Harvard University Film Archives

Harvard University Film Archives

The Films


The Philip Trevelyan Retrospective will span a career starting at the Royal College of Art in 1961 where he made his award-winning LAMBING, showing the isolation and dedication of an old Yorkshire sheep farmer as he tends his ewes during the lambing season. Trevelyan unobtrusively observes an intimate portrait of the man and his craft with respect and admiration, setting a pace that slowly immerses you into his world.

Trevelyan Rare Double Bill

LAMBING        Director Philip Trevelyan             UK   1964   25mins
Shepherd Mr Dick Freeman by his fireside as he works through the night in the cold and dark of his hilltop farm during the lambing season.  Click here for more images


Dick by FireLAMBING will screen  with The Moon & Sledgehammer in this rare Trevelyan Double Bill.  It's a unique opportunity to see Trevelyan's award-winning student film on the big screen and chart his development as a film maker of unmistakable style.  Even here his early film uses poetry as the main narrative. He is already experimenting with and finessing his powerful control of time and space and ability to make his subject so at ease  as to be  seemingly unaware of the camera.  This throws up wonderful  intimate glimpses and an air of peaceful contentment as we are slowly drawn into the shepherd's world…   Trevelyan seeks out people whose purpose in life he admires.  He believes they have a great deal to teach us today and feels it is important that we listen and re-evaluate what we are slowly losing….  

Duke of York's picturehouse, Brighton.  Sat 13th Aug 3.30pm      Click here for tickets

 

 

 

Other titles will include the highly praised
The Ship Hotel – Tyne Main (1967),
a quirky and intense study of a Sunday
lunchtime session in a Tyneside pub.  
Click here for more images.

 

 

 

 

Slide62 cropped

 

 

 

Ship Hotel by day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After making the popular and much loved 
The Moon and the Sledgehammer (1969-71), 
he went on to make the award-winning


Big Ware,for the BBC’s prestigious arts programme Omnibus in 1971 who screened the film twice.  It shows George Curtis at work; the last traditional country potter still working.  This is a subject well understood by Trevelyan whose mother was the well-known craft potter Ursula Mommens.

Green potsMr. George Curtis, potter, at work.

 

Again, using the same crew as Ship Hotel and The Moon & the Sledgehammer, Shooting Tyne Maine
we see evidence of a tight-knit team communicating almost telepathically,
so familiar were they with each other’s working style.

The Retrospective will close with a study of the poet Basil Bunting featuring
the timeless poem Briggflatte and K491, an experimental piece without dialogue, exploring interpretations of Mozart’s piano concerto in C minor before a performance.  

                                     

A full programme of events and date will be published soon.

 

Read Philip Trevelyan's comments on his films here

Read about the Trevelyan Retrospective at Harvard University here

 

To fully celebrate the event a new print of THE MOON AND THE SLEDGEHAMMER will be struck.   We've seen some Before and After test results and it's thrilling to see the film come alive again.  The sunshine is back in the woods! 

Details of how to become involved coming soon including early bird offers on the new DVD and a chance to be at the UK premiere of the new print. Click here to learn more. 

Sheep Fold

SHEEP FOLDthe farmTHE FARM

 

Mr Dick Freeman

MR DICK FREEMAN

Dick by Fire

DICK BY THE FIRE


View from Hotel Entrance                                     View from Hotel Entrance

Tom Pickard and TaxiTom Pickard and Taxi

Under the Tyne Bridge                                       Under the Tyne Bridge

Tina McCormick by the riverTina McCormick by the river
 

Tina (and daughter) Vera McCormickTina (and daughter) Vera McCormick

Taxi leaving foggy HotelTaxi leaving foggy Hotel

Shooting Tyne MaineShooting Tyne MaineShip Hotel from across riverShip Hotel from across river

 

 

Ship Hotel by dayShip Hotel by day


Ship Hotel at nightShip Hotel at night

Richard Stanley. camera on Tyne MaineRichard Stanley, camera, on Tyne Maine


Nick Nixon by Ship HotelNick Nixon by Ship Hotel


Michael Sloane outside HotelMichael Sloane outside Hotel


Jose ConnorJose Connor

 

End SceneEnd scene

 

Dicky RenwickDicky Renwick

 

Dicky Renwick smilingDicky Renwick smiling

Bobby Fairless (Singerand Coal miner)Bobby Fairless (singer and coal miner)

 

Billy & Michael in HotelBilly and Michael in Hotel

 

Shooting Tyne MaineShooting Tyne Maine

 

35mm filmComing soon!
Full restoration of the The Moon & the Sledgehammer

For some time now we have been looking at finding ways restoring the film and producing a copy that is as good as the original.  We want the film to be seen properly, restored to its glorious colour, full of warmth with delicate tones and greater depth and range and an overall ambiance only film has, the power to capture you and take you on a journey.

Safeguarding the Film for Future Generations.

It is vitally important that the film is restored and transferred to digital format to keep it up to date with current formats.  This will ensure its place in the future for another 50 years.  For generations to come people will be able to watch and marvel at the Page family and their unique lifestyle; their legacy, reminding us of the other things in life.

The film is now approaching 50 years old – around the age film starts to deteriorate.  Little or no funding is available for restoration work, which is a painstakingly slow and expensive process.  It is tragic to think how many films – records of our social history, have simply deteriorated and disappeared, lost forever.

Every purchase of the DVD takes us a step closer to restoration.