THE GPO Story ... see below LONDON PRIDE ... see below

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Classic Films

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GPO FILM UNIT DVD's .. see below
Fred Dibnah .. 5 titles .. see below
Beautiful Scotland, the West Coast and Isles .. see below

For BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE vols 1 - 6, see our Rail & Steam page'
titles include: ON AND OFF THE RAILS : SEE BRITAIN BY TRAIN :
RUNNING A RAILWAY : RESHAPING BRITISH RAILWAYS

HISTORICAL ARCHIVE FILMS

OFTEN MADE AS "SHORTS" FOR THE CINEMA
by the G.P.O. FILM UNIT
now available on DVD ; average 3 short films to a video.
sorry .. DVD only and not in NTSC.

Do note that these are compilations of collections of titles.
Some titles may appear on more than one compilation,
eg, The Heavenly Post Office (HPO) appears on two compilations,
"The GPO Story" and the "GPO Collection vol 2."
It's worth searching them all to look for repeats.

NIGHT MAIL & WEST HIGHLAND. . PDC2037 … The superb Night Mail plus three classic Scottish Railway films never before released on DVD. The programme includes:

NIGHT MAIL (1936, b/w) - The overnight Postal Special from Euston to Scotland. This John Grierson documentary was one of the first films to epitomise the style of the British Documentary Movement and tells the story of the overnight postal express from Euston to Glasgow through the eyes of the signalmen & stationmasters as well as the men who deal with the mail en route.

NIGHT MAIL & WEST HIGHLAND; click for larger image. Also included are the classic verse by W.H. Auden and music by Benjamin Britten. The final cost of this production, which was made in 1936, was £3,546.

WEST OF INVERNESS (1939, b/w) - An eloquent film about the problems faced by a rural community and the growing importance of the railway to communities threatened by depopulation.

THE LINE TO SKYE (1973, colour) - An Eddie McConnell film made to support the retention of the line from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh at a time when it was threatened with closure.

A LINE FOR ALL SEASONS (1980, colour) - A retrospective account of the building of the line from Glasgow Queen Street to Mallaig. Filmed by Eddie McConnell.

NB: This title supercedes Night Mail / West Highland (PDC2001) which ran for 65 mins and of which very limited stocks remain.

b/w & colour. .... 78-mins .. £19.99

40s BRITAIN - OUR COUNTRY COLLECTION

40s BRITAIN - OUR COUNTRY COLLECTION
A box set, packaged in a standard sized DVD case, this collection includes the following previously released DVDs:

PDC2027 "OUR COUNTRY" / "THE DIM LITTLE ISLAND"

PDC2020 "AT THE COAL FACE" ("The Cumberland Story" plus "Rhondda and Wye")

PDC2018 "TWENTY FOUR SQUARE MILES" / "AN ENGLISH VILLAGE"

... DVD b&w.. 177-mins £39.99 . .

GPO Collection vol 1: Addressing the Nation

GPO Collection vol 1: Addressing the Nation
First in the GPO Collection of short films, of 15 short programmes in all.

Double disc. Disk ONE includes:
The Coming of the Dial ~ Cable Ship ~ Granton Trawler
John Atkins Saves Up ~ Air Post ~ The Glorious Sixth of June
Pett and Pott ~ 6.30 collection ~ Weather Forecast.

Disk TWO includes:
Song of Croydon ~ A Colour Box ~ Coal Face
The King's Stamp ~ BBC The Voice of Britain ~ Sixpenny Telegram.

... DVD b&w .. BV132D ... 140-mins .. £24.50 . .


GPO Collection vol 2: We Live in Two Worlds

GPO Collection vol 2: We Live in Two Worlds
Second in the GPO Collection of short films, of 23 short programmes in all.

Disk ONE includes:
Rainbow Dance ~ The Saving of Bill Blewitt ~ Calendar of the Year
The Fairy of the Phone ~ Night Mail ~ Roadways
Trade Tatto ~ Big Money ~ We Live in Two Worlds ~ N or NW

Disk TWO includes:
A Job in a million ~ Book Bargain ~ What's on Today
Love on the Wing ~ The Horsey Mail ~ The HPO
News for the Navy ~ Mony a Pickle ~ North Sea
Penny Journey ~ The Tocher ~ God's Chillun

... DVD b&w .. BV134D ... 257-mins .. £25.99 . .

