Peter Greenaway cut his teeth on them and like the mondo shockumentaries (where Ennio Morricone cut his teeth and where the ‘Manuh! Manuh!’ song was first employed) they play an important part in the history of filmmaking. Growing up in England as an infant in the late seventies and a child throughout the eighties I can remember being chilled to the bone when these short information films warning you not to play near pylons came on. What was scary was that for a split second the film would be silent and then the scratchy sound came on and the first thing you would hear is a ‘pfft’. Anyway this website The National Archives | Public Information Films has a complete collection of these films from 1945 to 2006. Here are some of the films on display and I hope they make you all go “Fucking hell!”
Just listen to the ‘pfft’ at the beginning and end <LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/film … isused.htm”>Public Information Films | 1964 to 1979 | Film index | Children and Disused Fridges</LINK_TEXT>
Charly and the paedo! <LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/film … angers.htm”>Public Information Films | 1964 to 1979 | Film index | Charley – Strangers</LINK_TEXT>
Charly (voiced by the late great genius Kenny Everett) drowns! <LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/film … _water.htm”>Public Information Films | 1964 to 1979 | Film index | Charley – Falling in the Water</LINK_TEXT>
Voiced by Donald Pleasance. <LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/film … lonely.htm”>Public Information Films | 1964 to 1979 | Film index | Lonely Water</LINK_TEXT>
Nuclear attacks (one long one and one short one). Scary! <LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/film … rnings.htm”>Public Information Films | 1964 to 1979 | Film index | Protect & Survive – Action After Warnings</LINK_TEXT> <LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/film … alties.htm”>Public Information Films | 1964 to 1979 | Film index | Protect & Survive – Casualties</LINK_TEXT>
Luke! Luke! I am your fa-ther. <LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/film … _code1.htm”>Public Information Films | 1964 to 1979 | Film index | Green Cross Code 1 with Dave Prowse</LINK_TEXT>
Not scary but funny. <LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/film … _fatal.htm”>Public Information Films | 1964 to 1979 | Film index | The Fatal Floor</LINK_TEXT>
An Evil Dead type percussive sound at the end <LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/film … advice.htm”>Public Information Films | 1979 to 2006 | Film index | Rabies Advice</LINK_TEXT>
and this one scared the bejeezus out of me as a child. Watching it now it isn’t so scary <LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/film … smoker.htm”>Public Information Films | 1979 to 2006 | Film index | Smoker Of The Future</LINK_TEXT>
Happy viewing!
