HARVESTING RICE IN SIAM FOR DISTRIBUTION TO NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: HARVESTING RICE IN SIAM FOR DISTRIBUTION TO NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: JFU 554
  • Other titles: BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: Film showing the harvesting, milling and transport of rice from Siam (Thailand) to other countries in south east Asia.
  • Description: Reel 1: A lone farmer in a field cutting paddy by hand with a sickle; focus is soft and the film is overexposed. Series of further shots (with focus and exposure corrected) showing the technique as he cuts the paddy and ties it into sheaves. A simple sledge drawn by a water buffalo is piled wih bundled paddy before the buffalo is led away. People carry bundles of paddy on yokes over a narrow plank bridge. People set down their paddy at a central storage area; they appear amused (by the cameraman's interest?). A small flat-bottomed punt or similar is used to transport paddy along a channel. Dim interior footage of a sieving machine. Several views of the machine. Footage taken from a vessel on a river, probably the Chao Phraya in Bangkok, looking towards a large merchantman apparently being loaded with rice. Small craft on the river. Various shots of bundles of cut paddy being stacked in a circle with close-ups. A large camouflage-painted building on the riverfront. At a riverside loose rice is loaded from boats into shallow wicker baskets carried on yokes. A man checks rice by tossing a small quantity on a wicker tray. He then rolls some rice under a pestle or rolling pin before transferring them back to the tray and tossing them again to remove husks. Men pass through a warehouse carrying sacks of rice; as they pass (a foreman or supervisor?) they are handed a wooden stick. They return the sticks to a man by the exit of the warehouse to enable the number of sacks to be tallied. Close-up of a sack marked 'SRU [Siam Rice Unit] 100%' A barge laden with sacks is pushed off, presumably for transfer to a larger vessel. After trampling by buffalo rice is swept and raked to remove chaff and other material. Chaff is raked up. A broad wooden paddle is pulled by people hauling on a rope to pile the winnowed rice. Reel 2: Men with baskets on yokes. A man shakes a tray of rice before laying it out on a table for inspection by an older (and presumably senior) man. Closer shot; the old man spreads the rice into a neat layer. Notes about the rice are jotted down in a thick notebook or ledger. A man silhouetted against the outside light tosses rice in a tray. Rice is rolled with a pestle or rolling pin. A stream of porters walks into and out of a warehouse carrying yokes. Local civilians use of a simple handcranked winnowing machine. Rice is poured into the top of the machine. Winnowed rice is gathered up using a large hoe. Standing behind the machine chaff and dust blow towards the cameraman. A man hefts a basket of rice onto his shoulder. Wide shot showing sacks of rice being hoisted from a barge or lighter to a larger merchant ship. Closer shot of sacks being hoisted aboard. Shot from a moving vessel passing a number of small warehouses with a barge tied up outside. Various shots of sacks being put aboard a barge by porters. Close shot, quite dark, of rice coming out of a machine via a chute. A sifting machine going back and forth. Closer shot. Dim shot of a millwheel. Unusably dark shot of some part of the machine. A civilian man leading an uninterested water buffalo. The buffalo tramples the cut paddy. Two buffalos are used to trample the rice. Shot of the buffalo driver. People forking over paddy.
  • Alternative Title: BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: No
  • Object_Number: JFU 554
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1946-01
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: War Office Directorate of Public Relations (Production sponsor) SEAC Film Unit (Production company) Haywood, Harold (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords: Bangkok, Thailand (geography) Allied Occupation of Siam, Allied Occupation of South East Asia post-August 1945 (event) India 1939-1945 (theme) British Army 1939-1945 (theme)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 2 Footage: 1381 ft; Running time: 16 mins
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    JFU 554

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    JFU 496 (BRITISH, AUSTRALIAN AND SIAMESE PEACE AND TRADE TREATY CONCLUDED AT SINGAPORE [Allocated Title]) JFU 509 (HARVESTING PADDY IN THE JITRA AREA OF NORTHERN MALAYA [Allocated Title]) JFU 510 (JAPANESE RICE ON PENANG HILL DISTRIBUTED TO MALAYAN CIVILIANS [Allocated Title]) JFU 534 (THAI RICE BEING UNLOADED ONTO DUCKS AT PORT SWETTENHAM, MALAYA [Allocated Title]) JFU 616 (LOADING THAI RICE FOR THE RELIEF OF SHANGHAI [Allocated Title]) JFU 615 (LOADING THAI RICE FOR THE RELIEF OF SHANGHAI [Allocated Title]) JFU 614 (RICE MILLS IN BANGKOK [Allocated Title]) JFU 599 (DELIVERY AND USE OF LIVESTOCK ANTI-PEST SERUM IN THAILAND [Allocated Title])
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