Mary Field

Mosses are seen on walls, old roofs and in hedgerows.

Shows how a nursery school enables children to play, eat, rest, look after themselves and indulge their curiousity at their own pace during a typical day.

'An unwary young woman led astray by a grinning gentleman on a motorcycle ends up with a sexually transmitted disease in this straight-talking female-focused silent public information film drama. Her doctor recounts - in a series of ominous flashbacks - sad tales of other women in similar situations who foolhardily let gonorrhoea and syphilis go untreated.' (BFI Player)

The film takes us to the North of England to follow the migration of the black-headed gull down to London. There, the narrator asks viewers to "listen to their gossip", before demonstrating the bird’s flight in slow motion. We see a polecat feasting on gull eggs, and then a man collecting the eggs for human consumption, with the film telling us that they are considered a “delicacy” in London. Indeed, according to the British Trust for Ornithology, around 300,000 gull’s eggs were sold every year in Leadenhall Market in London during the 1930s, when London Visitors was made.

Short film showing (with limited accuracy) the life-cycle of myxomycetes.

The life cycle of the rose aphid (Macrosiphum Roseus).

The daughter of an American leather magnate is sent on a series of sightseeing tours in London with her father's business associate, but finds herself targeted by an opportunistic blackmailer.

A brisk visual summary of the changing faces of the English town throughout the ages, from the ancients and their hill-forts to the Second World War -- enlivened by the appearance of ghostly denizens to defend their eras against the narrator's various strictures!

This peek behind the scenes at Kew Gardens in the 1940s was part of the ever-eccentric Secrets of Life series. Arcadian images of tranquil greenery, attended to by a discreet army of gardeners, make it hard to believe WWII was raging in the background. We're also treated to a spot of the series’ trademark time-lapse nature photography and charming narration - one plant described as "rather like an Italian having an argument with his hands".

The film shows speeded-up germination of the seed to form roots and shoot, at whose base the leaves later form a bulb. The flower produces pollen grains (shown much magnified), which are transferred by insects to the stigmas for fertilization of seeds inside the ovary.

Poetic tribute to Mrs Turner's vegetable growing prowess, plus the delights of "wartime steaks".

Short documentary showing infusoria in a wine-glass.

Flock to your local keep fit class - there's a war on and Britain needs its citizens in tip-top shape.

A sign of approaching winter - the frost catches the leaves which begin to fall.

A short documentary study of hops, barley and yeast, and how they interact.

Short documentary on how cows and bulls are selected for breeding and selling.

Underwater and microscopic photography by F. Percy Smith tell the story of a newt's life.

The film shows the birth, life and reproduction of sweet peas, a familiar and well loved plant of British gardeners.

A man contracts a sexually transmitted disease, but is reluctant to seek medical help - until a no-nonsense lecture about the risks he is taking forces him to change his mind.

In England, two young friends, confronted with the outbreak of World War I, enlist together to serve in the same company on the battle-field.

Short, anthropomorphically-inclined documentary showing the life-cycle of the common newt.

Go with the flow: to gentle but spellbinding effect this innovative natural history film glimpses marine life astride rising tides at Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae. Urchins, lugworm, weaver-fish and crabs are the shy-but-elegant stars coaxed onto the screen (with the assistance of Millport’s local research station) for this archetypal edition of Gaumont-British Instructional’s 1930s cinema series Secrets of Life.

A wildlife film with a difference: it has A Message for any humans in the house. "The squirrel in the tree, the fox below, the birds, insects, all know that a time of plenty will not last forever". Austerity-stricken wartime viewers can learn from their economical feeding habits. An entertaining hybrid of public information and natural history from the makers of wildlife series Secrets of Life. Released in the BFI boxset Ration Books and Rabbit Pies: Films from the Home Front.

History - and natural history - filmed on location in Selborne, East Hampshire. This unusual edition of the long-running series Secrets of Life tells the story of the village's famous son, Rev Gilbert White, whose 1789 book The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne is a classic of natural history. The film follows in his footsteps, with camera rather than quill in hand, focusing on nature but also taking in views of the village and its human inhabitants. The ingenious close coverage of bird, reptile and other wildlife was the stock-in-trade of the filmmakers at Gaumont-British Instructional, producers of the series. Under the direction of the redoubtable Mary Field, the behind-screen talent here includes legendary 'cine-biologists' Percy Smith and Oliver Pike. A tribute by one generation of pioneering naturalists to another, it's a quietly moving film in spite of its clipped English reserve - or perhaps partly because of it.

Returning from their unexpected trip to Mars the crew of MR4 intercept a distress signal from Captain Wilson, a U.S astronaut, and must change course for Venus to attempt a rescue in space. However, through the space periscope, Brown sees what appears to be a settlement or a city of some sort. Desperate to investigate, Brown edits Wilson's message and tricks the crew into landing Venus so as they can rescue him.

Professor Norman Wedgwood and his team are planning another rocket mission to the Moon. Once again, Geoff, Valerie and Jimmy are on hand to witness the launch of a new rocket MR1, along with journalist friend Conway Henderson. However, when the automatic supply ship MR2 fails to launch Henderson and the children make a desperate rescue attempt with Jimmy's pet Hamlet.

A secondary mission in a new rocket, MR4, to the Moon takes off from Buchan Island. This time Henderson takes the lead role as pilot accompanied by Professor Wedgwood's oldest son Geoff as radio operator, Professor Mary Meadows, Henderson's niece Margret along with Hamlet. However one of the crew turns out to be science writer named Harcourt Brown who has plans to divert the ship to Mars determined there is life on the planet. Brown succeeds in getting MR4 to Mars, but with the length of the journey, the crew decide that the only way to get home is to find water on Mars.