British Pathe

See also 3467.04 which may be better quality version of this documentary.

Reel 2 continued. Beginning of reel missing? Street scene - unidentified town, could be York. Outside of the Rowntrees factory which has well kept grounds (not a dark-satanic-mills type factory). Factory interior. High...

See also 3467.04 which may be better quality version of this documentary.

Reel 2 continued. Beginning of reel missing? Street scene - unidentified town, could be York. Outside of the Rowntrees factory which has well kept grounds (not a dark-satanic-mills type factory). Factory interior. High shot showing large number of women working in white overalls and caps. Narrator states that some firms have realised that : "...the secret of good work is a well housed and therefore happy, healthy and contented staff." Closer shot of two women working. They seem to be making decorated boxes. High shot of the workers leaving the factory. Women in white overalls and hats walk down one side of a path, women in ordinary work clothes - many pushing bicycles walk down the other side. C/U of a tree moving in the wind. Shots of lovely new houses built for the workers. Semidetached houses and bungalows. Woman seen picking flowers in her garden and C/U of a garden path with roses growing along it - very idyllic. Street sign - Crabtree Grove 1 to 10. C/U of apple tree branch. Children run around in a courtyard seen through an archway. A young girl throws a ball for her cat. Inside the school - specially built for the estate. Teachers open large windows. Children seated at desks in the foreground. Shot from outside the school shows children seated at their desks inside. Closer shot of the children sitting at their desks drinking milk. Children run around in the school playground - L/S. Men working at drawing boards preparing plans for new housing. C/Us of the men working and of the plans showing blocks of flats. Panning shot of a Ministry of Labour Employment Exchange. Men stand around outside another employment exchange. Good shot of working men queuing up to collect their pay. They walk towards the camera, most wear flat caps and some smoke. "Now they are drawing thousands of pounds a week in wages instead of unemployment benefit." Men collect their pay packets from the General Foreman who stands outside his office. "Happy Days are Here Again" plays on the soundtrack. L/S of a quarry. Northamptonshire - dredging the blue clay for flint and bricks. Large steam powered mechanical digger in M/S. Interior of a brick factory - young boy pulls bricks off a production line. Outside the factory - two men stack bricks. Interior of a foundry L/S of two men having a smoke. Bath factory.

Montage of processes involved in making baths. Hot metal is poured into a bucket. C/U of stream of hot metal. L/S of the factory floor. A bath is pulled from a furnace on a pulley system. Two men dust powder over the bath - they wear protective face masks. High angle shot of five men pushing baths through the factory - many baths are stacked up around the factory floor. Exterior shot of baths stacked up with straw between them. Montage of timber industry. Interior of a sawmill. Window frames moving along a production line. Young boy lifts frame from a machine and stacks on top of some other frames. M/S of stacks being moved on trolleys. Exterior of the sawmill - planks of wood are moved by crane. Planks seen being lifted into mill. Top shot of factory floor - window frames stacked everywhere, men at work. Forge - sparks emerging from machines as metal window frames are made. Panning shot of men at work on various welding and riveting machines. C/U of man at work in welding mask - sparks fly. High angle shot of window frames being lifted on to trucks. Paint factory. Man works at a large vat where a wheel moves around mixing paint. C/U of the wheel moving through the paint - narrator states: "The wheels of industry are turning." C/U of paint pouring out of the machine into a bucket. C/U of mixing mechanism. Foreman checks barrels and checks something off on his paperwork. Wallpaper factory. Shot of the factory floor. Swathes of white fabric travel through a factory on a pulley system (pulley system not seen) Closer shot of the fabric with light and shadows on the material - nice, arty images. "Today there is no reason why the family moving from the slum should not be given the opportunity of choosing their own colour schemes and decorative designs for the new home". Various shots of a wallpaper factory. Paper seen passing through various machines. L/S of part of the factory where the pattern is printed on the paper using blocks. Good sequence showing man in M/S printing pattern on wallpaper by placing block down then placing weight upon it. L/S of group of women placing pattern on long expanses of wallpaper by painting through stencils. C/U of one of the woman as she uses a large brush and stencil. Building site montage - good shots of men at work digging, laying bricks, tying scaffolding, carrying hods up ladders etc.

Interior shots of plasterer at work. New block of flats in Plymouth under construction. Panning shot of the flats. Rents will be from six and six pence per week including rates - every flat will have electric light and a bathroom as a matter of course. Sheffield - new flats are seen in L/S. Slum housing is contrasted with a row of new housing with gardens in foreground. Closer view with children playing in front of the houses. Manchester's new block of workers flats is seen. Shots of the flats are contrasted with Manchester's slum areas. New block is called Bennet or Kennet House. "Already the better part of 20,000 people have been rescued." New semi-detached houses and flats in Bradford are shown. Slum areas in Portsmouth contrasted with new estate - two boys walk along, possibly off to school. Shot of a street sign which reads: "3rd Avenue." More shots of new housing including some moving shots of a wide avenue and pull back of new street in Yarmouth. Bristol - new accommodation contrasts with old. Nottingham and Birmingham's new housing. London - new housing estate at Wandsworth. "Two of the newest tenants here are Lenny and Molly..." we see the children walking along a pavement. They wave to their mother and she waves back. Nice shot of the mother kissing both children at the entrance to the flats. High angle shots of a baby being bathed by mother. Lenny and Molly sit on a large bed with brass bedposts. They bounce on the bed with the baby. This is contrasted with a shot of the baby crying in bed in the slum house. Shot of bedroom with a single bed. Mother is pouring tea for Lenny - he and Molly are sitting at the dinner table in their new home (looks like a set.) There is a knock at the door. Two men come into the house, they have just come to see "if everything is all right". Very stilted conversation takes place. One of the men is very upright and smartly dressed. He says: "This is a transformation." She replies: "Yes it's a lovely house sir." He asks if the boy is Lenny and touches Lenny's hair. The mother says, "Yes and that's Molly over there..." C/U of Molly eating. The mother says: "It's much better than the old place, just like living in a new world." The mother has a strong London accent. Shot of large numbers of children in a playground. They play on the "Witches Hat" and on a swinging bench. Top shot of large number of mothers carrying babies.

Panning shot of lots of toddlers sitting on a bench. Good baby shots. Babies eating and drinking, playing, holding a teddy bear etc. "If only for the sake of the children we must press on with measures for dealing with the great problem of the slums. The future belongs to them, let us see to it that at any rate they are given the chance of becoming decent, clean living human beings. The race marches forward on the feet of the children." Ends on big C/U of baby's face. "Land of Hope and Glory" on the soundtrack.

Note: Damaged perfs on pos of reel 1 and incomplete, therefore neg of reel 1 is working copy. Neg of reel 2 has rack problems, therefore use pos. Digibeta exists in London Office.

Cuts exist - see separate record.