Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6755 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-09-22
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Colour, Full Screen, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 300 minutes

Synopsis
A selection of vintage shorts produced by the GPO Film Unit, lovingly restored by The BFI National Archive in association with BT, Royal Mail, and The British Postal Museum And Archive.

Customer Reviews

Correction...
The screening the above reviewer refers to was indeed priceless but the films in that show were from a few years later and will no doubt appear in a future collection - so if you're looking for "Night Mail", this isn't the one to get though it is currently avalaible on the "Night Mail" DVD. This DVD features:

The Coming of the Dial (Stuart Legg 1933), Cable Ship (Alexander Shaw, Stuart Legg 1933), Granton Trawler (John Grierson 1934), John Atkins Saves Up (Arthur Elton 1934), Air Post (Geoffrey Clark 1934), The Glorious Sixth of June (Alberto Cavalcanti 1934), Pett and Pott (Alberto Cavalcanti 1934), 6.30 Collection (Harry Watt, Edgar Anstey 1934), Weather Forecast (Evelyn Spice 1934), Song of Ceylon (Basil Wright 1934), A Colour Box (Len Lye 1935), Coal Face (Alberto Cavalcanti 1935), The King's Stamp (William Coldstream 1935), BBC: The Voice of Britain (Stuart Leg 1935) Sixpenny Telegram (Donald Taylor 1935)

The only one of these films I can comment on is Len Lye's "Colour Box", a psychedelic piece of abstract animation set to Cuban music; well ahead of its time. I'd love to see a Len Lye collection released. If the screening is anything to go by, these films will also be fascinating pieces of "Anglicana" for anyone interested in film history or social history in general.

First class delivery
I haven't actually seen this whole collection, although I saw a selection at a recent screening called Love Letters and Live Wires. If the screening is anything to go by then this collection will contain a whole host of gems.

These films, which vary in length from a few minutes to the near-half-hour of the legendary Night Mail, were produced by the General Post Office's film unit as information films to enlighten the Great British public about the need to address envelopes properly and how to use the new fangled contraption called the telephone. However, they go far beyond their remit and are innovative little dramas and entertainments in their own right, ranging from love stories, animation and musical comedy (in the peerless Fairy of the Phone).

Even the strictly informational films, such as one about laying a new cable in Oxfordshire, offer a unique window into a bygone age where men digging holes in the road wore collars and ties and the sun always seemed to be shining. Oh, and the lack of cars on the road is worth a look (if that makes sense!).

This is a collection with loads to recommend it; it's innovative, charming and a precious historical document. A good Christmas or birthday present for a grandparent, or, indeed, anyone with an interest in social history or film.

Addressing The Nation
Found this fascinating, you post a letter and don't see the inner workings of the postal system and it's developments. If you enjoy documentries, you'll enjoy this - worth the watch.