Amateur film footage of the B'nai Brith dinner for the new President of the Jewish Association of Newcastle in the mid 1950s, exchange visits of the Leeds and Newcastle Jewish Friendship Clubs; the renowned circus performer Nicolai Poliakov, who made his name as 'Coco the Clown,' visits Newcastle with a circus on the Town Moor, probably during the Hoppings,and attends the Friendship Club as an Honorary member.   This film is one in a collection of films recording life in the...

Amateur film footage of the B'nai Brith dinner for the new President of the Jewish Association of Newcastle in the mid 1950s, exchange visits of the Leeds and Newcastle Jewish Friendship Clubs; the renowned circus performer Nicolai Poliakov, who made his name as 'Coco the Clown,' visits Newcastle with a circus on the Town Moor, probably during the Hoppings,and attends the Friendship Club as an Honorary member.   This film is one in a collection of films recording life in the Jewish community of Newcastle, made by five independent film-makers between 1937 and 1962. People in evening dress are dining in a large hall at the B'nai Brith dinner for the newly elected president in the mid-1950s. Portrait shots of individuals and couples chatting at the table. Many people are smoking, including a woman with a cigarette in an elegant holder. After-dinner speeches are made. Two men perform a comedy sketch as rabbis stuffing their mouths with food. Pan across faces of members of the audience. Group portrait of a row of young women holding plates of food. In the next sequence members of the Newcastle Jewish Friendship Club dine at the Leeds Friendship Club, men and women eating at long trestle tables. Children and adults then perform turns, singing, playing the piano, and ballet dancing in costume. Shots of the audience. Leeds Friendship Club men and women are seated in a coach on a return visit to Newcastle. The members of the two clubs enjoy a tea party, some smoking enthusiastically and one portly woman using a cigarette holder to smoke. Various group portraits follow of elderly Jewish men and women in the Friendship Club gathered outside at the entrance to Spanish City on a trip to Whitley Bay. Women display their sticks of seaside rock to camera. Some of the group are gathered happily on the seafront lawns in front of the Empress Ballroom, Spanish City. Then the large group enjoy tea and cake indoors. The next section documents Coco the Clown and fellow circus performers at the Town Moor in Newcastle, and Nicolai Poliakov's (Coco) visit to the Newcastle branch of the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women (Ajex) where he is enrolled as an honorary member. Circus performers move between their caravans at Bartram's Circus on the Town Moor, possibly during Hoppings weekend. Shot of a famous dwarf clown in an oversized checked jacket. Coco the Clown exits from his tent, smiles at camera and operates his comedy hair. Shot of his over-sized clown shoes. He pulls up his trouser leg to show off one of the shoes. Coco shakes hands with a distinguished man in a blazer, possibly either Cyril or Bernard Mills, Bertram Mills Circus owners. Three other circus performers drift into shot and smile, chat or joke around, including a rodeo performer in a Davy Crockett hat. Shot of circus tigers in a cage. Coco the Clown (in civilian clothes and without the make-up) visits the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women (AJEX) as an Honorary member. He arrives, is greeted by distinguished members, and a badge is pinned to his lapel. He speaks to guests in the audience.