The C.O.I. Collection

Discuss releases by the BFI and the films on them.

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Bleddyn Williams
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#101 Post by Bleddyn Williams » Thu Dec 01, 2011 2:57 pm

Its funny you should say that, Michael, as reviewing my sets, I seemed to remember that Lonely Water looked way different on the Vol. 4 set compared with Charley Says.

I just took a look at both versions - the Charley version is blue and faded, while the BFI version has rich colour and looks grand. Way, way better.

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MichaelB
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#102 Post by MichaelB » Thu Dec 01, 2011 3:06 pm

One of the main reasons the BFI was encouraged to take over the COI collection in the first place was that it was just about the only organisation in the country with the technical resources and cultural remit both to preserve the original film elements and to create new HD transfers to contemporary standards on a large scale - something that had become increasingly essential as the TV production companies who were the main market for archive COI clips demanded higher technical standards than the old analogue masters were capable of delivering.

I interviewed Tony Dykes (producer of the COI DVD volumes) and Katy McGahan (the main cataloguer) about all this here.

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antnield
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#103 Post by antnield » Thu Feb 16, 2012 5:44 am

Volume Seven: The Queen on Tour
To mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee the BFI has conducted an extensive search through the National Archive to unearth a wealth of fascinating and illuminating footage on a range of Royalty-related subjects.

COI Volume 7: The Queen on Tour brings together a number of Central Office of Information productions which capture the Royal family between 1953 and 1971. With unprecedented access to the royal household, the films in this unique collection provide a valuable and indispensable record of royal tours and state visits, and also include revealing portraits of the Queen and her children.
Release date: 14th May 2012

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MichaelB
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#104 Post by MichaelB » Thu Feb 16, 2012 6:00 am

Yup - I'm working on a couple of the booklet pieces right now.

It's a fascinating research job: the films are cinematically pretty negligible (essentially glossy travelogues with added bowing and scraping), but the history behind them is far more intriguing. For instance, a film about a royal visit to Iran in 1961 can't help but be riveting for all sorts of reasons, especially when they visit an Iranian nuclear facility. (Naturally, the film doesn't say anything about Britain's role in the coup of 1953 - in fact, the notes are likely to devote as much if not more space to what the films don't say, along the lines of the note for Victory Parade in volume 3, which amongst other things explained why groups such as the Polish RAF squadron didn't take part, despite their obvious credentials).

I'm also happy to confirm that volume 8 is well into production - in fact, it was supposed to be volume 6, but it got pushed back thanks to commercial pressure for a sequel to Stop! Look! Listen! in the run-up to Christmas last year (volume 6 ended up as Worth the Risk), and then this Diamond Jubilee marketing opportunity popped up. So we should see that before too long - I don't think I'm allowed to reveal the subject yet, but it's one that hasn't been tackled by the COI series thus far.

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antnield
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#105 Post by antnield » Sat Mar 31, 2012 3:40 am


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MichaelB
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#106 Post by MichaelB » Thu Apr 05, 2012 8:10 am

Full specs announced for volume 7:
To coincide with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the BFI presents a wealth of rare royal films on two double-DVD sets: A Royal Occasion and The Queen on Tour

The BFI celebrates Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee with the release of two DVDs packed with rare and previously unavailable footage of the British royal family spanning a period of 75 years. A Royal Occasion: From Victoria to Elizabeth II and The COI Collection Volume Seven: The Queen on Tour, both released on 14 May 2012, will delight anyone with an interest in the monarchy, British history or the development of cinema. In addition to the wealth of remastered films on the discs themselves, both DVDs come complete with illustrated booklets containing comprehensive film notes and essays.

The COI Collection Volume Seven: The Queen on Tour

Volume Seven in the BFI’s DVD series celebrating the films made by the Central Office of Information (COI) presents wonderful colour footage of the Queen and the Royal Family travelling the world on official visits between 1953 and 1971. The COI – with unprecedented access to the royals – produced the 'official' record of royal tours and state visits and also commissioned and supervised a variety of retrospectives of the Queen and her family.

