This film is part of Free
People Will Always Need Coal
Deliriously kitsch recruitment ad for the implausibly glamorous world of coalmining.
Overview
This outrageously OTT recruitment ad for South Wales miners is an unexpected delight. In a pitch apparently designed to outdo contemporary army recruitment films, the ad promises a non-stop world of macho glamour, fun (Rock'n'Roll! Skiing! Guns! Squash!), romance and sex. And there's a song, too: "Hey there, miner / Living life the way you want to be / C'mon now, miner / There's money - lots of money and security". The film appears to date from around 1975; in less than a decade, that confident promise of security would have a hollow ring.
Though the film was certainly sponsored by the National Coal Board, it seems unlikely to have been made by the NCB's in-house film unit - which may or may not have taken a less exaggerated approach, but would surely have preferred to use at least some moving image, rather than just a montage of stills enlivened by swift cutting and dynamic rostrum work.
Related
Miner Miner
Documentary 1950 36 mins Silent Location: Featherstone
Absorbing overview of coalmining in the early years of nationalisation.
Thud and Blunder in Knock off Time Thud and Blunder in Knock off Time
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1964 2 mins
Miners' safety training - marked by stylish animation and gallows humour.
Energy Energy
Advert 1935 42 mins Silent Location: Cardiff/Caerdydd
Coal, between the world wars, makes the industrialised world go round and Cory Bros & Co Ltd, with collieries in south Wales and oil refineries across the globe, is a major player.
Big Pit Big Pit
Industry sponsored film 1978 7 mins Location: Blaenavon
Memories of Blaenavon Colliery, Monmouthshire, as it nears its end.
Guilty Chimneys Guilty Chimneys
Documentary 1954 18 mins
Elegiac sponsored film imploring viewers to "allow the sun to penetrate the haze of ignorance" and relieve British cities of pollution.
Campaign to Organise the General Strike Campaign to Organise the General Strike
Campaigning film 1984 32 mins
Young Socialists take the lead in the struggle against the "Tory dictatorship" led by Margaret Thatcher.
Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion
Short documentary 2026 22 mins
Filmmaker Andrea Luka Zimmerman and curator Matthew Barrington discuss Frederick Wiseman’s High School with Sandra Hebron.
A Last Resort A Last Resort
Comedy 2022 17 mins
Rose is desperate to celebrate her 60th birthday in style, but her daughter Genevieve is struggling to ignore some recent tragic news about her mum.
Hard, Cracked the Wind Hard, Cracked the Wind
Horror 2019 17 mins
A haunting with words is the lure between life and death for a young Cornish poet.
The Walk The Walk
Drama 2023 12 mins
Adeel Akhtar portrays a man on a weekly trek to his nearest JobCentre, entering a state of purgatory through barriers put in place by the system.
Seagull Seagull
Horror 2022 6 mins
Seagull is a recovering drug addict who is about to have a very strange night on The English Riviera.
Octopus Octopus
2021 13 mins
Upon returning to her home town for a funeral, a young woman reconnects with the friends she left behind.