Workers and Jobs

Documentary on oil exploration, the phase before drilling.

Shows the workings of Britain's Air Post service.

Short World War II documentary showing examples of how skilled craftsmen of peacetime apply their skills to essential wartime production.

An uncredited Anthony Asquith is one of the directors of this WWII film (a joint UK/US production) which aims to explain British culture and character to the newly arrived American soldier. Starting with the ubiquitous pub visit, the film breezes through geography lessons, food and entertainment on the Home Front.

The problem of slum dwellings in the 1930s.

Shadow on the Mountains (Arthur Elton, 1932) is a classic English pastoral, with impressionistic views of the English countryside as it expounds the virtues of farming and shepherding.

Grierson set out to make "propaganda," and this film--with it's voice-over proclaiming the great value of the British industrial worker, without a hint of ambiguity or doubt--fits that category well. The authoritatarian narrator feels out-of-date and unsophisticated, but the footage is well shot and interesting, and the transparency of the propaganda aspect is almost a reflief at a time when so many films have hidden agendas.

How the location and size of an oil field is measured. With animated explanations.

Documentary by Andrew Buchanan illustrating a time when faith lay at the heart of the British Experience.

Geoffrey Bell’s Shell Film Unit short (produced by Arthur Elton) turns the history and physics of power transmission—from lever and pulley to the toothed gear—into a crisp lesson, blending live action with Francis Rodker’s animated diagrams to show how gearing underpins modern industry. Often cited as a model of clear scientific exposition.

Combining a whimsical romantic tale, practical information about the Post Office Savings Bank, and a gently experimental film-making technique, this film entertainingly depicts some of the prospects opened up by having a savings account.

Tomorrow is Theirs examines provisions for secondary school education during the war, arguing for the importance of maintaining excellent, thorough schooling in spite of wartime obstacles.