THE GPO Story

THE GPO STORY - plus ANIMATION ... RMA 1006 ...
A joint production by The Post Office and the BBC, this hour long film tells the story of the GPO Film Unit's bold experiments in movie-making.

Extracts from many of the classics and interviews with many of the film makers are included.

Also included are six colour animated films from the 1930s:
Colour Box (1935) Directed by Len Lye
Rainbow Dance (1936) Directed by Len Lye
Trade Tattoo (1937) Directed by Len Lye
The Tocher (1938) Directed by Lotte Reiniger
The HPO - Heavenly Post Office (1938) Directed by Lotte Reiniger
Love on the Wing (1936) Directed by Norman McLaren

... DVD .. 88-mins £15.99 . .

BRITAIN AT WAR - Vol 1 : THE FIRST DAYS

BRITAIN AT WAR - Vol 1 : THE FIRST DAYS ... RMA 1001 ... The first of 2 films which illustrate with utter realism, the effect of the first 2 years of the war on the British people. This volume contains 3 films:

THE FIRST DAYS (1939) directed by Humphrey Jennings, Harry Watt, Pat Jackson. The preparation for war.

THE FRONT LINE (1939) directed by Harry Watt. Dover becomes a front line target for the Germans.

SQUADRON 992 (1940) directed by Harry Watt. A barrage balloon squadron is trained and deployed to South Queensferry, in the wake of the Luftewaffe raid in October 1939.

... DVD .. 57-mins £15.99


BRITAIN AT WAR - Vol. 2 : UNDER FIRE . . RMA 2002 ... BRITAIN AT WAR - Vol. 2 : UNDER FIRE
features 5 films:
Story of an Air Communique (1940) ... with men of the Royal Air Force. Processing the figures for destoyed enemy aircraft.

Britain Can Take It (1940) ... directed by Humphrey Jennings and Harry Watt. Presented by US journalist Quentin Reynolds. Used by President Roosevelt to help swing US opinion behind Britain.

Britain At Bay (1940) ... commentary by J.B. Priestley. Czechoslovakia, Poland, Norway, Holland and Belgium have fallen ...

Men of the Lightship (1940) ... directed by David MacDougall. The Luftwaffe bombing of the East Dudgeon Lightship.

Christmas Under Fire (1941) ... directed by Harry Watt. A Quentin Reynolds despatch from London to America showing Christmas in the Blitz.

57 mins ... b&w .... £15.99

LONDON PRIDE

LONDON PRIDE .. PDC2029 . . . A collection of rarely-seen films showing the effect of the blitz on London and its people, and the plans for the post-war regeneration of the City.
Includes: London Can Take It (1940) - GPO Film Unit. Directors Harry Watt & Humphrey Jennings. This film about Londoners under seige during the blitz, seen in the very rare American version, was narrated by American journalist Quentin Reynolds. It was instrumental in persuading the USA to support Britain during World War II. A slightly edited version "Britain Can Take It", which was made for the home audience, is available on one of our GPO Classics Series DVDs - Britain At War - Under Fire

The Proud City (1945) - London County Council's plans for re-developing the city. Scored by William Alwyn.

London Airport (1949) - the construction of Heathrow Airport

Moving Millions (1947) - the post war changes in London Transport Journey on a London Bus (1950) - two African students sample the pleasures of travelling on London's buses, "which are always on time"

57 mins ... b&w .... £18.99


BRITAIN IN THE THIRTIES Vol 1 .. RMA 1003 ... first of 3 programmes featuring a selection of films which vividly depict society in the 1930s, from the harshness of trawler fishing & coal mining to how the working population spent their free time. Vol. 1 contains:
BRITAIN IN THE THIRTIES Vol 1
GRANTON TRAWLER (John Grierson, 1934) about a trawler out fishing on the Viking bank. "The one credit I was absolutely insistent on was putting my name on as cameraman...It was a solo effort";

COAL FACE (Cavalcanti, 1935), a prestigious experiment in sound using coal-mining shots;

A JOB IN A MILLION (Evelyn Spice, 1937), a documentary about a Cockney lad training to be a messenger boy and a perfect example of the breakthrough effected by the GPO Film Unit at a time when working-class people were usually presented as merely comic characters;

SPARE TIME (Jennings, 1939), showing how workers in the steel, cotton and coal industries spend their spare time. Jennings differed from earlier British documentarists in stressing worker's individuality instead of presenting them as symbols of the dignity of labour. Also includes

THE CITY (Ralph Elton, 1939), an analysis of the growth and development of London.

