Unidentified British Cookery Instructional Film, c. 1937 ldge 2008-01-15 | 'A woman's cooking problems have been solved by 20th century minds and in a 20th century fashion...' 'It's amazing how much you can get in it!' This is a transfer from a 16mm print I bought from a junk shop a couple of years ago. It is in very poor condition, as you'll see from the dirt and deep vertical emulsion scratches. A lot of footage is missing, and 73ft was not transferred for this video because the perforation damage was too severe for it to go through a telecine. The start and end titles were totally missing, so I have no idea what this film is. Can you help? The stock mark is 1937. The material may have been shot a year or two earlier, but of course no later. It appears to be a promotional film made either by an electricity generating company or a manufacturer of domestic appliances (given that it promotes electric cookers heavily). It is somewhat bizarre, to put it mildly. I doubt if the two 'actresses' had ever prepared an actual meal in their lives - even if the cut glass accents don't totally give it away, people didn't wear fur shawls to cook the dinner - even in the 1930s!
Near miss, intersection of Redlands Boulevard and Anderson Street, Loma Linda, CA, December 10, 2020 ldge 2020-12-10 | This idiot in a Mercedes nearly killed me. Sadly, my dashcam was not of sufficient resolution to capture its license plate. Yet more evidence that driving in Loma Linda is not for the faint hearted.
Near Miss, Mission Road & Mesquite Ave., Loma Linda, November 7, 2019 ldge 2019-11-07 | An example of the woefully poor standard of driving that seems to have become endemic in and around Loma Linda.
Vehicular Sodomy on Kellogg Hill ldge 2015-07-16 | This footage was taken by my dashcam just before the summit of Kellogg Hill, on the westbound side of the I-10 freeway in Southern California, about a mile west of the 10/57 intersection. It is a classic example of why drivers on this road have to be super alert at all times: traffic can suddenly slow from 70-80mph to walking pace without warning. It happens a lot here, because of construction work on the other side of the hill causing traffic to back up over the summit.In this case, the driver of the yellow car simply failed to see the traffic jam ahead until it was too late.
How to Make a Jumper the Modern Way (1956) - Part 2 of 2 ldge 2011-09-27 | In this much-anticipated sequel to 'How to Make a Skirt the Modern Way' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEDLs-5oU9E), Janice is back! And this time her killer pin-cushion and trusty 'primmer' are joined by an iron and a rather fearsome looking pair of scissors. Doesn't it look different?! Transferred from a 16mm Kodachrome dupe print I rescued from a skip.Part 1 is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOn8cRITYAs .
How to Make a Jumper the Modern Way (1956) - Part 1 of 2 ldge 2011-09-27 | In this much-anticipated sequel to 'How to Make a Skirt the Modern Way' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEDLs-5oU9E), Janice is back! And this time her killer pin-cushion and trusty 'primmer' are joined by an iron and a rather fearsome looking pair of scissors. Doesn't it look different?! Transferred from a 16mm Kodachrome dupe print I rescued from a skip.Part 2 can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At7RdZtlBTo . Please feel free to add comments there if you'd like to.
How to Make a Skirt the Modern Way (1956) ldge 2011-09-27 | This promotional film for Simplicity sewing patterns offers a revealing, if unintentional glimpse of what was supposed to be a woman's place in 1950s American suburbia. Watch out for Janice, her killer pin-cushion and her 'primmer' ! Now wasn't that easy? And it was such fun to do! Transferred from a 16mm Kodachrome dupe print I rescued from a skip.If that left you gagging for more, the sequel, 'How to Make a Jumper the Modern Way', can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOn8cRITYAs .
Advance Democracy! - Part 2 of 2 ldge 2009-01-23 | This 1938 promotional film for trade unionism, made by the Co-Operative Movement, is a very unusual example of left-wing propaganda in 1930s British cinema. Since the late 1920s, the British Board of Film Censors, at the Home Office's behest, had operated a strict and effective policy of behind-the-scenes political censorship, ensuring that about the only political messages permitted in mainstream films were ones that emphasised consensus and national unity. The filmmaker, Ralph Bond, was a figure on the periphery of John Grierson's Documentary Movement, sharing their belief in film as an instrument of social justice, but considered too politically extreme to rise to prominence in the way that directors such as Harry Watt, Basil Wright and Pat Jackson did. For more background, see Bert Hogenkamp, 'Deadly Parallels: Film and the Left in Britain, 1929-39' (London, Lawrence and Wishart, 1986). This is a transfer from a 1938 16mm release print in my collection. As the film is now over 70 years old, it's in the public domain in the UK.