Highlights from this extraordinary collection of films, many of which were shot in exotic locations, include: Royal Destiny (1953), a look at the Queen's early life, made in her coronation year; The Queen's State Visit to Iran (1961), a fascinating film of the royal visit to Iran eight years after a British-and American-backed coup installed the Shah; Sierra Leone Greets the Queen (1962), a colourful account of the Queen's visit in the year of independence; and Britain Welcomes the Emperor and Empress of Japan (1971), a record of the controversial state visit from Emperor Hirohito and his wife.

Disc One
Royal Destiny (1953, 17 mins)
Southward with Prince Philip (1957, 12 mins)
Princess Margaret in Mauritius and East Africa (1959, 16 mins)
Life of a Queen (1960, 15 mins)
The Queen’s State Visit to Iran (1961, 13 mins)
Royal Children (1961, 19 mins)
Queen Elizabeth II in Pakistan (1961, 23 mins)

Disc Two
Sierra Leone Greets the Queen (1962, 21 mins)
Britain Welcomes the President of India (1963, 15 mins)
The Royal Tour of the Caribbean (1966, 28 mins)
Britain Welcomes the President of Pakistan (1966, 15 mins)
A State Visit to Turkey by Queen Elizabeth II (1971, 23 mins)
Britain Welcomes the Emperor and Empress of Japan (1971, 12 mins)

RRP: 19.99 / cat. no. BFIVD945 / Cert E / 2-disc set
UK / 1953-1971 / black & white and colour / optional English hard-of-hearing subtitles / 234 mins / DVD-9 x 2 / Original aspect ratio 1.33:1 / Dolby Digital mono audio (320kbps)

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ellipsis7
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#107 Post by ellipsis7 » Thu Apr 05, 2012 8:34 am

COI Vol. 2 - Design for Today finds strong resonance in the current V&A exhibition British Design 1948–2012: Innovation in the Modern Age...

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antnield
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#108 Post by antnield » Sun May 06, 2012 8:26 am

The director of Dark and Lonely Water (the Donald Pleasence-voiced one on volume four) recalls its making.

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MichaelB
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#109 Post by MichaelB » Sun May 06, 2012 8:42 am

Adrian Edmondson is presenting a COI tribute programme on ITV1 tomorrow at 10.15pm.
“The world. It's a dangerous place. But for 65 years there was a government agency whose one and only job was to protect us from our own stupidity, the Central Office of Information.” Ade Edmondson

Adrian Edmondson delves into the wonderful archives of the Central Office of Information, the government department responsible for making public information films, which is scheduled to close this month.

He takes us on a journey through the mini-movies and TV ads that for nearly 70 years have warned us of all kinds of dangers, from road safety to nuclear fallout. They have great nostalgia value for each generation, whether it is Charlie the Cat warning us of the dangers of falling into water, or Jimmy Savile advising us to ‘clunk click every trip’.

These influential films have helped shape attitudes and change the nation’s behaviour. Some are long-form masterpieces of black and white drama with a filmic feel, whilst others are shot like short glossy adverts. Some used humour to great effect, others left children quaking in their boots. The tone was crucial as Ade explains “For over half a century, the Central Office of Information made films alerting us to the dangers of the world. But the images they used had to avoid being overly shocking while at the same time driving home some potentially terrifying messages.”

Ade unearths some nostalgic gems and hidden treasures that provide a potted social history of Britain. From “Stranger Danger’ and ‘The Green Cross Code’ in the seventies, to eighties themes such as the dangers of drink-driving, playing with fireworks and sexually transmitted diseases. As he acknowledges “Of all the developed countries, Britain’s £20 million pound campaign was one of the earliest and perhaps partly due to this our HIV rates are still amongst the lowest in the world.”

Adrian will also come across the well-known figures that have given their time to keep us safe including Kevin Keegan, Donald Pleasance, Michael Aspel, Alvin Stardust and Ronnie Barker, alongside the characters iconic to our childhood such as Tufty the Squirrel and Joe & Petunia, the fat calamitous tourists.

Britain Beware serves up a quirky social history laced with nostalgia to mark the end of a great British institution that did its best to protect us from ourselves.
Given the glaring factual error in the very first sentence of that press release (the COI had far more functions than just issuing warning and safety films!), I'm not anticipating anything particularly rigorously researched, but the clips are usually good for a giggle.

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antnield
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#110 Post by antnield » Mon May 21, 2012 10:55 am

The Guardian takes a look at The Queen on Tour.

