This is quite a significant find! Not because we've never seen videofootage of this performer before and certainly not because it's such good video quality (because it isn't), but it is the ONLY video footage that I know exists of The Seven Hindustans.
Extract from Circopedia: Johnny Hutch went to audition and was chosen; on October 27, 1927, he become officially an acrobat, apprentice to Harry Prescott (who was half English, half Moroccan) with the Hadji Mohamid Troupe. Four days later, he made his professional debut as the act’s top mounter at the Empire Music Hall in Middlesbrough. It was also the beginning of his apprenticeship, which would make Johnny Hutch a remarkable tumbler and acrobat, with a distinct Moroccan style.
At the outset of Johnny’s association with it, the troupe was renamed The Seven Hindustans (and sometimes The Royal Hindustans)—perhaps to make it less foreign-sounding without losing its exotic appeal. In any event, the Hindustans were one of the best tumbling acts in Great Britain at the time, and the troupe was soon working on the Moss Circuit, the country’s premier chain of variety theaters. It gave Johnny the possibility to study from the wings the best variety acts in the business, thus completing his artistic education. The Hindustans became a frequent feature at both the Palladium and the Coliseum. On May 22, 1930, the Royal Hindustans participated in a Royal Variety Performance at the Palladium for King George V. That same year, they were featured in Stand Up And Sing!, a revue starring Jack Buchanan at the London Hippodrome, on Leicester Square.”
http://www.circopedia.org/Johnny_Hutch
It wasn't in the same year as it says in this Circopedia article but it was in 1931, as stated in the title of this Pathe video.
Johnny Hutch was quite small and I believe that it's him on the top of the first pyramid. You can track him throughout the piece.
Enjoy!
