This film is part of Free
A Ride with Uncle Joe
Cockney kids learn road sense the fun way in an entertaining and surprising wartime safety film.
Overview
A friendly truck-driver teaches kerb drill to the local kids in this enjoyable road safety film, set in the outskirts of London in 1943. Apart from the occasional glimpse of a uniformed serviceman, there's little evidence of the war, but there's plenty of period detail - including tin toy cars, no seatbelts, and children playing marbles in the street - to place the film firmly in a bygone age.
In marked contrast to public information films targeted at children in later decades - when no stranger, however familiar or friendly, was to be trusted - 'Uncle Joe' is portrayed as a benevolent figure. With many fathers and older brothers away on active service and mothers engaged in essential war work, it would have been entirely acceptable, even actively encouraged for a man known to the local community to take an interest in the safety of neighbourhood children. Chirpy truck-driver Joe is played by Fred Griffiths, a firefighter during WWII who was also a qualified London cabbie. This is likely to be one of his earliest appearances on film: he became a professional actor by chance after he appeared in Humphrey Jennings's acclaimed Fires Were Started (1943, also on BFI Player). This government film is a public record, preserved and presented by the BFI National Archive on behalf of The National Archives, home to more than 1,000 years of British history.
Related
Activities Pictured at Littleover First Aid Post Activities Pictured at Littleover First Aid Post
Amateur film 1939 16 mins Silent Location: Littleover
An air raid could come at any moment and Derby had to be ready to deal with the casualties. The people of Littleover were so well prepapred they filmed one of their exercises.
Kingsbury: ARP in Sandiacre Kingsbury: ARP in Sandiacre
Home movie 1940 9 mins Silent Location: Sandiacre
From their sandbagged headquarters, the Sandiacre ARP and Red Cross await their call to action.
London Can Take It! London Can Take It!
Government sponsored film 1940 9 mins Location: London
Humphrey Jennings and Harry Watt’s famous GPO film is an enduring example of British self-mythology; a hymn to London’s resilience that helped persuade America to join the war.
Keep Them Safe, Keep Them Happy Keep Them Safe, Keep Them Happy
Charity appeal 1939 2 mins Silent Location: Norwich
Sweet and touching wartime cinema appeal for 300,000 London children spending Christmas far from home.
Bombed Out Bombed Out
Amateur film 1945 9 mins Silent Location: Southwark
Step into the aftermath of a WWII bombing raid in south London in this startling amateur film.
How to Fit a Gas Mask How to Fit a Gas Mask
Public Information Filler 1939 2 mins
Matter-of-fact wartime instruction in how to fit your gas mask efficiently - leaving no margin for error.
happiness happiness
Short documentary 2025 18 mins
From solidarity protests for Palestine to sleepless nights wrestling with the horrific realities – a rabbit-hole inquiry into alleviating insomnia.
Womb Womb
Drama 2025 15 mins
A Māori girl in the custody of an English couple savours her mother’s weekly visitations, making her long for a place to belong.
We Had Fun We Had Fun
Drama 2025 19 mins
An eldest son treats himself to a weekend getaway, dangerously leaving his siblings to their own devices.
Ka Ba Ddi: A Breath, a Move, a Game Ka Ba Ddi: A Breath, a Move, a Game
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2025 10 mins Silent
In this South Asian team sport, players repeating ‘kabaddi’ frantically cross boundaries on the court, tagging their opponents before returning.
Capybaras Capybaras
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2024 11 mins
Chickens and capybaras are unlikely allies.
Elephant Families Elephant Families
Documentary 2025 15 mins
When London’s Elephant and Castle shopping centre was demolished, it uprooted the community that made it their home.