Editing Mitchell and Kenyon (section)

===News and re-enactments ===
The outbreak of the [[Boer War]] in South Africa in October 1899 brought new business opportunities to the company – it turned its attention to the production of war films. Troops were shown marching off to join the war or coming back from the front, past flag waving spectators. Crowds were shown greeting war heroes, in particular Private [[Charles Ward (VC)|Charles Ward]] of Leeds, the last man to receive the [[Victoria Cross]] from [[Queen Victoria]] herself, being interviewed by [[Ralph Pringle]].

Fictionalised scenes from the South African war and the [[Boxer Rebellion]] were filmed in the countryside around Blackburn. These are described as fakes, but the audiences may well have accepted them as dramatic re-enactments. Screenings were enlivened by smoke bombs and guns being fired.

Mitchell & Kenyon's most innovative film was ''The Arrest of Goudie'' in 1901, which is arguably the world's first filmed crime reconstruction – the film incorporates the actual crime locations and depicts the arrest of [[Thomas Goudie]], a [[Bank of Liverpool]] employee who [[embezzled]] £170,000 while involved in a gambling ring. The film was shown at the [[Liverpool Empire Theatre|Prince of Wales Theatre]] in Liverpool only three days after Goudie's arrest. Goudie was subsequently jailed for ten years.  A full detailed history of this film by [[Vanessa Toulmin]] can be found in "An Early Film Crime Rediscovered: Mitchell & Kenyon’s ''Arrest of Goudie'' (1901)", in ''Film History'' volume 16, no 1 (2004): 37–53.