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Title: FORT WILLIAM : The Road To The Isles

Reference number: 7329

Date: 1948*

Director: d. Arthur Leslie

Sponsor: Polytours

Sound: sound

Original format: 16mm

Colour: col

Fiction: non-fiction

Running time: 28.19 mins

Description: A promotional film for holiday firm Polytours, demonstrating the attractions of a holiday in Fort William to an English audience. Includes shots of tourist locations such as Ben Nevis, Morar, Glenfinnan, Loch Ness, Glencoe, Culloden, Oban, Iona, Mull and also interiors of the Highland Hotel at Fort William.

Credits: comm. w. K.W. Robinson
d., ph., ed. and comm.s. Arthur Leslie

Shotlist: A Polytours Production c/u shots Polytours brochure being unwrapped - title & credits (0.49) shot of selection of holiday brochures, c/u of Fort William entry - c/u shots of man and woman packing suitcases (1.43) c/u shot of porter with 'Polytechnic' hat saluting and picking up luggage (1.52) ext. shot of King's Cross station, London, then steam loco pulling out of station, passengers waving (2.20) aerial shot of train steaming along track (2.25) map of England and Wales with pointer showing route from London, map of Scotland showing route to Fort William (2.33) c/u Fort William station sign, Polytechnic porter, passengers disembarking (2.44) wide shot and c/u of Highland Hotel, guests being welcomed at entrance (3.08) int. pan of bedroom and fittings, man sitting smoking at window - view from window, pan R across loch (3.42) int. shots of dining room, staff preparing food in kitchen (4.15) woman arranging flowers and view from window (4.34) guests leaving hotel with Polytours porter (4.45) street scene, 'Cameron Square' sign, 'West Highland Museum' sign (5.12) shots of museum exhibits - painting of Bonnie Prince Charlie (5.24) wide shot of war memorial (5.33) woman walking through church gate (5.41) shots of water channels, pipelines, electricity pole (6.04) wide shot of Ben Nevis distillery buildings (6.11) shots of tourists at Craigs Burial Ground, monument and gateway (6.54) c/u sign 'Gordon Square' , shot of square with MacBrayne buses, street by lochside (7.09) shots of women buying rug in tartan shop (7.41) landscape shots, gvs of Inverlochy Castle (8.02) gvs Caledonian Canal, men opening lock gate by hand (8.24) shots of guests outside hotel, reading map and relaxing (8.41) shots of guests on small launch on loch (8.56) wide shots of Ben Nevis, loch, tourists dressed for hillwalking (9.28) c/u shots of golden eagle (9.39) shots of couple hillwalking (9.51) shots of MacBrayne coach leaving hotel (9.59) c/u warning sign 'river Nevis - Old Bridge', shot of bridges, shot of old cottage, tourists climbing on boulder, c/u and wide shots of river and rocks; wide shot Ben Nevis, tourists, stream, gorge with footbridge over it, groups of tourists on paths in Glen Nevis (12.27) int. shots of tourists on coach (12.32) shots of tourists having tea (12.53) brief shot of road from train (12.59) wide and c/u shots of Bonnie Prince Charlie memorial at Glenfinnan, c/u of plaque, landscape shots of hills and loch (13.36) shots of bell with landscape in background (13.47) wide long shot of steam train going over Glenfinnan viaduct (13.52) viaduct from train (13.57) LNER train entering Morar station, river shots, bridge, anglers by river and group of tourists having picnic, brief shots of calf, gulls, sheep (14.49) shots of Loch Morar with white sands (15.11) shot of passengers boarding train and leaving station (15.21) Mallaig station sign, pan L across Mallaig harbour, shot of fishermen relaxing on boat, pan L across harbour with piles of fish crates (15.41) porters at quay taking boxes from hand cart. mid shots of steamer captain, luggage sliding down chute to boat (15.53) shot of steamer leaving pier (16.01) landscape shots from train (16.32) wide shots of guests having dinner in hotel, c/u shots of food on table and mid shots of seated guests (17.25) shot of MacBrayne coach leaving (17.32) shots of tourists at bridge over river, c/u sign 'Achnacarry', waterfall (18.00) c/u RAC sign 'B8005 Loch Arkaig', shot of coach stopping and guests getting off, shot of river, c/u sign 'Spean Bridge', wide shots of bridge over river, monument at Culloden, c/u plaques to commemorate battle and clans (19.15) wide shot tourists at cottage (19.27) wide shots Inverness Castle, c/u plaque on Flora Macdonald statue and c/u statue (19.49) Urquhart Castle wide and pan, c/u sign 'Loch Ness', shots of loch, sign 'Wot No Monster', shots of guests screaming and running away, c/u of frog on ground (20.14) shots of river and old bridge, c/u sign 'Fort Augustus', wide shots of Fort Augustus Abbey, wide shot of bridge (20.44) wide shot coach coming up hill at Glencoe, Scottish Automobile Club sign 'Scene of the Massacre of Glencoe, 13th February 1692', wide shots of Glencoe, c/u waterfalls (21.23) cu RAC sign 'Ballachulish Ferry', shots of turntable ferry and car driving off (20.52) shots of motorcycles with sidecars racing up rocky lane watched by spectators (22.32) shots of pipe band performing in town, shots of gala queen and procession, piper with Highland dancers (23.08) c/u shots from quayside of steamer King George V, wide shot leaving pier, shots from steamer of Ben Nevis and Fort William; shots from ferry of Dunollie Castle, then gvs of approach to Oban; shots of Columba and Marine Hotel (23.33) c/u shots of sailors pulling hawsers on deck (23.38) landscape shots of islands from steamer on way to Iona (24.24) c/u sign 'Iona - Donations for Maintenance and Restoration of the Cathedral', gvs of Iona Cathedral, Celtic cross (24.46) int, shots of abbey, ext. shots of ruins and abbey with steamer in background (25.07) street scenes with tourists, getting on to rowing boats, helped back on to steamer (25.22) wide shots of Staffa from steamer, lighthouse, and approach to Tobermory; shot of MacBrayne's Art Deco-ish terminal at Tobermory, shot of town, then leaving (25.58) scenery shots from steamer, returning to Fort William, passing Highland Hotel (26.22) shots of guests playing parlour games in evening in hotel, cards; guests having sing-song around piano (27.27) shots of loch, guests, hotel at sunset (27.49) shots of guests boarding train at Fort William, shots from train as it pulls away, guard and others waving - The End (28.19)