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Haunting colour travelogue taking in Ulster, Lewis, Lincoln and Cardiff's Tiger Bay.
Travelogue 1957 27 mins
Rare colour footage of multiracial Cardiff is the obvious highlight of this travelogue of Britain's four nations - also taking in Ulster, Lewis and Lincoln. It's a charmingly creaky film, but there's something about it... Something hard to pin down, something almost ghostly - as if we're touring the Britain of 1927 rather than 1957. It was sponsored by Brooke Bond: keep an eye out for product placement.
In his debut, director Eric Marquis betrays his inexperience and tiny budget. But in flashes he displays the instinct for strange, striking images and sounds that would mark his later career as one of the more flamboyant directors working in sponsored filmmaking. For instance, the Lincoln Cathedral sequence, with its unusual angles and jarring editing, points forward to Marquis' far more successful experiments in later films like Time out of Mind (1968).
Biopic 1985 94 mins
The turbulent life and death of championship boxer Randolph Turpin.
Magazine and Review show 1986 7 mins Location: West Bromwich
Bringing the tastes of Montego Bay to a wintry West Bromwich.
Non-Fiction 1965 5 mins Location: Handsworth
A stark reminder from Handsworth of the intolerance and hatred that darkened the streets of 1960s Britain.
Magazine and Review show 1983 25 mins Location: Bloomsbury
The Gay Black Group - reasserting culture and identity on two levels.
News 1967 2 mins Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
A rare interview with Dr Martin Luther King casts fresh light on black British broadcast history.
Home movie 1960 39 mins Silent Location: Butetown
Tiger Bay in Cardiff's docks area: a successful, multi-cultural community, providing a variety of activities, but which is threatened by 'slum' clearance.
Advert 1959 12 mins Location: Merthyr Tydfil
What makes a South Wales Sunshine Girl? Well, the answer may vary depending on whether you ask a chauvinist or a feminist!
Biopic 1973 14 mins Location: Cardiff/Caerdydd
A glimpse of the life of a chain-smoking, proud-to-be-gay raconteur-of-sorts and resident of Whitchurch Hospital, Cardiff.
Documentary 1963 16 mins Location: Cardiff/Caerdydd
A boat is a work of art, as this film illustrates so beautifully.
Non-Fiction 1918 13 mins Silent Location: Cardiff/Caerdydd
Miss Clara Deacon, matron (or 'commandant' as the press refer to her) of this pioneering hospital, accompanies the royal patron on his visit.
Documentary 1978 19 mins Location: Cardiff/Caerdydd
A mechanical grave digger is co-opted to help with the creation of a garden at Glan Ely High School, Cardiff.
Home movie 1958 4 mins Silent Location: Llandudno
Donald Duck comes home with the Sunday School trippers from Bethel Chapel, Dyserth!
Travelogue 1953 21 mins Location: York
The Stationmaster at York guides us through a typical day, from dawn to dusk.
Industry sponsored film 1960 24 mins
A new luxury express is put through its paces. This film looks over the shoulders of the select band of craftsmen, engineers and operators, whose combined skills try to ensure that a train journey is a delightful experience.
Industry sponsored film 1957 20 mins
Illustrating the efficiency of express freight trains, and how they link manufacturers with their customers at the other end of Britain.
Documentary 1952 30 mins
Examining a day in the life of what was then the busiest railway system in the world – British Railways.
Documentary 1973 15 mins
British Transport Films record the varied daily lives of their neighbours as seen from the high roof of their building in London’s Marylebone.
Industry sponsored film 1957 9 mins
A 1957 film examining the future for British Railways, and some of the opportunities provided by a new modernisation plan.
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