Documentary News Letter (1940)

DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER MARCH 1940 17 :liJ :i!l NON-THEATRICAL FILM LIBRARIES Note: Borrowers of films are asked to apply as much in advance as possible, to give alternative dates for bookings, and to return the films immediately after they have been shown so that others may make use of them. The terms of hire are liable to alteration with short notice. British Council Film Department, 25 Savile Row, London, W.L Films of Britain, 1940. This catalogue is for overseas use but provides useful synopses of at least 100 sound and silent films. Electrical Development Association, 2 Savoy Hill, Strand, London, W.C.2. Three 16 mm. silent films and one 16 mm. sound film of electrical interest. Certain other films of direct advertising appeal are available only through members of the Association. No hire charge made for approved displays. FUm Centre, 34 Soho Square, W.l. Movements Vibratoires. A silent film on simple harmonic motion. French captions. A hire charge is made. 35 mm. and 16 mm. n,(« Strand Film Company, 5a Upper St Martin's Lane, London, W.C.2. Eleven films available for non-theatrical distribution, mostly 35 mm. Films include Aerial Milestones (historical survey of British civil aviation), Chapter and Verse (survey of books and writers), Give the Kids a Break, and a number of others of Empire and general interest, including 3 silent Airways films lOn 16 mm. No hire charge made for approved displays. Wallace Heaton, Ltd., 127 New Bond Street, London, W.l. Three catalogues. Sound 16 mm., silent 16 mm,, silent 9.5 mm. The sound film catalogue contains a number of American feature films, including Thunder Over Mexico, together with some interest shorts. The silent 16 mm. catalogue contains a first-class list of early American, German and Russian silents, including California Straight Ahead and Skinner^ s Dress '^'^ Suit (Reginald Denny), early Westerns, The ir White Hell of Pitz Palu, Waxworks, Warning Shadows, General Line, Potemkin, and Mother. Strong on early American comedy shorts, Larry Semon, Oliver Hardy, Lloyd Hamilton, Chaplins, etc. The 9.5 catalogue has a number of German films and includes Siegfried and 77(c Spy, a wide selection of Chaplins, Snub Pollards, Paul Parrotts and the early English slapstick comedies featuring Walter Forde. A hire charge is made. British Commercial Gas Association, Gas Industry House, 1 Grosvenor Place, London, S.W.I. Films on social subjects, domestic science, and the manufacture of gas. Includes Children at School and New Worlds for Old. Sound and a few silent. No hire charge for approved displays. 35 mm. and 16 mm. Educational & General Services, Little Holt, Merton Lane, Highgate, London, N.6. A wide selection of silent films of all kinds, particularly of overseas iriterest, and a few sound films. A hire charge is made. Some prints for outright sale. 16 mm. Empire Film Library, Imperial Institute, London, S.W.7. One of the best national libraries in the country. Films primarily of Empire subjects. With a useful subject index. Silent and sound. No hire charge for approved displays. Mostly 16 mm. with a few 35 mm. Ensign Film Library, 88-89 High Holborn, London, W.C.I. Wide selection of all types of film including fiction, comedies, documentaries and films of geography, animal life and industry (many silent films). A hire charge is made. Some prints for outright sale. 16 mm. Gaumont-British Instructional, Film House, Wardour Street, London, W.l. Catalogue No. 5 (1939). Many films on scientific subjects, geography, hygiene, history, language, natural history, sport. Excellent educational material. Sound and silent. Feature and story films also available. A hire charge is made. 35 mm. and 16 mm. CATALOGUE OF THE MONTH Films of Britain, 1940, catalogue of the British Council Film Department, 25 Savile Row, London, W.l, is a cross-section of British docu,.. J|mentary films for overseas use. It represents a ,.ji [determined drive to put the decencies of British life on the screens of the world, and cuts across y,i |all sectional interests, making a wide selection yj jfrom many sources, G.P.O., G.B.E., Strand, ^;r) Petroleum Films Bureau and others; it lists ,;i( also those films made by the British Council [J (I tttself. It is a matter for regret that room could not , ii be found for the world famous G.B.I. Secrets of m^ Life series ; such films in their way can do more J, J] |for British prestige than half a dozen Around the ^ Village Greens. The films listed range from ,^,jt \Workers and Jobs, a frank statement of how the .