John Grierson Movies

A behind-the-scenes GPO Film Unit documentary (directed by Stuart Legg) that races from studio rehearsals and newsrooms to control rooms and...

Early documentary, slung together from footage depicting the first invasion of North America by Europeans, designed to show industrial technology's...

Short documentary about a trawler fishing for hake.

A record of an educational experiment in the small town of Chesterfield in Derbyshire.

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...

A BFI-produced documentary about documentary filmmaker John Grierson speaking about documentary.

Marionette parody of Charlie Chaplin.

A short GPO documentary showing how undersea telephone cables are repaired.

When Canada entered World War II, the National Film Board suddenly had an urgent new mission—and hundreds of women stepped forward, helping to...

Norman McLaren was a cinematic genius who made films without cameras, and music without instruments. He produced sixty films in a stunning range of...

An overview of the shepherd's life during the lambing season.

A stark warning about Britain’s coal-fired smog, charting its damage to health, buildings, and the economy while advocating cleaner...

A look at the work of Glasgow's Medical Officer of Health.

Trade Tattoo went even further than Rainbow Dance in its manipulation of the Gasparcolor process. The original black and white footage consisted of...

Short documentary about weather forecasting, emphasising the importance of the GPO's telecommunications systems.

Part of BFI collection "Police and Thieves."

Drama-documentary, reconstructing a real incident in which a trawler got into difficulties in a North Sea storm. Released 7th March 1938.

Documentary following an Edinburgh fishing trawler, the "Isabella Grieg".

A Cockney lad trains to be a messenger boy.

A film made by the British General Post Office (GPO) in 1933, promoting the automation of telephone exchanges.