WORLD PICTORIAL NEWS NO 256 [Main Title]

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  • Title: WORLD PICTORIAL NEWS NO 256 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: WPN 256
  • Other titles:
  • Summary: An edition of the British official newsreel "World Pictorial News", produced by the Ministry of Information, Middle East.
  • Description: I. 'NEWS FROM ENGLAND.' Princess Elizabeth visits Bedford, where she reviews a parade of the Women's Land Army (WLA). The commentary stresses the continuing contribution of the agricultural workers to the nation's well-being while the "food situation" remains "critical". Members of the WLA march past Princess Elizabeth who stands on a raised viewing podium. WLA members drive tractors and hay trucks past the reviewing podium. Elsewhere, forty five thousand spectators watch an England v Wales rugby football international held at Twickenham, Surrey. Highlights of the match follow. II. 'INDIA- SHARK FISHING.' Madras fishermen construct a makeshift catamaran from logs and driftwood, putting to sea on a shark fishing sortie. Shark hooks are shown. The catamaran negotiates heavy surf as the fishermen rig a sail. Baited hooks are thrown into the water and a large shark is caught. The shark is gaffed and brought to the side of the boat where it is clubbed to death by a pole-wielding fisherman. The process is repeated with a second shark and the fishermen astutely make for shore as their catamaran begins to sink. The fishermen cut out the shark's livers which are taken away in buckets. III. 'BRITAIN'S FOOD PROBLEM.' Brief internal footage shows United Nations Organisation (UNO) delegates seated at tables in an unidentified conference venue (Ottawa ?). Bare-footed European (German ?) refugees queue for food at a field kitchen. Cuttings from British newspapers read "Hungry Britain Feeding Austria", "More British Food Cuts- Nation Protests Against Rationing Scale" and "New Australian Moves To Get Food To Britain." A visual comparison is made between the weekly Australian food ration and its meagre British counterpart. Brief footage shows Australian cattle drovers at work. Male factory workers operate canning machinery at a Sydney food processing plant, others pack cans into crates marked "Gift Food For Britain." Quayside footage shows parked trucks with the words "Gift Food For Britain" and "Gift Soap For Britain" painted on their coachwork. British merchant ship MS Empire Allenby offloads goods at an undisclosed port location. Interior footage taken in a British watch factory shows male and female factory workers assembling alarm clocks at work benches. Female factory workers set completed clocks on the movement of a master clock. Completed clocks and watches are packed into crates bound for Lahore, Vera Cruz, Calcutta, and Malta. The item ends with a close-up of a wall-mounted plaque that reads "Britain Delivers The Goods."
  • Alternative Title:
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised: Yes
  • Object_Number: WPN 256
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1946-1975
  • Production Date: 1946-03-31
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Ministry of Information, Middle East (Production sponsor) World Pictorial News (Production company) Martin, Charles (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Elizabeth II, Queen (person) Women's Land Army (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: delegations, British national - state (object name) agriculture, Indian - fisheries: sharks (object name) reconstruction, British (object name) industry, British - general (object name) internationalism, governmental, Australian (object name) industry, Australian - food (object name) society, British - domestic (object name) Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, UK (geography) India & Madras (geography)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Sound Soundtrack language: English Title language: English Subtitle language: Arabic
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 755 ft; Running time: 8 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    WPN 256

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