John Grierson Movies

A portrait of John Grierson, the first Canadian Government Film Commissioner and founder of the National Film Board in 1939. Interweaving archival...

Farming techniques and modern methods bring new crops to market.

In this delightful fantasy adventure, a mild-mannered writer of adventure stories for girls finds himself presented with an intriguing proposition...

Marionette parody of Charlie Chaplin.

At Balloch Moss mine in Scotland, water comes through a seam bringing a torrent of mud into the mine and flooding the pit shaft, resulting in 118 men...

When Canada entered World War II, the National Film Board suddenly had an urgent new mission—and hundreds of women stepped forward, helping to...

Short documentary showing the workings of a large London sorting office.

Made to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the London County Council, responsible for many of the changes celebrated in the film – modern...

An Irish "oracle" foretells the next day's track results to a newspaperman, resulting in a national uproar.

A behind-the-scenes GPO Film Unit documentary (directed by Stuart Legg) that races from studio rehearsals and newsrooms to control rooms and...

Part of BFI collection "Police and Thieves."

A celebration of the importance of the British countryside.

The film, made to advertise domestic telephone sets, is based around two very different families. The Petts are conventional, happy and have...

Ambitious documentary chronicling the cultural life and religious customs of the Sinhalese and the effects of advanced industrialism on such customs.

A boy pursues his ambition to be a jockey

Legendary film director Alfred Hitchcock pays tribute to the "father of the documentary", John Grierson, exploring what made his work so...

This documentary short examines the special train on which mail is sorted, dropped and collected on the run, and delivered in Scotland on the...

Ada Shore (Diane Hart) arrives at Skerryvore University in Scotland in search of her long-lost uncle Connell O’Grady (Joseph Tomelty), who was...

Documentary about shipbuilding on the Clyde. In 1960, Glasgow and other towns and ports on the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland, were still...