British Pathe

c. 1956

Check copyright. Promotional film made to show range of television commercials made by Pathe. Film split into two parts - Macdonald Hobley's introduction and a history of Pathe is part 1.

(i) Dunlop Tubeless Tyres. C/U of a car tyre running over sharp item. Mechanic fits a...

c. 1956

Check copyright. Promotional film made to show range of television commercials made by Pathe. Film split into two parts - Macdonald Hobley's introduction and a history of Pathe is part 1.

(i) Dunlop Tubeless Tyres. C/U of a car tyre running over sharp item. Mechanic fits a tyre and fills it with air. Checks tyre by immersing in water. C/U of nail embedded in tyre, mechanic demonstrates how the hole is plugged using special kit. Posh commentator throughout. (ii) Top Secret.

C/U of a document reading "Top Secret". Three men at a desk say "It's Top Secret!". Woman turns from her typewriter to show camera a spray can of Max Factor's Top Secret hair spray. Shots of woman spraying hair in her boudoir in her underwear. Shot of woman being driven by a dishy man in an open topped sports car. Couple seen by a river, rowing team pass by. Woman in her boudoir with pin curls sprays hair. She then goes to a cocktail bar and gets lots of attention from the three men seen earlier.

(iii) Dunkies. Dunkie doodles: cartoons are drawn on screen by an unseen artist. Final doodle is of a doughnut. "Do not say doughnut say Dunkie".

(iv) Guards Trousers. Man drawing a cartoon on an easel - bemoaning men wearing dreadful old baggy trousers and recommending Guards. (v) Germolene. Mother puts Germolene on her sons knee. C/U of tin. Tommy rides his bike. (vi) Water Lilies Leaf Shampoo. C/U of a hand with a leaf of shampoo hooked over the middle finger and held in the palm. A Leaf is put on the hand then rubbed in to the hair. It is plugged as being "the most modern shampoo in the world".

(vii) Amami Wave Set. A woman and two men watch tennis. As their heads move from side to side they notice her beautiful hair. She is seen at home applying Amami Wave Set. She greets one of the tennis players who strokes her hair.

(viii) Hiltone: Animated sequence of a brunette looking dour. She perks up when her hair magically becomes blonde. Men bring her chocolates and flowers. Real action: brunette applies Hiltone to her hair with a brush. We then see her blonde with a beau. Animated woman appears from behind box of Hiltone, men wolf whistle. (ix) Setlers. Animated man looks grumpy. His face changes into a Setlers tablet. Pack of tablets. Man in a laboratory.

(x) Mum. Woman in tennis whites performs a serve. The tennis ball turns into the ball of a roll-on antiperspirant. Woman demonstrates the "built in marble". Woman in black lace nightwear applies Mum (looks bizarre as she is obviously not actually applying it because the sleeves are in the way). (xi) Brylcreem. Man in cricket whites looks at his trophies with woman beside him. Shot of Brylcreem. Man combs his hair. Woman admires his hair. (xii) Disprin. C/U of tablet dissolving then woman drinking the cloudy liquid. C/U of bottle and glass. (xiii) Twinings Teas. Woman dressed as Mrs Siddons in the early 1700s presents packet of Twinings to the camera.

xiv) Maxwell House. Animation. Mississippi Belle paddle boat passes an American house. Man and a woman sit on porch drinking Maxwell House. Good jingle. "America's favourite coffee!" C/U of tin of coffee, jug and cup. (xv) Black & Decker. C/U of some tools. Attachments for both housewife and handyman. (xvi) Maxwell House. Animation. Wedding of tycoon and dolly-bird. They go to Miami on their honeymoon and drink Maxwell House. (xv) Burtons. Household accidents - man spills ink and coffee on his trousers. Trousers get muddy walking through the rain. Burton's new stain resisting cloth Burtex is advertised. Graphic illustration of ordinary cloth absorbing liquid and Burtex resisting it.