.. DVD.. 73-mins £16.99


BRITAIN IN THE THIRTIES Vol 2 .. RMA 1004 ... A further collection of these superbly produced films. Contains:

THE SAVING OF BILL BLEWITT (Harry Watt 1937) set in Mousehole, a film made in documentary style about two fishermen whose boat is wrecked but who manage to save up enough to buy another;

BRITAIN IN THE THIRTIES Vol 2 NORTH SEA (Harry Watt 1938) which dramatically reconstructs an actual incident in which an Aberdeen trawler was assisted by Wick radio station when it got into difficulties in a storm - the first successful example of the drama-documentary;

THE ISLANDERS (Maurice Harvey 1939) a beautifully photographed documentary showing life on Eriskay, Guernsey and Inner Farne, islands that are linked to Britain by means of the Post Office, and

A MIDSUMMER DAYS WORK (1939) about laying an 18 mile underground telephone cable in the Chilterns from Amersham to Aylesbury during that ominously perfect summer that preceded the outbreak of the Second World War.

.. DVD .. 86-mins £16.99

BRITAIN IN THE THIRTIES Vol 3 .. RMA 1005 ... A further collection of these superbly produced films. Contains:

THE KING'S STAMP (1935) directed by William Coldstream. The designing and printing of the King George V Silver Jubilee stamp, followed by a short history of postage stamps.

BRITAIN IN THE THIRTIES Vol 3 THE FAIRY OF THE PHONE (1936) directed by William Coldstream. A fanciful comedy on how to use the telephone.

NEWS FOR THE NAVY (1937) directed by Norman McLaren. Following the course of a package from letter box to delivery to HMS Incredible in Bermuda.

N or NW (1937) directed by Len Lye. The importance of correctly addressing a letter of apology.

ROADWAYS (1937) directed by Stuart Legg and William Coldstream. The history of transport, especially the growth in road traffic.

THE HORSEY MAIL (1938) directed by Pat Jackson. The mail is delivered by boat when part of East Norfolk is hit by floods.

MONY A PICKLE (1939) produced by Alberto Cavalcanti. The Post Office Savings Bank is a natural target for Scottish thrift.

NINE FOR SIX (1939). A telegram saves the day when a football team loses its only ball just before a match.

DVD .. 90-mins £16.99

LONDON FESTIVAL YEAR 1951 .. PDC 2032 ... A collection of films in celebration of the 1951 Festival of Britain. Features the last films made by Humphrey Jennings
LONDON FESTIVAL YEAR 1951 FAMILY PORTRAIT and Richard Massingham

BRIEF CITY - (made by the Observer newspaper).

The other titles are FESTIVAL IN LONDON, with a superb score by William Alwyn, and a bonus film ...

DESIGNED IN BRITAIN, a tribute to British Design, with Terence Conran as Technical Advisor.


Please note that the orchestral soundtrack on Brief City is somewhat degraded.

.. DVD .. 66-mins £19.99




MORE great TITLES

These are not just for you . . they make super and unusual gifts too !


DVD cover ROAD WORKS AHEAD ... £9.95 + £1.50 p&p

ROAD WORKS AHEAD
... ... 100 years of road building, the Methods & Machinery
We take a detailed look at some of the methods used to construct roads over the last century, and the machinery employed, with footage of a wide range of preserved road rollers and ancilliary equipment. Steam rollers had a special fascination for 'boys of a certain age' four or five decades ago, and there's plenty of facsination here.

50 mins .. CS046D ... £9.95 + £1.50 p&p


DVD cover CLIFF LIFTS OF GREAT BRITAIN ... £9.95 + £1.50 p&p

CLIFF LIFTS OF GREAT BRITAIN
Using b&w still photographs and archive film, plus recent footage, the cliff funiculars and lifts of Great Britain are featured, with long lost examples being included along with those still in operation today. Fifteen locations are visited, plus vertical lifts at Brighton, Ramsgate, Margate and Whitby, as well as the Clifton Rocks funicular which closed in 1934 with tracks and cable still in position. Very much a specialist title for enthusiasts of these rare examples of industrial archeaology.

