This film is part of Free
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_480x270/public/hero-images/promo258217817.jpg?itok=YVWJDIf-)
Spotlight on the Highlands
It's 1948 and hydro-electric power is transforming Scotland's Grampians.
Overview
It's 1948 and a new power is transforming the Grampians. This pacey and informative film, centred on the Tummel hydro-electric power scheme, is romantic in its way, extolling intrepid engineering and rather quickly glossing over the down sides of progress. Its highlights are exciting sequences where a purely visual drama of industry plays out as man and machinery meet and overpower the elements.
Commentator Stewart MacPherson was Canadian, but was based in Britain since 1936 and a familiar voice to BBC radio listeners. This is one of some 50 issues of Rayant Pictures' 'Spotlight...' series, each briskly covering a different topic - from fairgrounds to the football pools. Distributed into cinemas in the same package as feature films from 20th Century Fox, they were basically a cross between the inoffensive travelogues and 'interest' films that padded the cinema programmes of the day, and more inquisitive, topical and punchy current affairs series like The March of Time and This Modern Age.
Related
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/silverhazeqaextended_0.jpg?itok=T-FOBodE)
Silver Haze - Exclusive Q&A Silver Haze - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 29 mins
Vicky Knight sits down with Rowan Woods for an extended discussion on the making of the film Silver Haze. *Contains Spoilers*
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/cymande.jpg?itok=Jqu3O2zo)
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.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/west-case1.jpg?itok=A5Q_9vtZ)
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.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/scala5.jpg?itok=qfLzK5jz)
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.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/smith.jpg?itok=d7lvnsAt)
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.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/an-airmans-letter-to-his-mother_1920-3.jpg?itok=oSqmbtkN)
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.