(xvi) Hi Fi Lipstick from Max Factor. Glamour puss with jewels and fur tells the audience about the new lipstick - automatic refill which clicks into celebrity case (?!) etc. Extreme C/U of her holding the lipstick. (xvii) Mac Fisheries. Turkey taken out of an oven. Philip Harben (Harbin?) in a butchers apron asks why not have a Turkey at Easter? (xviii) Blackstone Opticians. Split screen shows four types of sport: ballroom dancing, football, motor racing and swimming. Whilst woman puts on a swimming cap and waves at camera voice over suggests that sports made easier for spectacle wearers by pair of contact lenses. (xviii) Electrolux. A hoover is seen inside the frame of an eye. (xix) Fred Fearnley Ltd. Scooters and Motorcycles. (xx) Scentinel Quiff. Air freshener. A man in an armchair sneezes - a woman's hand sprays the Quiff. Cigarette put out in an ashtray. Man in an apron frying something on the stove - lots of fumes coming off. Quiff is sprayed. Woman walks towards the camera carrying large bunch of flowers. (xxi) D.D.D. Woman holds her head in her hands (because she has spots). Graphic bars appear in front of her. She then smiles at the camera holding a box of D.D.D. (xxii) Dinneford's. Baby crying in a cot. Mother feeds it medicine. Baby sleeps. (xxiii) Setlers. Man holds his chest. Shot of a pack. Man in laboratory. (xxiv) Fray Bentos. Stop frame animation of three cans of soup, then some funny business stretching and squashing the image (using special lenses?) to a jazzy jingle. (xxv) Bread. Tray with teapot and cups and saucers and a toasted sandwich. Woman tells viewer how to make curried egg toasted sandwich. (Scrambled egg, margarine and pickle). The jingle is: "When it is time to have a break, have a sandwich" so presume it is an advert for bread in general.

(xxvi) Bristow's Hair Tonic. Man massages his head in front of a mirror. He puts some Bristow's in his hand then rubs it on to his head. Then combs his hair. (xxvii)Tide. Animation . Woman walks along with a basket collecting washing saying "Oh my, dirty again! Thank goodness for Tide". Real action: woman in her kitchen in an apron puts her washing in a machine. Washing flapping on a line. Pile of folded shirts. She places them on a shelf. (xxviii) Wm Younger's Beer. Animation with jingle. Wm Younger character sings a song praising the beer.

(xxviii) Fray Bentos. Cans pop on to the screen in formation to jingle. (xxviii) Heinz. Stop frame animation of a Christmas scene with angels. "Enjoy 1957 with Heinz 57 varieties". (xxix) Brylcreem. Cricket match. "You'd be stumped without your Brylcreem". Cricket ball in a man's cupped hands changes into jar of Brylcreem. (xxx) Peter Robinson. Two women side by side with graphics showing that one is 5 feet tall, the other 6 feet 2 inches. "Peter Robinson have a size for you".

(xxxi) Dunlop. A group of cyclists. (xxxii) Huntley and Palmers. Shopkeeper stacking tins of biscuits says that Huntley and Palmers is the first name he thinks of in biscuits. (xxxiii) Beryl Reid holds a bowling ball to her ear. She is playing a character called "Marlene". Jokes abound. She has beer bottles for earrings. Tray of M & B Bitter is brought up and placed on table. Marlene drinks a half.

(xxxiv) Tide. A family walks through a country village and down to a harbour. They run on the beach. The parents sit on the sand, the children play. Mother dries daughter's hair with a towel. Father takes a picture of the family group. Packet of Tide surrounded by clean folded clothes. (xxxv) Esso Extra. Irish, Scottish and Welsh characters sing song in praise of Esso.

(xxxvi) Love Story trailer - various lovey dovey shots of Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal. Montage of mostly still shots. (xxxvii) Chrysler Sunbeam ad. Petula Clark sings "Put a Chrysler Sunbeam in your life ...etc." Audience in studio seen, also cameramen and director. Petula and husband (?) seen putting luggage in the boot and getting into the car. C/U of car being started, gear stick, instrument panel etc. Petula presses the back seat to show how comfy it is. Car drives through country roads. They arrive at the television studio. More singing. It is rather fab!