The dangers of drinking take on a surreal turn as one of the pink elephants seen by our inebriated hero materializes and thwarts all attempts to get rid of her, even a safari hunter.
The hallucinatory delights of drunkenness come to life here in this award winning whimsical film made by members of the Halifax Cine Club in 1964. Having spirited up, Dumbo style, a pink elephant, our bacchanalian protagonist finds himself lumbered with his apparition, which even becomes a member of the club.
Halifax had an especially prolific and inventive amateur Cine Club, which still remains active. The film won the West Riding Ten Minute film competition for the year it was made, 1963 or 1964. It has been claimed that the first recorded use of the term ‘seeing a pink elephant’, as relating to the effects of alcohol, was by Jack London in his autobiographical John Barleycorn 1913. The character may well have been inspired by the Pink Elephants on Parade scene from Disney’s 1941 film Dumbo. This Halifax Club film just predates the psychedelic era when hallucinations were much more associated with illegal drugs, and Timothy Leary suggested that people "Turn on, tune in, drop out".
This jaunty hand-drawn animation charts the history of womens revolutionary road to freedom in the North East - from Stone Age sister to suffragette of the twentieth century.
Industry sponsored film196517 mins
Location: Halifax
The lesson here is clear, do the right things in the workplace – wear totectors and Rozalex barrier cream – and all will be well, and if not there is a nurse on hand with a plaster.
Life in an army training camp as new squaddies, learning to drill and use a rifle, are joined by evacuees from Dunkirk, having a haircut and mixing up handball with football.
Marching in typical determined fashion in the pouring rain, through the empty streets of Bradford, these men of the Home Guard exude steeliness, pride and, possibly, relief.
Nothing is left out of this portrait of Halifax as it emerges into the 1970s, from the making of Quality Streets to its new high-rise flats, markets, pubs and recent immigrants.
Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting Q&A for Shakespeare Lives
Inside Film201631 mins
The stars of Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet are reunited on stage for the first time since 1968 as part of the BFI and British Council’s Shakespeare on Film.
Brighton Seaside - Airshow & Silver Jubilee in Bromley
Amateur film197711 mins
Location: Brighton
Tony Mitchell captures a variety of events during Jubilee year - including day trips to Brighton and a bunting covered London as well as an accident at an airshow
Bournemouth. A holiday resort that’s got the lot. Sunshine, sandy beaches, gardens, shops, fine dining and entertainment - with sports stars and a few beauty queens thrown in
A Tory MP and his wife meet their female battalions in a tour of Southampton's wards - while Stanley Baldwin lends his own support at an outdoor fete
About the archive
The Yorkshire Film Archive collects, preserves, and shows film made in, or about Yorkshire. Our collections are non-fiction, dating from the 1890s to the present day, and providing a rich and visually compelling record of all aspects of lives, cultures, landscape, industries, major events and everyday activities, many of which are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
