Arthur Elton

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.

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 The authoritatarian narrator feels out-of-date and unsophisticated, but the footage is well shot and interesting, and the transparency of the propaganda aspect is almost a reflief at a time when so many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.

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An intricate and richly detailed observation of every step in the making of an aircraft engine.

The problem of slum dwellings in the 1930s.

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

An Englishman and Frenchman sharing a hotel room discover their children are fighting on the same side, French Resistance and R.A.F.

Story of salmon fishers and the methods they use; captures the migration of salmon up a Highland river for spawning.

Edgar Anstey and Arthur Elton’s sponsored documentary on Britain’s malnutrition crisis, blending expert testimony (Julian Huxley, J. B. Orr, A. V. Hill/Gowland Hopkins) with school-meal scenes and simple charts to link low income to poor diets and argue for “protective” foods and public provision. Commissioned by the gas industry, it plays like a brisk scientific lecture-film that helped push nutrition into public debate.

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.

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.

A BAFTA special award nominated documentary following the post-war construction of an immense oil refinery near Manchester in the UK.

Shows the workings of Britain's Air Post service.

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

Documentary on oil exploration, the phase before drilling.

An early documentary film, sponsored by His Master's Voice, making it the first example of industrial sponsorship of a documentary film.

Captures the consumption of gas by various large kitchens in London, during a particular dinner hour.

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.

Public information film aimed at the unemployed, commissioned by the Ministry of Labour.

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