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.
