The Life History of the Onion

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.

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.

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 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.

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!

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.

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

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

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 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.

The courtship rituals of animals and plants are compared to those of contemporary society, with educational and frequently humorous results.

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)