^[j iMinistry of Labour deals with the problems of ..^fji junemployment, Cavalcanti's Men in Danger and ^ji^ jShaw's Men of Africa, to Beside the Seaside. ;lll* i The lay-out of the catalogue is good, but the synopses are pedestrian. They read like any synopses from any film catalogue issued by any equipment manufacturer to catch the homemovie fan. One cannot tell, for example, that Men in Danger, Men of Africa and Transfer of Power differ from So This is Londoner Western Highlands. It is to be hoped that future editions will do something to set this right and to suggest how the films can be used. An overseas film society, receiving the catalogue, could not make up its mind from it what films would be suitable for its programme. There is no indication that films have been made in foreign languages, though this is certainly the case in some instances. For example most of the Shell films listed are available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch. The catalogue is a step in the right direction, but it demands overhaul by someone familiar with the overseas non-theatrical field. G.P.O. Film Library, Imperial Institute, London, S.W.7. Catalogue 1937 and supplements. Over 100 first-class films, mostly centred round communications. Supplement includes many documentaries such as Night Mail. Sound and silent. No hire charge for approved displays. 35 mm. and 16 mm. Kodak Ltd., Kingsway, London, W.C.2. («) Kodascope Library. Silent films of every kind, instructional, documentary, feature, western and comedy. Strong on early American comedies — Harry Langdon, Reginald Denny, Stan Laurel, Chaplin, etc. A hire charge is made. 16 mm. and 8 mm. (A separate List of Educational Films, extracted from the above, is also published. A number of films have teaching notes.) {b) Medical Film Library. Circulation restricted to members of medical profession. Some colour films. A hire charge is made. Some prints for outright sale. 16 mm. silent. National Film Library, British Film Institute, 4 Great Russell Street, London, W.C.I. Only full members of the British Film Institute may borrow its films. A large catalogue containing some important early German films and Nanook of the North, otherwise industry, medicine, health and travel. Sound and silent. A hire charge is made. 35 mm. and 16 mm. Pathescope, North Circular Road, Cricklewood, London, N.W.2. Wide selection of silent films, including cartoons, comedies, drama, documentary, travel, sport and interest subjects ; also good selection of early American and German films. A hire charge is made. 9.5 mm. Petroleum Films Bureau, 15 Hay Hill, Berkeley Square, London, W.l. Twenty-three technical and documentary films. Sound and silent. No hire charge for approved displays. 35 mm. and 16 mm. Religious Film Library, 104 High Holborn, London, W.C.I. Sound films of religious and temperance appeal and a useful list of supporting films from other sources. Silent films are available. A hire charge is made. 16 mm. Sound-Film Services, 10 Park Place, Cardiff. Library of selected sound films including Massingham's And So to Work and Pollard's Dragon of Wales. Rome and Sahara have French commentaries. In addition to specialised films some subjects of general entertainment nature. A hire charge is made. 16 mm. Southern Railway Film Library, General Manager's Office, Waterloo Station, S.E.I. Seven silent 16 mm. films (one in colour) of a general nature, including Building an Electric Coach, South African Fruit (Southampton Docks to Covent Garden), and films on seaside towns. One film of Bournemouth on 9.5 mm. No hire charge for approved displays. Workers' Film Association, 145 Wardour Street, London, W.l. Some outstanding sound films o^ democratic and co-operative interest, with an excellent selection of films from other sources. Full notes and suggestions for complete programmes. Sound and silent. A hire charge is made. Some prints for outright sale. 35 mm. and 16 mm.