Videos of the Two Plaque Unveilings to
Movie Sound Pioneer George Groves
a)
57 Duke Street,
St.Helens
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DURATION:
2 MINUTES 16
SECONDS
FORMAT:
WMV
SYNOPSIS:
The video begins
with Hilda Barrow in 1995 describing her
brother's death in 1976 and assessing the
importance of his work as a pioneer of motion
picture sound. It continues with footage of the
unveiling of the plaque commemorating George
Groves' achievements at his birthplace in
St.Helens, England taken on June 22nd 1996. The
plaque was unveiled by Hilda and Bob Allen of
the Association of Motion Picture Sound as part
of the
British Film Institute's Centenary of
Cinema celebrations. Over
thirty guests including Gerry Bermingham,
Member of Parliament for St.Helens South, were
in attendance.
As part of the ceremony the York Street Mission
Band, who had been founded in 1899 by George's
father, played their own tribute to the man Al
Jolson called
"The
Quiet Little Englishman".
The video concludes with Hilda interviewed at
the reception in the local museum.
The wording on the plaque reads:
GEORGE
GROVES
Leading
Pioneer of Cinema Sound
Won
many Oscars at Warner Bros. Studios
Hollywood,
1925-1972
Born
here in 1901
b)
Warners Cinema in London's West
End
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if
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DURATION:
1 MINUTE 46
SECONDS
FORMAT:
WMV
SYNOPSIS:
This video contains
amateur footage of the unveiling
on
October 1st 1996 of a BFI plaque in
Warners flagship cinema in London's West End.
The plaque commemorates the engineering
achievements of Stanley Watkins and George
Groves in developing Vitaphone sound-on-disc
technology during the 1920s. The unveiling was
by Hilda Barrow and Molly Watkins (Stanley's
widow) in front of over 30 guests. The cinema
has over a million paying customers per year,
each of whom are able to read these words:
STANLEY
S.A. WATKINS
(1888-1975)
GEORGE R. GROVES
(1901-1976)
The
British electrical engineers who worked in
America for Western Electric and Warner Bros.
and played major roles in the development of
'Talking Pictures'.