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MichaelB
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#111 Post by MichaelB » Mon May 21, 2012 11:04 am

On the basis of what I've seen so far (the two that I wrote up and the one about Prince Philip in Antarctica), this is a much more interesting and stimulating collection that I thought it would be - as the piece says, not so much for the royal element as for everything else.

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MichaelB
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#112 Post by MichaelB » Sun Jun 10, 2012 11:16 am

The Arts Desk (a combined review of The Queen on Tour and the non-COI compilation A Royal Occasion).

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antnield
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#113 Post by antnield » Wed Jun 13, 2012 6:24 pm

The Digital Fix on The Queen on Tour.

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MichaelB
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#114 Post by MichaelB » Sun Jan 27, 2013 8:01 am

The British Video Association confirms that volume 8, Your Children and You, will be out on April 15.

As that title suggests, it's a collection of films about childhood and parenting from birth through to schooling.

I'd probably best not reveal titles just yet, since the list I was sent a year ago may well be out of date, but it's a very safe bet that this film will be included!

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MichaelB
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#115 Post by MichaelB » Thu Mar 14, 2013 7:55 am

Full specs announced for Your Children and You:
The COI Collection Volume Eight
Your Children and You
Sound government advice on bringing up children

The latest volume in the BFI’s ongoing series of film collections from the archives of the Central Office of Information takes a look at social attitudes towards parenting and children in the post-war era. Hand-knitted woollies, a short back and sides, strict family roles, kids being encouraged to play outside, cut-glass English accents and endlessly charming boys and girls are all in evidence. And, somewhat surprisingly perhaps, there are no slaps, slippers or canes are to be found anywhere.

On 15 April 2013 the BFI releases Your Children and You, a fascinating DVD collection of Government-sponsored films from 1946-1985 advising parents, teachers, students and carers on pregnancy, birth, parenting, childhood, child development, child psychology and school days.

From 1940s films promoting healthy eating, good schooling and getting your little ones off to sleep - three crucial issues for today's parents - to a 1980s documentary on Mary Warnock's work around ethical issues in the early days of IVF, this unique collection charts our ever-evolving attitudes to child-rearing.

The majority of films here were made during the 1940s, when a spike in the birth rate immediately after World War II meant there was a pressing need to give clear and effective instructions to first-time parents on the dos and don'ts of bringing up baby.

Highlights of the collection include: Your Children and You (1946), an unexpectedly contemporary guide to the practicalities of caring for babies and youngsters; Children Growing Up with Other People (1947), an observational film about childhood and adolescence; The Three A's: A County Modern School (1947), a portrait of the pioneering and idyllic-looking Allertonshire County Modern School in North Yorkshire; Charley Junior's Schooldays (1949), in which Halas and Batchelor colour animation illustrates the workings of the new Education Act; and Children's Thought and Language (1971), which looks at the development of language and reasoning amongst young children.

Also included are four complementary bonus films about childbirth and motherhood from the collection held in the Wellcome Library, giving an insight into the pre-NHS health and welfare landscape before 1948. Three of the films feature newly recorded soundtracks. Bathing and Dressing (1935) is a meticulous demonstration of how to bathe and change a very young baby, Toxaemia of Pregnancy (1958) is an educational film about this serious condition, Maternity: A film of Queen Charlotte's Hospital (1935) is about antenatal and postnatal care in the 1930s, and Childbirth as an Athletic Feat (1939) demonstrates antenatal exercises suitable for mothers-to-be.

Disc One
Your Children and You (1946)
Children Growing Up with Other People (1947)
Your Children's Meals (1947)
The Three A's: A County Modern School (1947)
Charley Junior's Schooldays (1949)
plus bonus Wellcome Library films:
Bathing and Dressing, Parts 1 & 2 (1935) (new soundtrack)
Toxaemia of Pregnancy (1958) (original audio)

Disc Two
Your Children's Sleep (1948)
A Family Affair (1950)
Child Welfare (1962)
Children's Society: Aunts and Uncles (1960)
Children's Thought and Language (1971)
A Woman's Place (Test Tube Babies) (1985)
plus bonus Wellcome Library films:
Maternity: A film of Queen Charlotte's Hospital (1932) (new musical accompaniment)
Childbirth as an Athletic Feat (1939) (new musical accompaniment)

Special Features
In addition to the four Wellcome Library films, there is an illustrated booklet with essays and film notes by BFI National Archive curators and Wellcome Library experts.

