This film is part of Free
"Plague spots in the richest city in the world" - slums are demolished to make way for new homes in Somers Town, London.
Campaigning film 1941 17 mins Silent
Vivid footage of slum living conditions combined with heartstring-pulling intertitles and religious overtones. This film was produced by the St Pancras House Improvement Society, established in 1924 by Father Basil Jellicoe, who was vigorous in raising funds to build new homes in the Somers Town area. There are some shots of him included here, though he had died in 1935.
The St Pancras House Improvement Society was prolific in its use of film as a fundraising tool, making over 20 films. It was bold in using shock tactics too - see also Paradox City (1934). It later became the St Pancras Housing Association, and is now Origin Housing.
Non-Fiction 1910 1 mins Silent Location: Trafalgar Square
Spot the changes and continuities in this majestic Edwardian panorama of Trafalgar Square.
Amateur film 1934 4 mins Silent Location: Spitalfields
A rare glimpse inside the Soup Kitchen for the Jewish Poor in the East End during the early 1930s.
Documentary 1971 12 mins Location: Croydon
Do you remember when the moon men came to Croydon? You can bet these kids never forgot the day Dogg's Troupe landed
1977 13 mins Location: Hammersmith
Environmentalists wage war on the Greater London Council in this eye-opening account of a battle to save Hammersmith's open spaces.
Amateur film 1963 3 mins Silent Location: Westminster
Excellent if somewhat jerky aerial shots of London taken from a helicopter and featuring close-ups of Waterloo, the docks and Tower Bridge.
1963 3 mins Silent
London in 1963 was a city in flux, as this spectacular aerial footage shows.
1937 14 mins Silent Location: Somers Town
Slums are demolished to make way for new homes in Somers Town, central London.
1933 11 mins Silent Location: Somers Town
Happy, ragged children are shown in their swanky new estate in Somers Town, which replaced some of London’s worst housing.
Promotional 2019 10 mins
A wandering warrior dreams of a new form of expression, in this promo for UNKLE’s album The Road: Part II / Lost Highway Pt. II directed by Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones.
1935 16 mins
A rare glimpse of 1930s London in colour: the Thames has never looked lovelier.
Advert 1946 1 mins Silent
Life is looking up! The war is over and the “Corona” Man can visit his “Corona” families once more, door-to-door.
Advert 1962 0 mins Location: Rhyl
Cinema advertisement for Marine Lake & Ocean Beach, Rhyl, a popular destination for crowds set on a day's fun on free rides.
Advert 1942 7 mins Silent Location: Blaenau Ffestiniog
Who could deny these advertising claims: "Attractive hair is the ambition of every woman", and "Your family will enjoy Lincoln potatoes"?
Advert 1955 1 mins
Operatic chickens, shrimps and salmon sing-a-long with a paste pot chorus in this vibrantly animated advert for Shippam's
Do you recognise a place, building or location in this film?
Help us populate the Britain on Film map by spotting and plotting the street or location you know. This is a BFI project and anyone can help.
Go to our Britain on Film crowdsourcing site and contribute to our mapping mission – to identify locations within our archive films.
Add a location
