Will Onda’s films to feature in new DVD released for Preston Guild

On Tuesday 13th March at 7.30pm a new film about Preston will premier at Preston’s Charter Theatre.

The Film titled ‘Preston and its Guilds 1902 – 1992 is a collaboration between North West Film Archive and the Harris Museum & Art Gallery. The film will be officially released for sale on the 13 March, priced £12.

The film features extracts from some of the many films made by Will Onda’s Pictures. Onda also gets a special mention for his contribution to the film heritage of the city by the film’s narrator Roy Barraclough.

Will Onda, a former stage acrobat, made and produced films of Preston for over 30 years until his death in 1949. The earliest film which survives is Empire Day from 1909. He left his huge collection of local films to Preston Council. The films are now deposited with North West Film Archive in Manchester (part of Manchester Metropolitan University) and the BFI/National Film Archive in London.

Will Onda’s Pictures produced the film of the 1922 Preston Guild. The 1922 Guild proclamation is included on the new dvd and also captures Onda in front of the camera wearing a light coloured suit and his trademark round spectacles.

Guild Mayor and Mayoress Henry and Mabel Astley-Bell with Will Onda!

Launch of Preston and Its Guild: 1902 – 1992
Charter Theatre, Tuesday 13th March 2012, 7.30pm

Tickets for the premier of the film are £5.00 (+ booking fee) available now from Charter Theatre box office on 0845 344 2026 or online at www.prestonguildhall.com

Further details on the dvd contact Hilary Machell on 01772 903619 or email h.machell@preston.gov.uk
Further details of the North West Film Archive and the films featured http://www.nwfa.mmu.ac.uk/

Did your mother or grandmother work for Will Onda in 1915?

Will Onda set up Preston Film Service in about 1910. By 1915 it employed some 80 people in film making and distribution. The outbreak of World War in 1914 resulted in 40 of his employees joining the army, including his own son Carnie, a manager of Will Onda’s Pictures.

Faced with labour shortages, Onda found it necessary to employ girls as operators during the war.

I am keen to find out exactly who worked for Preston Film Service and trace the women who worked for him. If anyone has any information about a relative who worked for Will Onda, I would be very pleased to hear from you.

Please leave a comment via this blog or contact me at e.l.heslewood@preston.gov.uk

Will Onda pictured at the 1922 Preston Guild!

Guild Mayor and Mayoress Henry and Mabel Astley-Bell with Will Onda!

The countdown to Christmas has begun but in Preston it is also countdown to the 2012 Preston Guild.

The first recorded Guild celebration was in 1397 but it has been held every 20 years since 1542 – apart from a 30 year break between 1922 and 1952 due to the Second World War.

Preston is unique in still celebrating a Guild – but is also the only town and city in Britain to have documented each generation’s fashions, tastes, streets, shops and businesses through photography and film. For more info on Preston’s Guild films see my earlier post.

Will Onda was a Preston councillor by the time of the 1922 Preston Guild and as such involved in the official events. The featured image in this post was taken on the day of the Guild proclamation by the Guild Mayor Henry Astley-Bell. Will is the man standing in front of the column on the right wearing a light coloured suit and round glasses.

Will and the other councillors also had their portraits taken for the official records of the Guild. These vintage portrait prints are now in the Harris Museum photographic collection. I have chosen his 1922 Guild portrait as the featured image in the new Will Onda display in the new history gallery at the Harris, which is opening in the summer. Will also filmed the 1922 Preston Guild and I am hoping to include some of his film footage too.

For more details of the 2012 and how you can get involved visit the Guild website.

Visit to Manchester

The Brothers Onda visited the Palace in 1899, 1900 & 1904

Visited Manchester last week for the Social History Curators Conference and I couldn’t resist snapping a picture of the Palace Theatre on Oxford Road as I strolled past.

The Brothers Onda performed at the Palace Theatre in 1899, 1900 and 1904. Glad to see this great northern theatre is still going strong.

I am writing the chapter on the Brothers Onda at the moment. I have recently been contacted by the relatives of a performer connected to the Brothers Onda who have sent me some amazing images of them performing on stage.

Must see if I can get a behind the scenes tour of the Palace so I can imagine them swinging on their horizontal bars across the stage!

He made them laugh and he made them cry! – Will Onda (coming soon!)

Compiling a plan and starting on the first draft of my book on Will Onda this week. The book will be full of interesting episodes and people from his life in entertainment. Given myself 6 months! It is going to be difficult to decide what not to include. Hope it will be ready for next summer!

Three men in a car!

See Pete Vickers blog for the latest on that photograph of William Gillin, Will Onda and James Atroy. http://jazzpete1938.wordpress.com/2011/05/01/a-link-between-will-onda-and-w-e-gillin/

Entertainment and Public Service – Onda in the 1920s

The 1920s are turning out to have been quite a busy decade for Onda both personally and professionally – but one that had ups as well as downs.

By the time Onda turned 50 in 1929 he had he become a town councillor and a director of Preston North End football club. His work as a theatre and cinema proprietor continued and he made dozens of local films of many events during this decade including the 1922 Preston Guild and numerous Royal visits by Princess Mary. Today I also discovered a great image of him wearing his oval rimmed glasses amongst the portraits of the Guild Aldermen and Councillors from 1922. His face is full of obvious pride.

On the down side I am starting to read about the impact of changes in the film industry and his work with the Provincial Entertainers to stop or change the film bill of 1927 which threatened his livelihood. This issue is touched upon in his interview with Kinematograph weekly in 1926 and meetings of the Provincial Entertainment and Managers Association Limited published in The Stage newspaper. He is deeply concerned by the changes and mourns the decline in quality of films and the change of terms for local exhibitors. I think he saw what was coming for the entertainment industry but at least he could look back at a very successful decade…