This film is part of Free

Coal Industry in Britain

The struggling UK coal industry is under the spotlight, together with the US liquor trade and the rise in trailer living.

Anthology 1937 20 mins

Overview

Black Areas, the final story in this issue of the American newsreel, visits South Wales, where "men have made their living for centuries by digging coal" but are not sharing in the UK's return to prosperity after the Depression. This item was directed by Edgar Anstey, a leading British documentary filmmaker, who also headed the London office of March of Time in the late 1930s. 

Anstey is probably best known for co-directing the groundbreaking film Housing Problems (1935) and went on to become a prominent producer, notably as head of British Transport Films.