This film is part of Free

Title of error

Fay Craig - Bongo Baby - Cinebox

Jamaican dancer Fay Craig gets down to a bongo rhythym in this kitsch 1960s dance film.

Music video 1962 3 mins

Overview

Talented Jamaican-born dancer Fay Craig boosts the blood pressure of two weedy-looking white-coated bongo bashers as she dances up a storm in this early 1960s drum-dance bonanza, produced for the short-lived Cinebox film jukebox system. The Cinebox films all flaunt their over-the-top, kitsch aesthetic, but the exoticisation of Craig through settings and costumes is problematic.

Fay Craig is known to have starred in at least three short films shot for the Cinebox system. A few years earlier in 1959, she'd made an uncredited appearance in Basil Dearden's crime drama Sapphire. Around the time Bongo Baby was produced, she had a role as a nightclub stripper in Charles Saunders' B picture Jungle Street (1961).

Original title

Fay Craig - Bongo Baby

Featuring

Fay Craig

Genres

Music video

Country

United Kingdom

Language

English

Watch for free

Hull Fair (1902) Hull Fair (1902)

Non-Fiction 1902 4 mins Silent Location: Kingston upon Hull

The ornate pavilions of cinematographs, boxing booths and menageries at Hull Fair.

Watch for free

Divide and Rule - Never! Divide and Rule - Never!

Documentary 1978 41 mins

Young working class Londoners fight racism with the power of rock and reggae in this anarchic documentary.

Watch for free

Jemima + Johnny Jemima + Johnny

1966 29 mins Location: Notting Hill

Touching short about the friendship between a white boy and a black girl in 1960s Notting Hill.

Currently unavailable

Nigerian Wedding in Cornwall Nigerian Wedding in Cornwall

Current affairs 1964 1 mins Silent Location: Pool

Dressing to please as the happy couple switch wedding dress for national dress.

Watch for free

A World Is Turning A World Is Turning

Documentary 1948 45 mins

A lost chapter in black British film: extraordinary rushes from a documentary showcasing talented members of the black community.

Watch for free

Tunde's Film Tunde's Film

Documentary drama 1974 40 mins Location: Stepney

Tired of being hassled by the police and with no job opportunities, a group of teenage East End lads plan to rob a bank.

Watch for free

Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A

Short interview 2024 24 mins

Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.

Watch for free

Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A

Short interview 2024 30 mins

Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.

Watch for free

Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell

Documentary 2024 42 mins

Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.

Watch for free

Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels

Short documentary 2024 12 mins

Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.