Advance Democracy! - Part 1 of 2 ldge 2009-01-23 | This 1938 promotional film for trade unionism, made by the Co-Operative Movement, is a very unusual example of left-wing propaganda in 1930s British cinema. Since the late 1920s, the British Board of Film Censors, at the Home Office's behest, had operated a strict and effective policy of behind-the-scenes political censorship, ensuring that about the only political messages permitted in mainstream films were ones that emphasised consensus and national unity. The filmmaker, Ralph Bond, was a figure on the periphery of John Grierson's Documentary Movement, sharing their belief in film as an instrument of social justice, but considered too politically extreme to rise to prominence in the way that directors such as Harry Watt, Basil Wright and Pat Jackson did. For more background, see Bert Hogenkamp, 'Deadly Parallels: Film and the Left in Britain, 1929-39' (London, Lawrence and Wishart, 1986). This is a transfer from a 1938 16mm release print in my collection. As the film is now over 70 years old, it's in the public domain in the UK. If you wish to leave comments, please do so on the page for part 2.
Mining Review: Woman Projectionist in Bishop Auckland (1966) ldge 2008-01-14 | Hover mouse over picture to read annotations, starting at 0'33". This is one story from the April 1966 (20th year, no. 4) edition of the British newsreel 'Mining Review', about miner's daughter Dorothy Wright, chief projectionist of the Essoldo cinema in Bishop Auckland, County Durham. 'Mining Review' was a monthly newsreel which was started when the coal industry was nationalised in 1947, and ran until 1983. It was shown mainly in pit canteens, miners' clubs and cinemas in mining communitites.
It Cant Happen to Me - Part 3 of 3 ldge 2007-06-14 | This is a film commissioned by the British government in 1969, made to inform business leaders about the dangers of industrial espionage. Produced at the height of the Cold War, it certainly shows its age! The scene in which an Eastern European Mata Hari-type spy attempts to seduce a stuffy, pin-striped executive has to be one of the funniest things ever filmed. And I don't think they needed to have worried about the Russians too much - given the amount of smoking in this film, I imagine all the leading characters were probably dead from lung cancer within a couple of years of it being shot. Note the name Peter Watkins on the end credit - the same Watkins who directed 'Culloden' and 'The War Game'? I haven't been able to confirm or disprove this.
It Cant Happen to Me - Part 2 of 3 ldge 2007-06-14 | This is a film commissioned by the British government in 1969, made to inform business leaders about the dangers of industrial espionage. Produced at the height of the Cold War, it certainly shows its age! The scene in which an Eastern European Mata Hari-type spy attempts to seduce a stuffy, pin-striped executive has to be one of the funniest things ever filmed. And I don't think they needed to have worried about the Russians too much - given the amount of smoking in this film, I imagine all the leading characters were probably dead from lung cancer within a couple of years of it being shot. Note the name Peter Watkins on the end credit - the same Watkins who directed 'Culloden' and 'The War Game'? I haven't been able to confirm or disprove this. If you want to add comments, please do so on the page for part 3.
It Cant Happen to Me - Part 1 of 3 ldge 2007-06-14 | This is a film commissioned by the British government in 1969, made to inform business leaders about the dangers of industrial espionage. Produced at the height of the Cold War, it certainly shows its age! The scene in which an Eastern European Mata Hari-type spy attempts to seduce a stuffy, pin-striped executive has to be one of the funniest things ever filmed. And I don't think they needed to have worried about the Russians too much - given the amount of smoking in this film, I imagine all the leading characters were probably dead from lung cancer within a couple of years of it being shot. Note the name Peter Watkins on the end credit - the same Watkins who directed 'Culloden' and 'The War Game'? I haven't been able to confirm or disprove this. If you want to add comments, please do so on the page for part 3.
Play Safe ldge 2007-05-27 | A British instructional film for schoolchildren, made in 1978, to warn them about the dangers of playing near electricity pylons and substations. Watch little Jimmy earn himself a Darwin award...
