Cinematic Era: 1939 Vintage

Directed by John Sommerfield, the 1939 documentary "Tenants in Revolt" offers a partisan, front-line account of the Stepney Tenants' Defence League fighting against slum conditions in London's East End. The film documents the 1930s rent strikes, showcasing collective action—including fortified buildings and picket lines—against landlords and the British Union of Fascists, ultimately illustrating how these protests led to crucial rent controls.

Lew Lehr invades the simian world and the result is a hilarious reel about monkeys. Lehr draws deadly parallels as the reel progresses and audiences will enjoy the sequences that do much to make one regard Darwin in a different light.

An inter-state Filipino migrant league baseball championship in front of the Field Museum of Natural History.

Documentary photographs of Warsaw by an unknown author, probably dating from the late 1930s or early 1940s. The film begins with a map indicating where the material was shot. We see, among others, a panorama of the Old Town from the side of the Vistula River and the Market Square and people walking around it. The shots are juxtaposed with photographs of the same locations, but after the war damage. We see, for example, ruined tenements, bullet and shrapnel holes in the façade details, tape stuck to the windowpanes at the time of the bombings, tons of rubble and devastated churches - the Archcathedral Basilica of St John the Baptist and the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The film is a reportage, until recently unknown, found in 2015, showing the beauty of the mountains bathed in snow and the tourist attractions of Zakopane and its surroundings, including the Gubałówka cable car and the cable car to Kasprowy Wierch. Currently (2023), this is the only surviving pre-war reportage by Zbigniew Jaszcz, a cameraman who made documentaries in England and Scotland during the Second World War.

The labor of sardine: fishermen at sea, patching of the fishing nets, casting and drawing of the nets.

Charles Jules Ernest Blanc-Gatti, born in Lausanne on January 26, 1890 and died in Riex on April 7, 1966, was a Swiss painter and one of the founders of musicalism in 1932.

Early documentary on the island of Bali.

A Record of the Great Social Experiment of "Evacuation". During the first three days of war one million children were moved to places of safety in the country in order to avoid areas which might have made targets for enemy bombers. When schools re-opened they agreed to work on a half-shift basis--giving their own pupils games for half the day while the town children used the schoolrooms. Progressive teachers gave their pupils open-air lessons in simple architecture, in botany and in the way of living of country people.

The Prowler is terrorizing Willits, California residents gobbling up all the milk and pep in the town. But fortunately Willits News Reporter Scoop Kenworthy is hot on the trail of this pesky thief.

Views of Ornö and Huvudskär in the Stockholm archipelago. Everyday life is depicted on the islands with work in mining, fishing and a school for children

Short Documentary Film.

A female ghost who falls in love with a man and eventually gets married.

History and exploration of Ford's plant in Michigan. Great historical footage of old time manufacturing of Ford cars.

Profile of the city of Dundee, Scotland and its industries.

The naively innocent bachelor Bagaram, a clerk in a municipal office, has to find some brandy to restore the ill son of his boss, who is also the brother of Malati, whom he secretly loves. Not knowing what brandy is, Bagaram gets embroiled in adventures, including a famous scene in a crowded bar. He eventually procures a bottle but his beloved persists in regarding him merely as a 'brother'.

Film about Ghost-Cat.

The story of Bertoldo ug Balodoy is about the romance and hilarious adventures of love-sick Filipino Siamese twins, Bertoldo (played by Ben Abeda) and Balodoy (Piux Kabahar) who do a lot of tricks at the expense of Cupid and put an end to their adventures and misadventures by marrying two pretty sister-heiresses, Bining and Daringding. This is the first Cebuano full-length film, and is unfortunately lost.

Independent documentary depicting the farmers’ life of struggle against the snow in Shinjo City, Yamagata.

The granddaughter of a lighthouse keeper is outraged by her own father, who finds out about the connection when he is dying, after being strangled by the young woman's grandfather.

Short film made for the German Reichspost in order to inform the public about television. It uses a documentary-like depiction of a police investigation of a hit-and-run accident that makes use of television to broadcast forensic evidence and identify a suspect.

short film by Bernard Lyot. Joseph Leclerc, a filmmaker of news reportage and astronomer, edited Lyon's film studies posthumously.

Reveals the activities, customs, and traditions of the Watussi, an African people characterized by their advanced culture. Shows the ruling prince and royal family and activities in the royal household, including weaving, decorating, cooking, and churning. Portrays the prince as he inspects his cattle and leads a hunt, and depicts his young son presiding over a ceremonial dance.

