Daily Round

Daily Round

1937 · 18 min · Documentary, Comedy

“Catching up with gossip, inspecting new ducklings, clambering over gates, walking across meadows - the life of a postman appears idyllic, but this Devon postie has some startling ideas about improving efficiency... The inimitable Richard Massingham, a doctor turned actor and filmmaker, co-directed this film, and appears in it as the testy Mr Proctor. This film was produced by John Grierson, often hailed as the father of British documentary. It was made for the General Post Office (GPO) Film Unit, one of the most remarkable creative institutions that Britain has produced. It provided a springboard for many of the best-known and critically acclaimed figures in the British Documentary Movement.” - BFI

Directed by Richard Massingham

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Daily Round

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Tell Me If It Hurts

Tell Me If It Hurts · 1934

Tell Me If It Hurts

A short comedy about dentistry by the doctor and (at this point) amateur film-maker Richard Massingham.

Brief City

Brief City · 1952

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To the Rescue

To the Rescue · 1952

MovieComedyCrime

Comedy of the theft of a poodle by a villain and the chase after him.

Will Any Gentleman...?

Will Any Gentleman...? · 1953

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A trip to the theatre changes a meek bank clerk's life, as he undergoes hypnosis and leaves without being woken up. Suddenly, he believes he is the world's greatest lover and becomes a terrorizing Casanova.

Turn the Key Softly

Turn the Key Softly · 1953

Turn the Key Softly

MovieCrimeDrama

A bitter burglar, a prostitute and an elderly shoplifter spend their first day out of jail.

Coughs and Sneezes

Coughs and Sneezes · 1945

Coughs and Sneezes

This film explains how sneezing in public can spread disease, and shows how using a handkerchief can stop it.

High Treason

High Treason · 1951

MovieActionThriller

Men from Scotland Yard and military intelligence build a dossier on a sabotage ring.

Mony a Pickle

Mony a Pickle · 1938

MovieDocumentary

A brisk GPO Film Unit promo for the Post Office Savings Bank: pub talk and daydream vignettes tout penny-by-penny thrift, peaking in a playful Norman McLaren passage where household furniture springs to life—selling the idea that “many a little makes a lot.”

In Which We Live: Being the Story of a Suit Told by Itself

In Which We Live: Being the Story of a Suit Told by Itself · 1943

In Which We Live: Being the Story of a Suit Told by Itself

Government information film on how to get maximum wear from a man's suit, narrated by one such suit in the form of an autobiography.

Agricultural Holiday Camps

Agricultural Holiday Camps · 1947

Agricultural Holiday Camps

The effortlessly comic abandons the stress of his city job to work on a farm.

The Blakes Slept Here

The Blakes Slept Here · 1953

The Blakes Slept Here

The story of a family house through four generations

Facts and Fancies

Facts and Fancies · 1951

Facts and Fancies

Describes the many by-products resulting from the carbonisation of coal.

Women After the War

Women After the War · 1946

Women After the War

MovieDocumentary

A provoking film on the place of women.

Jet-Propelled Germs

Jet-Propelled Germs · 1948

Jet-Propelled Germs

Another of Richard Massingham's films about the dangers of sneezing and germ transmission, and what to do with used handkerchiefs

The Silent Order

The Silent Order · 1951

The Silent Order

MovieDocumentary

Filmed shortly after World War II," The Silent Order" records the lives of Trappist monks living inside the 12th-century Monastery of the Holy Cross, Roscrea, County Tipperary, as they quietly go about their business as farmers, scholars, artists, and writers—evoking 10 centuries of a shifting social, political, and religious landscape in the heart of Ireland. 

What's In a Number

What's In a Number · 1948

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National insurance made amusing by the eccentric Richard Massingham.

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