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The Great Meat Show

A very 70s tour of the Royal Smithfield Show

1972 8 mins

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Overview

"Arrive early and avoid the queue..." This short promotional film offers an access-all-areas pass to the annual Royal Smithfield livestock show, where the contest is on to find "the prime quality of animal". It's a meat-and-two-veg production, with characteristically 1970s macho narration teetering on the edge of kitsch: the judges, we're told "must penetrate the glamorous façade and see through the grooming and the cleanliness to the meat beneath."

Though named after the celebrated meat market, the show emigrated from Smithfield in the 19th century; by 1972 it was housed at Earl's Court Exhibition Centre, where it remained until it shut its doors for the last time in 2004. This government film is a public record, preserved and presented by the BFI National Archive on behalf of The National Archives, home to more than 1,000 years of British history.

Country

United Kingdom

Language

English

Subjects

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