A wealthy bachelor falls in love with a woman of the world, of dubious reputation.

A chemical scientist mocks his wife. She is unable to resist the violence and tries to commit suicide.

Scrappy runs a rodeo in a vacant lot, with a lot of mistreated cats standing in for cattle to be roped, and so forth. A little girl wants to be part of the show, but the boys don't like that.

This is a propaganda film made after the establishment of the wartime total mobilization system. The film includes various war efforts, including Gyeongseong Prefectural Association's offering of airplanes; prisoners' contribution of heavy machine guns; the inauguration of the Joseon Youth League for war support; a ceremony to celebrate the fall of Wuhan; a Chinese consul's visit to the Joseon Shrine; visits from Italian and Mongolian delegations to Joseon; and encouragement of bond purchases. The narration at the end is recorded in Korean in a heroic tone. The narration encourages everyone to faithfully pursue his or her livelihood, accelerate the implementation of national policies, and achieve the 'purpose of the Holy War.' It is the only extant film of the ‘news films in Korean language” produced by the Japanese Government-General of Joseon during the Japanese colonial period. Acquired in 1994.

Dufaycolor footage of a visit by George VI to the naval base at Plymouth. Included on the BFI DVD "A Royal Occasion".

A short film that shows the early days of Montreal's botanical garden

Goldilocks and the three bears refuse to cooperate with the narrator of their story.

An advertisement for Jaffa brand oranges.

An advertisement for Creme Simon brand cosmetics.

Black-and-white photography of landscapes, a phantom ride through a tunnel, a panorama shot and some view of people playing in the water.

Two young jazz guitarists cannot believe their luck when they are stumbled upon by their idol while playing in the park.

“Between 1926 and 1985, amateur Archie Stewart shot over seventy thousand feet of film. In 1936 he purchased a sound-on-film 16mm camera and began to make talking pictures. The result is that we can not only see what Archie saw but hear what he heard. Stewart primarily focused on his family, watching them grow and mature as the years passed. Here we partake in four years of family activities, trips, and holiday seasons, as well as technical experiments. The record, intimate and endearing, shows people comfortable in front of the ever-present camera and microphone.” — Bruce Posner

Detailed analysis of the famous polyptych by the Van Eyck brothers, housed in Ghent Cathedral.

The animals are having a swimming contest. The strutting Saru-kun, a monkey, can't bring himself to admit that he cannot swim, and puts himself forward as a contestant. He dives right in, but immediately starts to sink. For some reason the bottom of the pool is littered with seaweed and coral, and a kappa, a type of water imp, also lives down there. Saru-kun fights with the kappa, and manages to seize the saucer off its head. The kappa agrees to let Saru-kun ride on his back while he swims, in exchange for the return of his saucer. Saru-kun then cruises right through the pool, looking for all the world like he is swimming under his own power, and wins the race successfully. But what happens in the end?

Directed by Nikolai Dostal.

This Traveltalks short focuses on the city's preservation of the architecture, apparel, and customs of the antebellum South.

The city is terrorized by a mystifying, sword wielding woman who is plundering the wealthy citizens and distributing their riches among the poor.

Satire about the fate of several people who received an extraordinary sum of money.

Film about a police force exposing the activities of a group of smugglers.

Men in Danger is a documentary about health and safety in industry, covering occupational diseases and potential accidents. It also covers the effects on the health of workers where the various tasks are very monotonous.

A game of bowls at the Whitevale and Kingswood Bowling Clubs, Glasgow.

Promotion for the newspaper Uus Suomen. The documentary film includes images of the newspaper's printing and statistical information about the newspaper.

hotos of the construction phases of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in the 1930s and the sports competitions held in connection with its inauguration, as well as the city of Helsinki.

A look at the historic town of Culross in Fife.

A short narration on a vacation day spent in Hamburg.

Documentary short following the journey of the lighthouse keeper travelling to the lighthouse on Muckle Flugga, Shetland on board the boat the Grace Darling.

Footage of the Nueva Vizcaya Association community members engaged in leisure activities in and around Chicago.

A documentary that shows us Jewish life in pre-war cities of Eastern Europe.

Wilno was one of the most important Polish cities, especially in culture. Here, a university where noblists like Czesław Miłosz learned is located.