This film is part of Free
Plain Man's Guide to Advertising
Does your home suffer from BO? This gag filled pastiche of the ad industry is happy to nibble the hand that feeds it
Overview
Don’t put the kettle on, you’ll mess the ad break! Though our “plain man” walks into a cinema at the start of the film it is TV advertising that is firmly skewered in this gag-filled pastiche. The creatives behind it have their target so squarely in their sights because it was how they made their living. Bob Godfrey had set up Biographic Cartoon Films to capitalise on the arrival of commercial television in 1955, but this and other independent shorts is evidence of his desire to move onto bigger and better things.
Related
A Colour Box A Colour Box
Advert 1935 4 mins
Part experimental cinema, part advert for the parcel post service, always joyful.
Spherical Harmonics Spherical Harmonics
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2014 5 mins
Spherical Harmonics is about the strange power of the CG image. It's a fantasy under construction, full of digitally created memories, counterfeit physics and controlled accidents.
Noddy Goes to Toyland Noddy Goes to Toyland
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1963 12 mins
How can you not say yes to Noddy? It’s all he can say to you.
Shadows! Shadows!
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1928 3 mins Silent
Meet Sammy, his dog Sausage and their creator, early British animator Joe Noble, whose inventive streak sees him chased by his own shadow
Johnny Barleycorn Johnny Barleycorn
Documentary 1950 1 mins
A delightful animated appeal to help bringing in Scotland’s harvest, made by the legendary Lotte Reiniger.
Ubu Ubu
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1978 19 mins
Farting and swearing and violence – oh my! Albert Jarry’s controversial play translates beautifully to splattered inks in Geoff Dunbar’s award-winning animation.
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.
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.
An Airman's Letter to His Mother An Airman's Letter to His Mother
Documentary 1941 6 mins
A poignant, stirring letter from a recently deceased pilot to his mother is read by John Gielgud.
The NHS75 Celebration The NHS75 Celebration
Short documentary 2023 3 mins
Former Bristol Poet Laureate, Miles Chambers reads a poem specially commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the NHS.