From the website of The Daily Telegraph:
British Pathé, the newsreel maker which documented all walks of life on video during the 20th Century, has uploaded its entire collection of moving images to YouTube.
The archive of 3,500 hours of footage was digitised in 2002 thanks in part to a grant from the National Lottery, and is now freely accessible to anyone around the world for free.
Founded in Paris in 1896, Pathé launched in Britain 14 years later. It single-handedly invented the modern television news format but ceased recording in 1970. After that it was sold several times, at one point to EMI, but launched as an independent archive in 2009. Two years later it opened a YouTube channel and has today announced the final step in digitising and uploading its entire collection to Google's video sharing platform.
Alastair White, general manager of British Pathé, said: "Our hope is that everyone, everywhere who has a computer will see these films and enjoy them. This archive is a treasure trove unrivalled in historical and cultural significance that should never be forgotten. Uploading the films to YouTube seemed like the best way to make sure of that.
Here are just two Ellington-related videos. The footage of Duke at the piano, smiling, as they bring on the dancing girls was issued as part of Storyville's Cotton Club two disc set some years ago. Here it is in the context of the entire reel.
And this video, I am sure I have featured before, but with Villes Ville's French leanings, it is entirely appropriate to post it again. Duke would have been on his European tour when this film, Parisian Life, was shot in 1958. C'est magnifique!
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