Product Details
RRP: £19.99 / cat. no. BFIVD954 / Cert E
UK / 1946-1985 / black and white, and colour / English language, with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles / 185 minutes / DVD9 x 2 / Original aspect ratio 1.33:1

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antnield
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#116 Post by antnield » Sat Apr 06, 2013 12:27 pm

Two blog entries from Dr Felicity Ford on researching and creating the new soundtracks for Bathing and Dressing, Parts 1 &2: BATHING & DRESSING PARTS 1 & 2 and A TRIP TO THE BFI.

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antnield
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#117 Post by antnield » Sat Jul 20, 2013 3:08 pm

The Digital Fix on Your Children and You.

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MichaelB
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#118 Post by MichaelB » Thu Apr 02, 2020 12:21 pm

Full specs announced for the COI's Blu-ray debut (at least in terms of a dedicated collection as opposed to occasional extras):
The Best of COI
Five decades of Public Information Films

2-disc Blu-ray release on 20 April 2020


Established in April 1946, the Central Office of Information (COI) was the successor to the wartime Ministry of Information and went on to produce and distribute thousands of films for use across Britain, the Commonwealth and the world.

Although perhaps best remembered now for the short public information films, particularly from the 1970s, the COI’s huge range of films had different purposes, for instance some were aimed at specialist audiences and others were made to promote Britain abroad.

Reflecting that, this 2-disc Blu-ray collection, released by the BFI on 20 April 2020, brings together many of the COI's most loved (and in some cases feared) and most interesting productions from 1944 – 1981 which are now preserved in the BFI National Archive. Among them are Design for Today, Apaches, Lonely Water and Charley's March of Time along with two previously unreleased COI classics, Smoking and You and Waverley Steps.

Special features are four public information ‘fillers’, short but hard-hitting films designed to shock, including the chilling, iconic AIDS: Iceberg (1987), directed by Nic Roeg with music by Brian Eno.

Other renowned directors that passed through the portals of the COI include luminaries of the British documentary movement such as Paul Rotha, Humphrey Jennings and Lindsay Anderson and in later years the likes of Hugh Hudson (Chariots of Fire) and Peter Greenaway (The Draughtsman's Contract).

DISC 1
• Children of the City (1944)
• Brief City (1952)
• Design for Today (1965)
• Voyage North (1965)
• Lonely Water (1973)
• Drive Carefully, Darling (1975)
• Apaches (1977)
• Building Sites Bite (1978)
• Insight: Zandra Rhodes (1981)

DISC 2
• Your Children and You (1946)
• Waverley Steps (1948)
• Charley's March of Time (1948)
• What a Life! (1948)
• Another Case of Poisoning (1949)
• Riding on Air (1959)
• Smoking and You (1963)
• The Poet's Eye (1964)
• Opus (1967)
• Never Go With Strangers (1971)

Special features
• Searching (1974, 1 min): meticulously planned and expertly executed by director John Krish, Searching won the COI a Golden Lion at Venice. It still hits hard and still hurts
• Grain Drain (1975, 1 min): the perils of farmyard grain pits are laid bare in this filler that is simple yet terrifyingly effective
• Tornado Trailer (1985, 2 mins): cut together from the rushes of a longer COI film, Tornado, this adrenalin-filled two minutes features synth music by BAFTA-winning composer Chris Gunning
• AIDS: Iceberg (1987, 1 min) Part of perhaps the most chilling government campaign ever made, the features music by the legendary Brian Eno and was directed by Nic Roeg (Don’t Look Now)

Product details
RRP: £24.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1376/ E
UK / 1944-1981 / black and white, colour / 367 minutes / English language / original aspect ratios / BD50 x 2: 1080p, 24fps, PCM 1.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit)

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What A Disgrace
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Re: The C.O.I. Collection

#119 Post by What A Disgrace » Fri Apr 03, 2020 1:28 pm

What are the chances that the GPO or British documentary as a whole will get 'best of' treatment similar to this and British Transport Films?

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