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Jet-propelled Germs
One of several highly entertaining films from Richard Massingham about the dangers of uncontrolled sneezing.
Overview
This is one of four simple but highly entertaining films (the others being Coughs and Sneezes, 1945; Influenza, 1946, and Handkerchief Drill, d. Michael Orrom, 1949) which Richard Massingham made about the dangers of uncontrolled sneezing. Just as in Coughs and Sneezes, this has Massingham being addressed by an unseen commentator. He has barely been asked what he would do with a pint of beer before he has finished it. The sound effect is more like a pool being emptied.
Overall, this puts its message across in a more straightforward way than the earlier film. It is interesting as a filmic extension of wartime posters featuring rhyming slogans. A selection of over 20 films from one of British cinema’s most fascinating and enduring eccentrics is available on BFI DVD: How To Be Eccentric: The Selected Films of Richard Massingham. This government film is a public record, preserved and presented by the BFI National Archive on behalf of The National Archives, home to more than 1,000 years of British history.
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