Realist Film Unit

Peter and his friends find unexpected and exciting adventures when all their wishes are granted by a magic marble.

The Cat Gang is a group of precocious British kids. They have a habit of hanging around a grown-up customs official who wishes that they'd beat it. But the Gang comes in handy when a smuggling gang arrives on the scene.

Trawlers at work; the crew on board and landing a catch. The fishing crew are seen with their families on shore shopping and enjoying themselves in the pub. Life aboard a West Coast trawler under arduous and dangerous wartime conditions.

The story of how newspapers were distributed during the Blitz, stressing the importance of an accurate and objective press on the home front.

Is your hedge thin and straggly? Don't worry, help is at hand.

British health documentary on children's ears and how to prevent deafness.

Instructs on the importance of ante-natal care and proper diet in helping children to grow healthy teeth.

Portrait of a small French town following its liberation during World War II.

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

Focuses upon the journey of child refugees from the Basque Country to temporary accommodation near Southampton, Hampshire [England].

Part of BFI boxset Ration Books and Rabbit Pies: Films from the Home Front.

"The Harvest Shall Come" is a wartime story/documentary produced by Realist Film Unit and starring John Slater. This tells the story of an ordinary farmer (Tim Grimwood), and his struggles as a boy starting out in 1900, to a farm labourer come the second world war. The story documents the ebbs and flows of the fortunes of such as him in the industry over those 40 years, and (as the name suggests) has an air of new dawn, whereby farmers essential to the war effort would at last secure a fair deal.

The operation of the Clean Air Act is explained. Records the procedure for local councils and explains the rights of individual householders.

Information on the different groups and organizations that are there to help the population during wartime.

Part of the BFI six-part series entitled "Your Children and You."

Consideration of the social problems arising out of evacuation.

A journalistic survey of Britain's road traffic problems and a plea for the adoption of a National Road Plan.

This Ministry of Information film does ‘what it says on the tin’. It is a straightforward, ‘no frills’ demonstration of how to store roots vegetables outside by a traditional method known as ‘clamping’, which had been used for centuries.

Short documentary about British education in the late 1930s.

'A colour sound film funded by the Koornong School in Warrandyte, Victoria. Produced to promote awareness of the school’s activities, in particular its cooperative approach to school management, the film illustrates the traditional left ideal of collective action and again deploys the rural ideal which provides a response to the problems depicted in A Place to Live and These are Our Children. Scenes include the collective building of the school, a meeting of the school’s ‘bully committee’ to discuss students’ problems, and various activities where the emphasis is on groups of people working together. The school is located in what was a rural landscape outside Melbourne and the film shows exercise, learning and craft work in this locale as particularly wholesome activities.' (Deane Williams)