Scrapbook of Ford in England

Dancing on cars, the First World War, car-driving chimps, Dagenham factories and glamorous flappers all feature in this light history of the Ford motor company in Britain

Milestones in world history are depicted alongside key moments in Ford’s development, such as the launch of the Ford Anglia. The film has a dramatic tone but a light touch – alongside footage from the world wars, there are shots of a couple dancing on the roof of a car and of driving chimps – with much focus on the factories in Manchester and Dagenham, as well as glimpses of Ford’s showroom on Regent Street.

Made at the end of the 1950s and thus imbued with a certain space age optimism, this promotional film features Canadian actor Robert Beatty (later to appear in Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey but then a star of UK TV and radio) providing dramatic voice-over to a history of the Ford car company in the UK. Of particular note are the shots of the first turf being cut at Dagenham by Henry Ford’s son Edsel Ford, the construction of the factory itself, the role of Dagenham in the Second World War and the footage showing the new Anglia at the London Hippodrome in 1959, unveiled with all the enthusiasm now reserved for the launch of a smartphone. Barking and Dagenham Heritage and Archives Service