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Another Case of Poisoning

Hilarious cautionary tale about food hygiene.

Government sponsored film 1949 14 mins

Overview

"Don't pick your nose," says a chef to his young kitchen-hand, "it is so very dirty." A man falls victim to near-fatal food poisoning, and there's no shortage of suspects. The food factory he works at, where the girls on the production line sneeze and toss their hair over the cream buns. The local restaurant, where flies and mice roam the kitchens and cutlery stands in rancid water. The butcher who handles a dog and a cat before preparing the meat (while wearing a bloody bandage). The barmaid who polishes a dirty glass with a licked finger. Even the victim's wife, whose kitchen is a paradise for germs...

Another Case of Poisoning comes from the stable of Richard Massingham, uncrowned king of the postwar public information film. In the best tradition of public health campaigns, it aims to terrify its audience into paying attention to its message, in this case the vital importance of food hygiene. If the standards shown here are anything to go by, it's a miracle anybody at all survived the 1940s.

Director

John Waterhouse

Featuring

Gus McNaughton , Philip Ray and Thelma Rea

Genres

Government sponsored film

Country

United Kingdom

Language

English

Subjects

Food safety Food poisoning Health and safety Ministry of Information Central Office of Information Public health Preventative medicine Patients Health education Hygiene Personal health Personal hygiene Propaganda

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