Raw Materials

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

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.