This film is part of Free
Patrington Village, Yorkshire
John Betjeman waxes lyrical in this picturesque Humberside travelogue.
Overview
"The richest village flower in the garden of the Middle Ages". In this edition of Shell-Mex's Discovering Britain with John Betjeman series, it's Yorkshire's East Riding / north Humberside villages that get the JB treatment. The camera passes through Holderness and Oteringham before luxuriating in the fine scenery and pre-reformation church architecture of Patrington while Betjeman waxes lyrical.
The series was produced by Random Film Productions in the 1950s (and re-released in compiled form in 1964) to inspire motorists' visits to sites of interest - building on Betjeman's long association with Shell as editor of the popular Shell Guides. Drawing on the pastoral side of British documentary, which Betjeman admired, it was picked up by ITV for broadcast in 1955-6, proving a spur to the poet's later celebrity status. To his admirers, Discovering Britain may feel like a first draft for Betjeman's longer and better-known TV films. But if you're of the view that a little Betjeman goes a long way, the unassuming economical craftsmanship of Random's low-budget shooting, as matched to the writer's contributions in the sound studio, may be just what the doctor ordered.
Related
Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A
Inside Film 2024 22 mins
The director of a documentary about British funk pioneers Cymande joins the band at BFI Southbank to talk about the film.
The West Case The West Case
Action and Adventure 1923 28 mins Silent Location: Tilbury
Plotting world domination, Devil Doctor Fu-Manchu steals plans for a new aero-torpedo in this earliest surviving thrill-a-minute serial instalment.
Enter the Scala!!! Enter the Scala!!!
Inside Film 2024 16 mins
Filmmakers Jane Giles and Ali Catterall discuss their documentary Scala!!!, revisiting the legendary and inspirational cinema venue and some of the most notorious films that screened there.
Blades Blades
Drama 2023 2 mins
A group of young Black boys run into a building. One of them is about to do the unimaginable.
We Collide We Collide
Romance 2023 2 mins
A queercore romance - a visceral and immersive exploration of the power of the mosh pit and finding love in the most unlikely of places.
Smith Smith
Charity appeal 1939 10 mins
Long thought lost, this Powell-directed promotional short for a veteran’s charity was only rediscovered in 2003.