From scenes of jubilant workers celebrating spectacular launches in the early 1900s to King George V and Queen Mary’s morale-boosting trip to Northern England’s shipyards at the tail end of the Great War; from Sean Connery’s perspective on Glasgow’s industrial relations in The Bowler and the Bunnet (1967) – which he also directed – to lyrical documentaries in celebration of industrial might such as Shipyard (Paul Rotha, 1935) and the Oscar-winning Seawards the Great Ships (Hilary Harris, 1960), this collection celebrates Britain’s shipbuilding heritage through celebrated documentaries, lesser-known cinematic gems and emotive actuality films.
The early silent films on this set feature newly-commissioned, semi-improvised piano scores by the celebrated silent film pianist, Stephen Horne.
This DVD is the second of the BFI’s series celebrating Britain’s industrial heritage, following Portrait of a Miner: National Coal Board Collection Volume 1.
Disc one
- The Launch of HMS Albion at Blackwall (1898)
- Employees Leaving Messrs Vickers and Maxim’s in Barrow (1901)
- Workforce of Scott & Co. Shipyard, Greenock (1901)
- The Launch of HMS Dominion (1903)
- King Edward VII Launches HMS Dreadnought from Portsmouth Dockyard (1906)
- SS Olympic (1910)
- The Launch of HMS Lowestoft (1913)
- Visit of Their Majesties the King and Queen to the North-East Coast Shipbuilding and Engineering Works on the Wear (1917)
- RMS Queen Mary Leaves the Clyde (1936)
- Shipyard (1935)
- Chains (1939)
- Tyneside (1941)
- Steel Goes to Sea (1941)
- The Little Ships of England (1943)
- ‘Shipyard for Colliers’ from Mining Review 2nd Year No.3 (1948)
- Berth 24 (1950)
Disc two
- We’ve Come a Long Way (1951)
- The Sea Shall Test Her (1954)
- Seawards the Great Ships (1960)
- A Great Ship (1962)
- The Bowler and the Bunnet (1967)
- UCS 1 (1971)
- Launch (1974)
Special features
- New piano scores by Stephen Horne for the silent films.
- Interview with Sean Connery (1967, 10 min extract): Sean Connery discusses his views on labour relations, after making The Bowler and the Bunnet.
- Fully illustrated booklet with new essays and notes on all of the films, with contributions from BFI curators, Sir Sean Connery, and others.
Product information
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Certificate
Exempt
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Colour
Colour and Black/white
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Sound
Sound
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Running time
314mins
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Original aspect ratio
1.33:1
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DVD region
2 Europe (except Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus), Middle East, Egypt, Japan, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Greenland, French Overseas departments and territories
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Catalogue number
BFIVD900
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