Robert Paul is a largely forgotten name today, but he was a major pioneer of British cinema, and was quick to grasp the commercial potential of cinema in ways that better known pioneers such as William Friese-Greene were not. He was more of a mechanic than a filmmaker making, with Birt Acres, his own camera on which to shoot films in 1895, and also Britain's first projector, the Animatograph, with which to screen them in 1896. Early in the 20th century he had a custom-made studio built in Muswell Hill.
This film, one of the few genuine films of the Boer war that was shot on location rather than an enactment – and which is therefore less exciting – was filmed by a doctor called Colonel Beaver. Cronje is escorted by City Imperial Volunteers, with whom filmmaker Robert Paul's brothers served, so it's entirely possible that they're up there on the screen. Cronje can only briefly be glimpsed in a carriage.
This film, one of the few genuine films of the Boer war that was shot on location rather than an enactment – and which is therefore less exciting – was filmed by a doctor called Colonel Beaver. Cronje is escorted by City Imperial Volunteers, with whom filmmaker Robert Paul's brothers served, so it's entirely possible that they're up there on the screen. Cronje can only briefly be glimpsed in a carriage.
