1 Film reel (silent color reversal; 600 feet, 16mm)
Container:
Item 2000.6.1-13
Type:
Archival materials
Moving Images
Film reels
Date:
circa 1946-1955
Scope and Contents:
Film footage shot in Crystal Ranch (Utah), California (possibly Calistoga, Napa Valley), Stoneycroft (Zimbabwe), Bulawayo (Zimbabwe), and London (UK).
The first roll was filmed at Crystal Ranch, the home of Ramah Sharpstone's parents, Alexander Crystal Sr. and Esther Ingersoll Crystal, and the California home of Mabel Collier Sharpsteen, David Sharpstone's mother (David changed his last name). The film footage of Crystal Ranch includes a herd of Suffolk sheep being herded into a corral with David Sharpstone standing by the gate (filmed by Ramah); the ranch buildings; another flock of sheep; Alexander Crystal Sr. milking cows; Alexander Crystal Jr. pouring grain into troughs for sheep; his brother, Mark Hall Crystal, posing with a Suffolk ram; panoramic views; David Sharpstone feeding a Suffolk sheep; Sharpstone smoking a pipe while riding a horse, accompanied by a sheep dog, with cars from the 1940s in the background; a family shot outside the house of Alexander Crystal Sr., Esther Ingersoll Crystal, Alexander Crystal Jr., and Ramah Crystal Sharpstone; Mark Crystal joining family group; and more shots of Suffolk sheep. The California film footage includes Mabel Collier Sharpsteen walking with a cane; other family members (possibly Colliers); David and Ramah Sharpstone; the family home; and Ramah Sharpstone and Mabel Collier Sharpsteen on the porch.
The second film roll was shot at Stoneycroft in Zimbabwe and includes Kraal, cattle, David Sharpstone branding cattle, cattle at a drinking water hole, and cattle being driven through a chute one by one through a trough filled with a dip to disinfect and kill parasites and ticks.
The third film roll includes Alexandra and William Sharpstone in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe; panoramic views of the Crystal Ranch in Utah, Alexandra and William posing in the vegetable garden, more panoramic views, Alexandra and William posing in the flower garden, Alexandra and William riding a horse led by their uncle Alexander, Alexandra and William riding a tractor driven by a ranch hand, Alexander Crystal Jr. and a ranch hand harvesting oats on a tractor, and Alexandra and William posing in front of a tractor with their Uncle Alexander and a ranch hand; Kensington Gardens in London, Alexandra and William walking with their driver and stopping to look at some deer, joining their nanny, playing by a fountain, and running through formal gardens; views of the English countryside; Alexandra, William, and Ramah watching the changing of the guard from their flat; Alexandra and William posing with Masa Zulu (the Stoneycroft farm manager) as he holds up a leopard who was poisoned for preying on the cattle, Alexandra and William posing with their new bicycles, antelope staring at the camera and then fleeing, Alexandra and William posing with puppies, playing with bricks, posing with two puppies, and getting a ride on a donkey from the Stoneycroft farm workers.
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
The David Collier Sharpstone films, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
We would like to acknowledge the assistance of Alexandra Sharpstone, who provided much of the descriptive information in this finding aid.
