite at play in the twilight of Empire...
0:58:04 > 0:58:08..Sites of great antiquity before the age of mass tourism...
0:58:10 > 0:58:15..And individuals whose lives would be transformed by events
0:58:15 > 0:58:20in the years before the ultimate cataclysm of a world war.
0:58:43 > 0:58:47Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:47 > 0:58:51E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk