Born at a time of industrial expansion, cinema both reflected and reflected on new manufacturing processes. The industrial film was one of a number of different types of non-fiction film that proliferated during the early years of cinema. These films to some extent demystified methods of production for an audience that was buying mass-manufactured goods (Peterson). Adopting a template that had been established by magazines and newspaper articles devoted to scientific and technical information, the industrial film commonly explained manufacturing procedures in some detail and in chronological order. At the same time as many industrial films documented the changes that were taking place in the production of consumer durables, others explored new procedures in food production. The companies featured in the films were often those of their sponsors; however, this was not always the case. Le Thé features the products of Quaker Ceylon Tea. Although it is probable that this company had a hand in the film’s production, it has not been possible to find supporting evidence. Industrial films differed from early advertising films; while the latter are obviously concerned with promoting products and often feature staged action, industrial films are devoted to realistically documenting production processes (Peterson).

Le Thé was produced in 1909 by the French company Pathé-Frères, the ‘first acknowledged global empire in cinema history (Abel, ‘Pathé-Frères’, emphasis in original). Pathé’s success rested on the mass production of films and on distributing their releases via a worldwide network (Abel, 1994, 22). By 1909 Pathé had established distribution agencies throughout Europe, in the US, and in the colonised countries of India, south-east Asia, central and southern America, and Africa (Abel, 1994, 23). One of the selling points of early Pathé films was the distinctive stencil colour technique employed for some of the releases. Colouring films was a repetitive process: originally, large numbers of female employees tinted each frame individually by hand. However, by 1907 Pathé had mechanised this procedure (Abel, 1994, 20, 34).

Although the first tea plantation in Ceylon was not developed until 1867, 600 square miles of the country were under cultivation by 1900. By this point the tea industry was responsible for more than half of the country’s export earnings, with Britain being the primary market (Moxham, 2003, 183, 209; The Romance of Tea, 9). Tea production became mechanised following the introduction of the ‘Sirocco’ tea drier by Samuel C. Davidson in 1877 and John Walker & Co’s tea-rolling machine in 1880. Correspondingly, Ceylon witnessed the construction of its first tea factory in 1884 (‘History of Ceylon Tea’).

Although a few of the tea estates in Ceylon were owned by Sinhalese or Indians, the vast majority were British-controlled, and by the early twentieth century production was increasingly undertaken by large companies (Moxham, 2003, 165-67). It also became the case that British men of ‘good family’ ventured to Ceylon to work as tea planters, bringing with them European ideas of etiquette and taste (Moxham, 2003, 169).

From the outset, plantations in Ceylon relied on imported labour. The Sinhalese regarded it as against their way of life to work for hire, and the tea planters relied primarily on Tamils from southern India (Moxham, 2003, 172). Indian Tamils eventually settled in large numbers: by 1900 they constituted 300,000 out of a total population of just under four million (Moxham, 2003, 183-84). The Tamils were made to pay for their transport to Ceylon and for their recruitment. This meant that they began their careers in debt; a debt that due to low wages and being paid in arrears was hard to repay (Moxham, 2003, 183). The workers were provided with ‘extremely basic’ accommodation, and were expected to work a ten-hour day with no break (Moxham, 2003, 180-81). While men undertook the heavier clearing work, women worked as tea clippers (‘Just 64p a Day for Tea Clippers in Sri Lanka’). Children worked in the fields from the age of five, and earned about a third of the adult wage (Moxham, 2003, 182). In sum, Moxham argues that ‘it was a tragedy that so many of the British planters showed so little compassion, and made so little effort to improve life for their labourers beyond what was strictly in their own interest’ (Moxham, 2003, 183).

Although this film was titled Tea Planting in Ceylon for its release in Britain, and features the products of the Quaker Ceylon Tea, there is some doubt regarding the location of the tea gardens featured in the film. It is possible that they might be located in Malaya.