Aberystwyth : Babbacombe : Bridgenorth : Bristol Clifton Rocks : Bournemouth : Broadstairs : Folkestone (4) : Hastings (2) : Lynton - Lynmouth : Llwyngwern : Margate : Saltburn : Scarborough (4) Shipley Glen : Southend

85mins ... OV364D ... £18.00 + £1.50 p&p



MERSEYSIDE MEMORIES VOL.1 - LINERS & LAUNCHES
A selection of films reviving the days when Liverpool was home to some of the world's greatest liners. Liners include: Aquitania Mauretania I, Mauretania II in 1938, Duchess of Atholl, Empress of Britain I, Empress of Scotland I, QE2 and Windsor Castle. Launches include: Ark Royal II in 1950 and Windsor Castle in 1958 ; the raising of the Empress of Canada in Gladstone Dock in 1954 & footage of the QE2. Commentary by Martin Jenkins.
53-mins . . . OV954D . . . DVD only . . . . . . £15.00

MERSEYSIDE MEMORIES VOL.2 - LINK & LOOP ELECTRIC RAILWAYS
The Link & Look Electric Railways of Merseyside - features the different types of electic railways that have served Merseyside, including the former American Style Mersey Railway Stock on lines to Rock Ferry & New Brighton, the 502 class on the routes from Exchange Station to Southport & Ormskirk, 503 class round the Loop, plus 508 & 509 classes in their early days.
60-mins . . . OV958D . . . DVD only .... ..... £15.00

MERSEYSIDE MEMORIES VOL.3 - BOATS, PLANES, TRAMS, TRAINS
Features a mix of all aspects of Merseyside Transpon - Ships, Trains, Trams, Overhead, & uses 70% of new material.
45-mins . . . OV959D . . . DVD only .... ..... £10.00

MERSEYSIDE MEMORIES VOL.4 - FERRIES ACROSS THE MERSEY
Featuring footage, some from 1901, of numerous boats in action on the Mersey.
60-mins . . . OV961D . . . DVD only .... ..... £15.00


MERSEYSIDE MEMORIES VOL.5 - ISLE OF MAN STEAM SHIP CO

Featuring footage of this famous steam packet service, used and loved by millions over the decades.


60-mins . . . OV961D . . . DVD only .... ..... £15.00


MERSEYSIDE MEMORIES VOL.6 -
LIVERPOOL - NO TRAMS TO THE PIER HEAD

Specially assembled to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the closure of Liverpool Trams in Sept '57, this programme contains Green Goddesses, the Dockers Umbrella (Liverpool Overhead Railway), the famous Ferries Across the Mersey & long-gone scences in the city of the '50s.

(This title has been brought within the Merseyside Memories series as Vol 6)

90 mins . . . OV461D . . . DVD only .... ..... £12.00






MERSEYSIDE MEMORIES VOL.7 - STEAM ON THE WIRRAL
Archive film from as long ago as 1919 featuring steam action around the Wirral, centred on Birkenhead. Includes many pre-nationalisation views . .



(This title has been brought within the Merseyside Memories series as Vol 7)




85-mins . . . OV457D . . . DVD only .... ..... £18.00






MERSEYSIDE MEMORIES VOL.8 - STEAM AROUND LIVERPOOL


Features pre-war activity at Lime Street; Gateacre - Aintree Central service; glories of Edge Hill grid iron; North Liverpool Line; Bootle Branch; Liverpool - Southport Expresses; steam at Brunswick, Central, Exchange, Sandhills, Kirkdale, Fazakerley; 15 Guinea Special.




90-mins . . . OV456D . . . DVD only .... ..... £18.00









PADDLE STEAMER MEMORIES
Features archive footage of over 40 legendary vessels in action, in areas including the South Coast, Bristol Channel, Llandudno, Blackpool, the Clyde, Loch Lomand, the Tay, the Forth, the Humber & the Thames.
90-mins ... OV438 ... £16.00

A FRED DIBNAH DVD SET
only on DVD now, no VHS left, sorry.

