The Elephant Will Never Forget

'The Elephant Will Never Forget' only forms 11 minutes of the pictured disc of films by John Krish. They Took Us To The Sea (1961) is a slightly longer documentary where disadvantaged children are taken to the sea. It seems to be a very organised trip with rides rather than the simply flopping on the beach with buckets that i remember but very good of the individual kids. Our School and I Think They Call Him John complete the main selection and there are a few others as extras. It is the title film that is the true wonder here though. Being brought up in west London I don't think I ever saw a tram on the streets unless I caught a glimpse of one in Kingsway, for me it was the trolley bus that clanged along. This film, though, however short is so remarkably clear you can see the stuff in the shop windows as the tram goes by. I haven't identified all the streets yet but seems to feature, Old Kent Road, New Cross, Peckham High Street and Woolwich Market. Absolute gem and though worth the price of the Blu on its own there is plenty more on here, as I say.

I'm not old enough to have ridden in the London tram, which closed the year before I was born. I've ridden on Boston's Green Line, which turns into a trolley, and San Francisco's cable car, and helped turned one around. And, as a New Yorker, I'm happiest traveling around in the subway, dirty, filthy, and rat-infested. We grow attached to what we are used to. We hate having to learn a new routine when the old one was if not particularly easy, rote.

So I understand this sadly sentimental short about the closing of London's last tram line, with its violin music contrasting with a music hall song about the trams. Beautifully edited, and the stiff-upper-lip narration made me tear up.