This film is part of Free

The Story of John M'Neil

Here in this tuberculosis nest lived the family of John M'Neil...

Drama 1911 22 mins Silent

Overview

This dramatised account of the experiences of a Scottish family devastated by tuberculosis is believed to be the first British health education film. Ill-ventilated slum tenements, such as the one shown here (the "Tuberculosis Nest") were breeding grounds for the deadly disease. The film offers practical guidance as well as a message of hope and was widely shown across Britain, usually accompanied by a lecture.

The filmmaker, Halliday Gibson Sutherland, was a British doctor and author. He researched and wrote widely about tuberculosis and in the year he made this film he founded a tuberculosis clinic and an open-air school for children - like the one featured in this film - in the bandstand of Regent's Park in London.