The
Crystal Palace
Foundation

As this great DVD is now sadly out of print we purchased the last of the stock at a great discount so we can now offer it at a

SPECIAL PRICE AND POST-FREE

A British Film Institute and Crystal Palace Foundation joint production

The two films are on the same DVD and accompanied by a 16-page fully illustrated information booklet with a detailed history of the Crystal Palace and a review of both films.

The Pleasure Garden
James Broughton’s ‘valentine to the land of Edward Lear, Shakespeare and pantomime’ is a thoroughly charming celebration of love and desire that fascinates as much because of its location – the ruins of the Crystal Palace gardens and terraces in 1952 – as its subject.

John le Mesurier plays the frock-coated Minister of Public Behaviour, Col. Pall K. Gargoyle, determined to stamp out the least sign of indecency or lewdness in the place he wants to turn into a cemetery. When not putting ‘Do Not’ signs around the place, he is attaching fig leaves to statuary. Fortunately, there is a fairy godmother – a Mrs. Albion, played by Hattie Jacques – who comes along in his wake and sets the characters in the park skipping, loving and dancing once more with the aid of her magic scarf.

A classic piece of not-entirely-innocent 1950s Bohemia, The Pleasure Garden won the Prix de Fantaisie Poetique at Cannes in 1954, and is an irresistible time capsule for viewers now.

Lovers of the history of Crystal Palace will also find much to treasure in this 1950s time capsule of a film, which shows the Crystal Colonnade and the bandstand (both later demolished), the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Trophy (in its original position), the cafe (now a taxi company) in Crystal Palace Station Road and much of the statuary which was to be auctioned off in 1957.

There is also a nod to the R.N.V.R. at the beginning of the film. A young lady holds a sailors cap marked HMS Hornbill which in 1952 was a division of the Royal Naval Reserve Air Branch. The unit was closed down in 1953 and became Culham Research Centre.

The Pleasure Garden won the Prix de Fantaisie Poetique at Cannes in 1954.

UK 1952 Black and White 37 Mins approx. (Limited stocks of the video version of this film are still available from us at £4.00).

The Phoenix Tower
At the northern end of the Crystal Palace site in Sydenham stands one of the greatest engineering achievements of post-war Britain – The Crystal Palace Television Tower.

Until the disastrous fire of November 1936 Sir Joseph Paxton’s huge glass Palace stood on the site.

There is something for both engineers and historians in the film.

For lovers of the graceful elegance of television towers the film shows the design, construction and ‘topping-out’ of the 720ft tall 120ft wide tower.

For aficionados of Crystal Palace history, views can be seen of the terraces, statuary and the basement areas of the Palace itself.

The tower began operating on 21 December 1957 and since then has provided most of London and Southeast England with television, etc.

The film (known affectionately as the ‘Phoenix Tower’) was originally produced in 16mm format by the company erecting the tower – British Insulated Callenders Cables. The company was broken up some years ago and split between the Pirelli and Balfour Beatty Groups of companies. The film was distributed by the now dissolved Viscom Audio Visual Library.

Never before available on video and from April 1964 only rarely shown to small numbers of serious enthusiasts, the video was produced from the only copy known to exist.

The Phoenix Tower was shown on three occasions by the BBC as a test transmission in the immediate run-up to the opening of BBC2. The first on Saturday 14th March 1964 and its final showing was Monday 13th April 1964

The British Film Institute and The Crystal Palace Foundation gratefully acknowledge the support in this venture of John Soderburg and Peter Farrell of Pirelli International Ltd (now Prysmian Cables & Systems Ltd).

UK 1957 Black and White and colour 39 Mins approx.