Gaumont-British Instructional

A Secrets of Life short.

Documentary on the life cycle of the tortoiseshell butterfly: first laying their eggs under the leaves of sting nettles and in2-3 weeks the caterpillars emerge and live off the nettle leaves. Then fully grown caterpillars spin a chrysalis. After 3 weeks the new butterfly emerges, and so the cycle continues.

A Secrets of Life short of which the BFI gave this description: "The first part of the film is a speeded-up picture of germination and growth of the tomato plant, ending with the fertilization of the flower and the growth of the fruit. The white flies are then shown in action on the plant, and by skilful micro-photography their life cycle is shown, together with the means by which they injure the plant. A natural parasite—small species of wasp—is also shown in action by means of micro-photography,and its method of parasitism is clearlybrought out. The film concludes with apictorial demonstration of the means forridding tomato glass-houses infested withwhite fly by the use of hydrocyanic gas."

The film opens in January, showing scenes of a frozen pond and shots of the fields. followed by young cattle, or store cattle, being turned out to graze. The ruins of St. Mary's Abbey are in the background. Manure from the yard is loaded onto a tumbrill and two horses pull the tumbrill along a heavily rutted land for spreading on the fields. This is then ploughed in by horse plough.The head stockman prepares food for the sheep before lambing. He is wearing a sack tied around his waist as protective clothing. The film shows the lambing pens being built out of hurdles covered in straw. The sheep are brought into the pens where they are fed with mangles (mangolds). The spring sowing. The harrow and the seed drill are both pulled by horses. The operation of the drill is explained in detail. The final shots show a worker applying a top dressing to the field using the broadcast method.

A teaching film about the human skeleton with animated medical illustrations as well as an actual skeleton with commentary. A man, naked to the waist, also demonstrates the relevant anatomy. X-ray cineradiography illustrates the movement of the arm.

They Made the Land (1938) is a documentary showcasing how land in Scotland was reclaimed and cultivated for agriculture. It explores the challenges of making a living from the land while highlighting the contributions of agricultural research and animal breeding. Produced as part of a series of seven documentaries for the 1938 Empire Exhibition, the film was created under the supervision of pioneering documentarian John Grierson.

A wildlife film with a difference: it has A Message for any humans in the house. "The squirrel in the tree, the fox below, the birds, insects, all know that a time of plenty will not last forever". Austerity-stricken wartime viewers can learn from their economical feeding habits. An entertaining hybrid of public information and natural history from the makers of wildlife series Secrets of Life. Released in the BFI boxset Ration Books and Rabbit Pies: Films from the Home Front.

The film takes us to the North of England to follow the migration of the black-headed gull down to London. There, the narrator asks viewers to "listen to their gossip", before demonstrating the bird’s flight in slow motion. We see a polecat feasting on gull eggs, and then a man collecting the eggs for human consumption, with the film telling us that they are considered a “delicacy” in London. Indeed, according to the British Trust for Ornithology, around 300,000 gull’s eggs were sold every year in Leadenhall Market in London during the 1930s, when London Visitors was made.

A Secrets of Life short of which the BFI described "a delightful study of a single family which leaves one with a feeling of satisfaction and a determination to watch at least one garden nest consistently when spring returns. The views from inside the nesting box are particularly interesting and one is left wondering how the lighting was managed so well. Young children would be relieved to hear that the parents continued to feed all their young ones and not only the few which kept their balance on the branch. Useful in nature study, biology and gardening classes"

Part of the archive's Junior Biology series, this study of maize is aided by diagrammatic, time-lapse, and microscopic footage.

The film begins with threshing using a steam engine to drive the drum and elevator, described as "old fashioned". The film explains how the machine works. This takes place at Upper Abbey Farm. Hand feeding of poultry in the farmyard is shown as well as feeding silage to cattle and the preparation of root crops for cattle feed by Head Stockman, Lacey Smith. The farmyard scenes show a dog curled up on sacks in the barn and the farm cat investigating proceedings. The film moves on to show hedging and ditching by hand, and then the laying of brushwood drains on Wood Farm, Sibton and ends showing winter ploughing by a horse team.

In Australia, five children pursue horse thieves through the mountains.

A dramatization to promote the Territorial Army.

Explores the natural history of the otter, depicted through the fictitious account of a day in the life of Otto the Otter and his mother. The narrator claims that the short features "the first film ever taken of an otter swimming underwater."

A Secrets of Life short.

A Secrets of Life documentary about bathing time at the zoo. The film was registered on the Board of Trade's official list under Section 6 of the Films Act as 883ft long (roughly 9 minutes if projected at 24 frames per second) It is a remake, or update, of the short "Bath Time at the Zoo" from Secrets of Nature.

The lifecycle of a freshwater trout; looking in detail at the development of a trout embryo and hatchling. Also shows the techniques involved in dry-fly trout fishing. (NFA Catalogue) Life cycle and habits of the trout. Photographed by Percy Smith. (Synopsis)

A Secrets of Life short about the movement of animals.

A schoolboy almost misses the school sports day when he is wrongly punished for cruelty to a dog.

A Secrets of Life short.