This film is part of Free
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_480x270/public/hero-images/Spirit%2520of%2520His%2520Forefathers%25201.jpg?itok=ljEwyATX)
The Spirit of His Forefathers
One of the earliest surviving British adverts
Overview
There’s some dram-antic stuff in this 30-second commercial from the dawn of cinema history. Dewar’s had used the idea of a laird’s ancestors being lured down from their painted portraits to share a whisky in a variety of advertising media before moving image came along. This version is the second surviving example on film, with an earlier American production of the same concept made by the International Film Company in 1897.
This British production made a late reappearance as part of a 1977 television commercial for Dewar’s under the title The Whisky of His Ancestors to promote their advertising heritage.
Related
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/WatneysArmy.jpg?itok=KOvoTh23)
What We Want Is Watney's What We Want Is Watney's
Advert 1959 1 mins
A young Michael Caine bursts on to the scene as a cheeky soldier in this delightful advert for Watney's beer.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/1bd8569422ff04e203386041fb9d1bf0.jpg?itok=QnQNq2r_)
Guinness - Plinths Guinness - Plinths
Advert 1976 1 mins
Pete and Dud prove to be stout football fans in this Guinness commercial recalling a great sporting moment - however fleeting.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Pg%2520Tips%2520Hairdressers.jpg?itok=CHUxglCW)
PG Tips: Hairdressers PG Tips: Hairdressers
Advert 1978 1 mins
An example of the long-running Brooke Bond PG Tips advertising campaign, with talking chimpanzees dressed as humans.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Guinness%2520RAF%2520Flying%2520Toucans%252C%2520cropped.jpg?itok=OTUXoJVo)
Guinness - Raf Flying Toucans Guinness - Raf Flying Toucans
Advert 1955 1 mins
An RAF squadron are alerted to an attack. Flying toucans raid the officers mess and fly off with glasses of Guinness.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Fun%2520on%2520the%2520Farm%252C%2520cropped.jpg?itok=GhDHDkUB)
Fun on the Farm Fun on the Farm
Advert 1935 5 mins Silent
What seems a charming stop-motion rhapsody for Bourn-vita chocolate reveals some unpleasant racial insensitivity.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/What-ho-she-bumps%252C%2520cropped_0.jpg?itok=oeswOVWu)
What-ho-she-bumps What-ho-she-bumps
Advert 1937 7 mins
Puppet pirates pray on the sleeping Navy: the crew of HMS Hopeless pay the price of night starvation in this 1930s Horlicks ad.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Shoot-Your-Shot-02.jpg?itok=KREdlpBS)
Shoot Your Shot Shoot Your Shot
Drama 2022 12 mins
An emotional stand-off takes flight, as teen best friends Ronit and Brennan come to terms with navigating that fuzzy feeling in their stomachs, all whilst learning to skateboard.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/%25E2%2580%258ELook-Like-You-02.jpeg?itok=2R3w9luT)
Look Like You Look Like You
Drama 2022 13 mins
While visiting the adoptive family of her eight-year-old biological son, Tara relays advice she gathered from growing up as a queer outcast.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Yellow-04.jpg?itok=Bt5NDkC8)
Yellow Yellow
Drama 2023 13 mins
In Taliban controlled Afghanistan, Laili walks into a Chadari store in Kabul to buy her first full body veil from a Talib shopkeeper and face a new future.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/NEHEMICH-02.jpg?itok=ba9fjUy4)
Nehemich Nehemich
Drama 2023 23 mins
Banished in a dilapidated village hut during her menstruation, a young girl waits to elope with her lover.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/1717526943-default-ovp-poster-image.jpg?itok=Fk8VLsGa)
Interview with Pam Cullen Interview with Pam Cullen
Inside Film 2020 53 mins
Interview with Pam Cullen who at 97 boasts an incredible career spanning over fifty years in the Indian film industry.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/muscleqanda.jpg?itok=8sw22r7R)
Muscle - Exclusive Q&A Muscle - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 34 mins
Director Gerard Johnson talks Nia Child through the making of Muscle, an adrenalized drama that tears into the stereotypes of masculinity and male friendship.