1.FRED DIBNAH ~ All Steamed Up .. BH102D . . . visit with Fred the Cheshire Steam Fair; features 10-ton road roller 'Betsy' & road loco 'Atlas'; plus 'At Work' in the Dibnah Steam Workshop. 55 mins £12.99

2.FRED DIBNAH ~ The Ups and Downs of Chimneys .. BH103D . . . features Fred demolishing chimneys; one is Rugby Mill Chimney at Oldham which is just 4'6'' from the next building. 76 mins ... £12.99

3.FRED DIBNAH'S INDUSTRIAL AGE .. BH110D . . . Britain's industrial heritage looking at wind, water and steam ; mills & factories ; iron & steel ; mining ; railways ; ships & shipbuilding. 150 mins DVD .... £16.99

4.Fred Dibnah : Made in Britain Vol 1 ... (Episodes 1 - 6) ... GT107D Features Fred Dibnah's epic journey around Britain on a 1912 traction engine in search of our industrial & engineering past. Vol 1 contains the first 6 episodes of Fred's last TV series. - 174 mins .. £19.99

5. Fred Dibnah : Made in Britain Vol. 2 (Episodes 7 - 12) ... GT108D Fred travels around Britain on his traction engine searching for our industrial & engineering past. - 174 mins .. £19.99


SCOTLAND ... 11 volumes of Lovely Scenic Titles on DVD

many areas of The Highlands and Hebrides ;
no commentaries, just relaxing music and gorgeous scenery.
only on DVD now, no VHS left, sorry.

CO105D AROUND ARDNAMURCHAN
. . Acharacle, Ardtoe, Glenuig, Loch Shiel & Moidart.
46 mins £14.99 now £13.99
CO106D FORT WILLIAM and LOCHABER
.. Fort William, Ballachulish, Glencoe, Onich, Ardgour, Strontian, Kingairloch, Banavie, Spean Bridge, and a variety of scenes in between. 		47 mins £14.99 now £13.99
CO107D HEBRIDEAN ISLES No 1
. . Features a look at isles of Canna, Muck, Eigg & Rum. 48 mins 		£14.99 now £13.99
CO108D HEBRIDES SOUTH
. . islands of Colonsay, Islay, Jura & Gigha, plus a paddle on the Waverley. 57 mins
£14.99 now £13.99
CO109D INVERNESS, THE BLACK ISLE & STRATHSPEY
. . Loch Laggan, Newtonmore, Kingussie, Feshie, Cairngorm, Aviemore, Boat of Garten, Strathspey Steam Railway, Grantown, Carrbridge, Cawdor Castle, Culloden, Inverness, Loch Ness, Urquart Castle, Strathpeffer, Dingwall, Cromarty, and many places between.
48 mins £14.99 now £13.99
CO101D ISLE OF MULL
.. includes short sequence on Mull Railway, and Tobermory, Iona, Staffa, and puffins on Lungha Island.
48 mins £14.99 now £13.99
CO110D NORTH WEST SCOTLAND
.. north from Ullapool to Lochinver, Kylesku, Scourie, Kinlochbervie, Durness & Cape Wrath.
44 mins £14.99 now £13.99
CO111D OBAN & ARGYLL
.. Ballachulish to Oban; Lismore, Seil & Easdale Islands; Inveraray ; Auchindrain & Kilmartin ; Lochgilphead, the Crinan Canal with steam puffer to Ardishaig & Tarbert. 50 mins 		£14.99 now £13.99
CO113D SKYE, LOCHALSH & WESTER ROSS
.. through Glenshiel, over Ratagan to Glenelg, across to Skye, back to Kyle, up to Plockton & over to Applecross % Diabeg, by Gairloch, Inverewe Altbea to Ullapool. 		53 mins £14.99 now £13.99

CO114D WEST ARDNAMURCHAN
.. Kilchoan, Mingary Castle, and many of the peninsular's features plus the ferry across to Tobermory on Mull. 51 mins 		£14.99 now £13.99



For BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE vols 1 - 6, see our Rail & Steam page'
titles include: ON AND OFF THE RAILS : SEE BRITAIN BY TRAIN : RUNNING A RAILWAY
RESHAPING BRITISH RAILWAYS : OFF THE BEATEN TRACK : THE ART OF TRAVEL

Prices Shown are Net: please add £1.50 per title for UK post & packing.
Please see How To Pay for overseas p&p.

You can e-mail us at:
Valerie's UK Videos

Back to the
Home | Catalogue Page
Heritage 1 | Heritage 2 | Heritage 3 | Heritage 4 | Heritage 5
Wales | Ireland | Scotland
Merchant Shipping | WWII | Canals & Narrowboats
Rail & Steam | Trams & Buses | Classic Cars
Classic Films

NIGHT MAIL ... see above DVD cover ROAD WORKS AHEAD

Most Prices Shown are Net:
please add £1.50 per title for UK post & packing.
Please see How To Pay for overseas p&p.


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