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Raw Materials

The power behind industrial Scotland is beautifully photographed in these scenes of coalminers and iron ore smelting.

School programme and Educational film 1936 9 mins

Overview

The power behind industrial Scotland is beautifully photographed in this schools film made for a series called Industrial Scotland. We see coalminers, above ground as well as "fathoms deep in the bowels of the earth", and iron ore smelting. Cinematographer J Blake Dalrymple had a fruitful partnership with director John C Elder and together they made numerous educational films for Gaumont-British Instructional. G-BI was a prolific producer of short films, making more than 400 in the 1930s and establishing themselves as leaders in the field.