This film is part of Free
Double Thread
The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds (1940s-style) at a nursery in Guildford.
Documentary 1943 33 mins
Overview
This wartime documentary is really rather special - think of a 1940s precursor to Channel 4's The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds. Filmed at a Guildford nursery school, it portrays a typical day for infants in nursery daycare. In 1943, a small crew spending hours in the company of children with a bulky, whirring 35mm film camera faced a far more daunting task than a production team filming kids today using fixed-rig digital cameras. The results are almost endlessly fascinating.
The film was produced within the Rank empire (note the opening gong), reflecting J Arthur Rank's Christian philanthropic interests: the religious film organisation he supported paid for the film as a piece of 'free' sponsorship on behalf of the Nursery Schools Association. Director Mary Field was one of Britain's most successful female filmmakers, an experienced maker of natural history and schools films who later headed the Children's Film Foundation. Field's background as an educationalist put her in good stead for this project. The 'double thread' of the title is the complementary influence of parenting and daycare. Book-end scenes representing home life seem to have been staged in a studio, making the bulk of the film, shot on location in a more observational style, all the more impressive. Naturally it's a dated and idealised vision of childhood, playing out in an impossibly orderly environment (this is leafy Surrey after all...) beneath a slightly stiff narration. But it still feels broadly humane and progressive over seventy years later.
Subjects
Related
The Camera is Ours: Britain's Women Documentary Makers
Frida Kahlo & Tina Modotti Frida Kahlo & Tina Modotti
Documentary 1983 30 mins
Immerse yourself in the work of Frida Kahlo and Tina Modotti - icons of the Mexican Renaissance.
Once We Were Four Once We Were Four
Documentary 1942 9 mins
Innocent bunnies face an onslaught of badgers, bombs and birds of prey in this black comedy masquerading as a nature film.
Tunde's Film Tunde's Film
Documentary drama 1973 40 mins Location: Stepney
Tired of being hassled by the police and with no job opportunities, a group of teenage East End lads plan to rob a bank.
So This Is London So This Is London
Documentary 1933 14 mins Silent Location: Westminster
London at its best? This gorgeous lyrical portrait was made by pioneering female director Marion Grierson.
Black to Front Black to Front
Current affairs 1978 27 mins Location: Brixton
World in Action interviews the residents of Haycroft Road, Brixton as a controversial by-election stokes concerns about race and immigration.
Spring on the Farm Spring on the Farm
Documentary 1933 8 mins
The exhilaration of spring in the country – blossom, piglets, ducklings and more delights on the farm.
Guildford
Captain Birdseye in Guildford Captain Birdseye in Guildford
Amateur film 1985 2 mins Location: Guildford
Join Captain Birdseye in Guildford as he appears at a fun run through the town - and guess what's showing at the Odeon
Aspects of Guildford Aspects of Guildford
Amateur film 1983 9 mins Location: Guildford
Enjoy John Cant's sardonic visual essay about the historic town of Guildford - where dereliction is contrasted with richly historical vignettes and a pancake race
Your New Cathedral Your New Cathedral
Announcement 1939 5 mins Location: Guildford
There might be a war on but funds are still needed to complete Guildford's People's Cathedral - that's the message from the Provost in this fund-raising film from 1939
Winter Tour Winter Tour
Documentary 1949 10 mins Silent Location: Barnes Common
A grand coach tour makes its way to Hampshire, Dorset and Devon, leaving London far behind
Fanciful Wheels Fanciful Wheels
Amateur film 1965 5 mins Silent Location: Guildford
Classic car fans will love this amusing comedy featuring garages, showrooms, crazy sunglasses, serving hatches and a bizarre dream sequence
The National Fire Service in Woking and a Pump Relay competition in Guildford The National Fire Service in Woking and a Pump Relay competition in Guildford
Amateur film 1942 7 mins Silent Location: Woking
Men of the NFS demonstrate their fire fighting equipment skills before an audience in this splendid colour film from 1942. And the best crews get the best prizes.
New
How to Die Young in Manila How to Die Young in Manila
Drama 2020 12 mins
A teenage boy trails a group of young hustlers, thinking one of them may be his anonymous hook-up for the night.
The Summer of 12 The Summer of 12
Drama 2019 25 mins
Amongst the young members of a swimming team, the onset of puberty brings unwanted challenges.
Melt Melt
Drama 2018 12 mins
When Little Jia is asked to read his essay about how he spent Women's Day with his mother out loud in class, he has to hide the sad truth that only his friend Dong knows.
We Outlaws We Outlaws
Drama 2019 33 mins
China in the early 1990s. By day, Chen Shi is a man employed in a textile workshop. At night, she is a woman in a red dress. One evening, she falls in love with a man she meets at a dance hall.
Langit Budak Biru Langit Budak Biru
Drama 2018 23 mins
Two teenage boys in a Malaysian boarding school wrestle with the challenges of bullying and identity.
Kiss of the Rabbit God Kiss of the Rabbit God
Fantasy 2019 15 mins
A Chinese-American restaurant worker falls in love with an 18th century Qing dynasty god, who visits him at night and leads him on a journey of sexual awakening and self-discovery.