The organisation of medical services in Britain during the Second World War.

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

How news of a general reduction in GPO charges was finally brought to parliament and the people, despite attempts by the country's enemies to prevent the announcement...

The production of King George V's Silver Jubilee (1910-1935) special postage stamp, and a brief dramatised history of the development of the penny post.

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

Animated short from Halas and Batchelor encouraging the British public to post early for Christmas.

This expository film shows the mood of European society on the eve of the Second World War while promoting the values of international cooperation. Using the Swiss office of the BBC as an example, the film describes the functioning of radio and presents the possibilities opened by mass communications. After the advent of sound film, Cavalcanti promoted experimentation with sound, and in this connection he was interested in the communicational, organizational, and social aspects of radio.

A short GPO documentary showing how undersea telephone cables are repaired.

Short documentary about a trawler fishing for hake.

Wartime morale-boosting propaganda short, looking at the greatness of Britain and the efforts of all to preserve her power and integrity.

Animated shapes dance to Cuban music. This was one of the first animations to be painted directly onto the film.

Experimental GPO publicity film extolling the virtues of the telegram service.

Sponsored by the Ministry of Information and shown as part of cinema programmes throughout the Second World War, this short film takes place halfway through the Battle of Britain and at the beginning of the Blitz, during sustained bombing raids on UK cities.

A behind-the-scenes GPO Film Unit documentary (directed by Stuart Legg) that races from studio rehearsals and newsrooms to control rooms and transmitters, weaving speeches, music, and outside broadcasts—featuring voices like H. G. Wells and Ramsay MacDonald—into a kinetic portrait of how the BBC’s national “voice” is made.

A tribute to the courage and resiliency of Britons during the darkest days of the London Blitz.

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

Humphrey Jennings' first film as a director, a brief overview of the British postal service.

A brief documentary about the history of the Royal Mail.

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

Trade Tattoo went even further than Rainbow Dance in its manipulation of the Gasparcolor process. The original black and white footage consisted of outtakes from GPO Film Unit documentaries such as Night Mail. Lye transformed this footage in what has been described as the most intricate job of film printing and color grading ever attempted. Animated words and patterns combine with the live-action footage to create images as complex and multi-layered as a Cubist painting. Music was provided by the Cuban Lecuona Band. With its dynamic rhythms, the film seeks (in Lye’s words) to convey “a romanticism about the work of the everyday in all walks of life."