John Grierson Movies

A celebration of the importance of the British countryside.

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...

Marionette parody of Charlie Chaplin.

Developed from John Grierson's opportunistic recruitment of the well-known director and anthropologist Robert Flaherty, Industrial Britain provides a...

Drama-documentary, reconstructing a real incident in which a trawler got into difficulties in a North Sea storm. Released 7th March 1938.

Marionette parody of Cherry Kearton.

Trade Tattoo went even further than Rainbow Dance in its manipulation of the Gasparcolor process. The original black and white footage consisted of...

“Catching up with gossip, inspecting new ducklings, clambering over gates, walking across meadows - the life of a postman appears idyllic, but...

1935 documentary about the hard working life of Welsh coal miners.

A film made by the British General Post Office (GPO) in 1933, promoting the automation of telephone exchanges.

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

Short documentary about a trawler fishing for hake.

In this parody of Sherlock Holmes, the Great Detective goes to an opium den of inequity in the dangerous London district of London and challenges...

A look at the work of Glasgow's Medical Officer of Health.

An overview of the shepherd's life during the lambing season.

The story of the North Sea herring fleets from Yarmouth and Lowestoft to Shetland.

Filmed in Uganda, Man of Africa was assembled by legendary documentary producer John Grierson. The film depicts the mass migration of the Bakija and...

The building and launch of a new long-wave radio transmitter - just as the TV age is about to be born.

Documentary following an Edinburgh fishing trawler, the "Isabella Grieg".

Highlights of the life of John Grierson, documentary film-maker