Released by Keystone as a “Keystone Kinescope”, this silent film features footage of the city of Pompeii and its environs. It likely dates to the 1930s. At 1:45 the film shows footage from the November, 1926 eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, which brought back memories of the disaster in 79 A.D.

Keystone was a manufacturer of a series of “toy” 16mm movie projectors which used fairly low wattage light bulbs instead of normal projector bulbs. These kind of short documentary films, as well as cartoons and dramas, were often sold with the projectors.

Mount Vesuvius is located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, and part of the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuvius consists of a large cone partially encircled by the steep rim of a summit caldera, caused by the collapse of an earlier and originally much higher structure. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis and Stabiae, as well as several other settlements. In the 20th Century, the volcano was active in 1906, 1926, 1929, and 1944.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com