Discover Movies

In this National Film Board short, a ballad singer describes a yearly Quebec spectacle when spruce wood moves down a river, spurred by dynamite and cant hooks and twirled by the boots of leaping men.

In conversation, in her Paris apartment, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, mime, dancer, novelist, wonders whether she should give the green light to a proposed film about the houses in which she lived. “I’m no longer photogenic,” she insists; nearly 80, marriages, affair with a stepson and intermittent lesbianism behind her, refusing now even to mention the arthritis that confines and assaults her, Colette is vivacious. Yannick Bellon’s captivating postmodernist film, as much a study of evanescence as any poem by Dickinson, segues into the film that Colette, a few years before her end, has just said she doesn’t want to do. Giving voice(over) to her own commentary, she goes back, first, to the home in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye, Yonne, where she was born.

The sea, with its storms, which break and break the waves against the sharp rocks, is the fulcrum of the life of the people of Gallura in Sardinia, where nature exerts an indisputable predominance and penetrates human activities.

A coaching journal film sponsored by Grey Cars.

American Industrial Film giving an overview of the inner workings of a diesel engine.

From the West Midlands to West Africa: tour the Phillips bicycle plant in Smethwick and see the products in action overseas.

Short documentary on the volcanic eruption of the Shabubembe.

This short film from the Perspective series highlights social and economic development in Haiti circa 1957. It depicts customs and traditions used to pass along the history of a people, and offers a look into their daily lives — lives that looks very different from their experiences today.

An American goes to work in the booming oil industry of Venuzuela.

Documentary about the horse race held at the San Felipe racetrack in Lima. Produced by Nacional Films.

A short newsreel feature reporting on the stricken freighter "Flying Enterprise" in the Atlantic some 250 miles off the coast of Ireland.

The story of America as a land of trains, showing how the tracks, stations, and trainmen, as well as the freight and passenger trains are all a part of an important industry.

Documentary on Gibraltar.

Color UCLA Student Film, Preserved by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Story follows a student (Tom Graeff) as he worries and wonders what joining a fraternity is all about. Cameo by Joe E. Brown, who gives a speech to the frat boys.

Royal Scotland is a 1952 short documentary film directed by Gerard Bryant. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-Reel.

A day in the life of a Post Office counter clerk showing the complexities of his duties and the problems that arise.

An Australian soldier of the Royal Australian Regiment presents his story of the Korean War. On his way to Korea, he visits Tokyo, where he notes the progress since the end or world War II. Then he travels to Seoul in Korea, were he notes the damage to the city. Finally soldiers are see relaxing in camp and training for the conflict to come.

This RKO Screenliner describes life at the Columbus Boychoir School at Princeton, New Jersey, where all students excel in singing as well as in academic studies, and includes songs sung by the sixty-boy choir.

"Eisenstein journeyed to Mexico in late 1930 to begin shooting a film. With backing provided by Upton and Mary Craig Sinclair, the great Soviet auteur planned to make an epoch-spanning pageant of Mexico’s political history and cultural iconography, moving from the pre-Columbian era through colonization and, finally, revolution ... with the project running over budget the film was shut down. Sinclair eventually deposited the film materials at MoMA in 1953, at which point the scholar Jay Leyda assembled and annotated the shots, ordering them according to the filmmaker’s plans and presenting the images just as they had been shot, unedited ... here one is given the opportunity to attend to Eisenstein in an entirely different way, and aspects that might otherwise be overshadowed come to the fore: the way he works with nonprofessional actors, for example, or the striking mise-en-scène." - MoMA

This short film presented by the Reynolds Metals Company details how aluminum is manufactured and illustrates the seemingly endless uses of this versatile product.

The minutiae of daily life on Edinburgh's Rose Street in the fifties is presented in this impressionistic documentary piece.

The journey of a young Frenchman in the highlands and forest valleys of Ecuador and Bolivia.

President Kekkonen's skiing trip in January 1957 begins in Taipalsaari. From there, the President skis towards Puumala along the frozen Lake Saimaa. From Puumala the journey continues to Ryhälä and from there on to Sulkava and Savonlinna. Another of the President's ski trips was recorded by film cameras in late winter 1957 in Kainuu.

Visualizes traffic problems and cites statistics concerning these problems. Suggests three major considerations in the reduction of traffic problems: engineering, education, and enforcement. Emphasizes the traffic court judge's responsibility in enforcement and discusses how a judge can most effectively deal with each case so that people will leave the courtroom with respect for law courts and an awareness of their responsibilities toward observing the rules of the road.

Documentary on the railroads that drive the nation written and produced by Jackson Pokress.

Civil Defense Film on DVD. Enjoy the wonderful vintage animation used to illustrate the manner in which radioactive particles penetrate all manner of objects. Step back in time and gain perspective on how people were instructed to conduct themselves in the event of a nuclear attack. Watch as the use of a geiger counter is demonstrated for the purposes of determining radiation levels. Originally commissioned in 1950 by The Armed Forces Special Weapons Project, 'The Medical Aspects of Nuclear Radiation' is an important part of world history. Great for home-schoolers or in the classroom! Arrange a viewing for students and use this film as a tool to begin a discussion regarding these new concerns during the dawn of the nuclear age.

This educational film from the 1950s instructs viewers how to prepare for a class report.

Explains the importance of a high school education and the advantages of taking part in extracurricular activities. Designed to combat drop-out problems.

Educational film for children, about dairy farming.

The clear record of a zoo's daily workings and the hardships of zookeepers.

As the Modernisation Scheme for British Railways enters its sixth year, its effects become increasingly apparant in every aspect of railway work throughout the regions: in track improvements, in electrification and signalling; in new depots, marshalling yards and stations. It is these visible signs of progress that the camera examines as the commentary interprets their greater significance for the future.

A documentary featuring the Avro "Vulcan" jet aircraft on the ground and in flight.

About life and work in the salt pans

Vassar College's Department of Child Study produced this training film for nursery school staff, one of a series on "Preschool Incidents." Unstaged playground scenes of two to five-year-olds in conflict are shown, then repeated for further analysis and discussion. We learn how to "size-up situations," differentiating between "playful attacks" the kids can adequately handle themselves and truly aggressive behavior (as when "a child has gone on a rampage") that requires immediate adult intervention.

“Why so?” as the original title says, alluding to the almost cartoonish, anti-social behaviour depicted here. But we could also now ask “what if?”: Stratobërdha was deemed a persona non grata soon after shooting these scenes for a purported portmanteau about what not to do in a new Albania. These final pieces were embedded into various newsreels, and his singular voice subsumed.

A film about photography as an artistic medium.

Documentary short about the production and usage of copper.

Documentary film about spring in Finland.

First revue of domestic Yugoslav cinema in Yugoslavia, 1954.

A film giving instruction in the normal maintenance tasks which have to be performed by a permanent-way gang of four men. It shows how all types of fastening on both bullhead and flatbottomed track are maintained; details the maintenance of rail joints; shows how 'hanging' sleepers should be repacked, and deals with the preservation of correct cant and alignment on curves.

A Saturday matinee cine-magazine for the boys and girls' cinema clubs. Sections include, Look Out!, Making Iron in Africa, Great Danes, and Wild West in Britain.

A German Film Award winning black & white documentary.

An insightful look at France in the 1950s.

The passing out parade of the first Nigerian women's police. Also shows the policewomen on duty.

Short docufilm about Anna.