From short vignettes of a single subject, films evolved to include multiple scenes, locations and actors.

The company, based in East Finchley, London, had already created several short films and documentaries, but The Battle of Waterloo was its longest production to date.

To raise money for the production, John Benjamin McDowell, one of the founders of British and Colonial, remortgaged the company for £1,800.

Weston chose to film the production in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, a place the Duke of Wellington reportedly said reminded him of the terrain around Waterloo, Belgium.

The regimental historian recorded, "An accommodating American made the rounds of all the pubs at night to pay for drinks.

[7] The film was popular enough that a parody, Pimple's Battle of Waterloo, was hurriedly put into production and released later that year.

After the start of World War I, many of the same filmmakers who produced Waterloo were put to work on propaganda films, the most famous of which is The Battle of the Somme.