This film is part of Free

Title of error

Signs of the Times No 196

Looking for some monkey business, a rush job, or some spurious medical treatments? Look no further!

1945 4 mins Silent

Overview

When did you last wake up your liver bile? Just one of the questions you didn’t know you wanted an answer to in this varied advertising cinemagazine. Wallace Publicity’s long-running cinema series was in many ways a forerunner of commercial television, bookending feature content with ads that paid the bills, and often proved more entertaining.

Country

Great Britain

Language

No Dialogue with English subtitles

Watch for free

The Warning (Gibbs S.R. Toothpaste) The Warning (Gibbs S.R. Toothpaste)

Advert 1941 5 mins

An amazingly complex cinema ad, disguised as a trailer for a film that never existed

Watch for free

Symphony in Colour (Persil Advert) Symphony in Colour (Persil Advert)

Advert 1942 5 mins

Super soft-sell Persil ad, in the guise of a lush Technicolor essay on colour itself.

Watch for free

Music Hath Charms Music Hath Charms

Advert 1935 4 mins

Pratfalls galore in rib-tickling commercial for Bush radios.

Watch for free

Every Man His Own Housewife (Persil Advert) Every Man His Own Housewife (Persil Advert)

Advert 1940 3 mins Silent

This propaganda advert encourages housewives to use Persil, the powder that gives “longer life to your linens”.

Watch for free

Let's Ask the Ladies Let's Ask the Ladies

Musical 1937 23 mins

A Co-op window dresser dreams of his mannequins coming to life in this musical fashion fantasy.

Watch for free

Murder in the Air Murder in the Air

Advert 1935 4 mins Silent

“There is nothing you can beat about the Bush”: the wireless wows in this stylish ad for Bush Radio.

Watch for free

Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A

Short interview 2024 24 mins

Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.

Watch for free

Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A

Short interview 2024 30 mins

Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.

Watch for free

Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell

Documentary 2024 42 mins

Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.

Watch for free

Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels

Short documentary 2024 12 mins

Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.