Introduction: Early British Cinema.

Presents an introduction to articles on the Great Britain early motion picture industry. An 1895 interview of Thomas Blair shows that he was equally interested in the potential of celluloid roll-film for both still cameras and moving image devices. Gerry Turvey's paper explores a period of British film history when the main genre was non-fiction. John Barnes discusses the film "Mary Jane's Mishap" in 1902. Richard Brown explores the economic impetus which drove the early film industry, in relation to films of the Boer War. The restoration of the Mitchell and Kenyon collection by the British Film Institute is attributed to scholar Vanessa Toulmin's persuasive arguments for its national importance. Jon Burrows has managed to find new sources of early film history in the form of London, England's council and metropolitan police records.