Amateur Films of 1920's China

December 14, 2010 1:47 PM

When John Van Antwerp MacMurray was dispatched to Asia in 1925 as the American Envoy to the Republic of China, he brought a Kodak motion picture camera with him.
posted by Iridic (4 comments total)

Fascinating! Most particularly liked the miming of Jose Gallostra, because I'm shallow and it's pretty damn good. Could it be this man? If so, sadly came to a bad end.

I find no record of China service, but others may know more.
posted by IndigoJones at 2:11 PM on December 14, 2010

This is amazing.
posted by josher71 at 2:35 PM on December 14, 2010

IndigoJones, it's here in the geneology page you linked:

Encargado de negocios del gobierno de Burgos en Pekin (1936-1939).

However, that's several years after these films were made. In 1929, it looks like he was Secretary at the Spanish Embassy in Mexico.

He was quite the cartoonist, too, and apparently played football for Real Murcia. What an interesting person he seems to have been.
posted by oneirodynia at 4:02 PM on December 14, 2010

D'oh! I really must read things more carefully. Once I passed 1929, I scarcely noticed much of anything.
posted by IndigoJones at 5:42 PM on December 14, 2010