ABSTRACT
London Medley announces itself as a contribution to the "city of contrasts" discourse that was so central to the city symphonies of the 1920s and 1930s, although here the language of the film's opening title is much less hyperbolic. London Medley delivers on its promise of "sparkling lights," but its treatment of London's "deep shadows" is superficial, to say the least. The film begins with a picturesque shot of an old salt in a sailor's cap lighting a pipe in silhouette in the foreground, while the busy Thames and Tower Bridge are framed in the background. What distinguishes London Medley as a city symphony is its dawn-to-dawn structure, its interest in the rhythms and patterns of daily life in London, its attention to London's modernity, and its focus on the city's vivid nightlife.
