Castletown screening for film about first Labour prime minister
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A film about Britain’s first Labour prime minister, Ramsay MacDonald, is to be screened in Castletown this month.
The 90-minute production, entitled From the Darkness into the Light, features home-movie footage from around the 1920s.
It will be shown at Castlehill Heritage Centre on Monday, May 20, at 7.30pm, followed by a question-and-answer session with director/producer Yvonne Findlay. Entry is free, with donations welcome.
Born in near-poverty in Lossiemouth, MacDonald became the first Labour prime minister a century ago in 1924.
The impetus for making the film was the discovery of a box of old cine reels under the stairs of his Lossiemouth home. The footage was found by Yvonne along with MacDonald’s granddaughter, Iona Kielhorn.
It revealed personal insights into the politician as a family man and included scenes of Lossiemouth’s fishing community from that era.
Yvonne, founder of a social enterprise called Creative Visions Moray, said: “The day his granddaughter and myself discovered the cine reels was the day I knew I had to make this documentary.”
From the Darkness into the Light had a preview evening at Lossiemouth Town Hall in December 2023. Venues this year include Inverness, Forres, Aberdeen and St Margaret’s Hope.
The music for the documentary is by Ivan Drever and Sonia Allori, while its editor is Tim Flood.
Muriel Murray, a member of Castletown Heritage Society, is hoping there will be a good turnout for the Castlehill screening.
“The humble rural background of MacDonald might resonate with many local people,” she said. “Castletown Heritage Society is pleased to be able to offer the chance of seeing the footage and bringing Yvonne’s talk to a Caithness audience.”
Born illegitimate, MacDonald rose to become prime minister in 1924, going on to hold office from 1929 to 1931 and heading a coalition government from 1931 until 1935. However, he was expelled from his own party.
The film project came about after several round metal canisters of film were unearthed at The Hillocks, the house MacDonald built in his home town.
Speaking ahead of the film’s preview in Lossiemouth at the end of last year, Yvonne said: “Finding the footage was just amazing. It’s like a window into the past.
“It was hard to fit the story of such an historic figure into a 90-minute documentary, but I wanted to present a more balanced view of the man.
“He worked very hard to improve the lives of working people. However, his expulsion from the Labour Party has cast a long shadow over his reputation and achievements which has lasted to this very day.”
MacDonald was born in 1866. When he died in 1937 a service was held in Westminster Abbey and, after cremation, his ashes were taken to Lossiemouth.
