The Arnold Documentaries - an update

Here's an updated list of all the Arnold documentaries I have managed to trace since compiling my 1986 Faber catalogue. Sharp-eyed readers will notice that titles such as "Devil on Horseback" and "Gilbert & Sullivan" are now no longer included under documentaries as these turned out to be feature films!
The various film archives which hold these titles are shown in [square brackets] after the date of composition. Key to their abbreviations are as follows:

[BFI] British Film Institute
[BrP] British Pathe
[BPFA] British Petroleum Film Archive
[CW] Cine Wessex
[FI] Film Images
[HFA] Huntley Film Archive
[IWM] Imperial War Museum
[RAFM] Royal Air Force Museum
[SFA] Shell Film Archive
[SSA] Scottish Screen Archive

N.B. Not all these titles held in archives will necessarily be viewing copies (some rarer material will be classified as preservation copies) and researchers/film buffs should check this out with the relevant archivist before they arrive.

Alan Poulton, 2003

Avalanche Patrol - Swiss Avalanche Patrol (1947)
Director: Jack Swain
Music played by: London Symphony Orchestra/John Hollingsworth

'Accident Prevention Concerns You'* - a series of nine flashes ('shorts') - Crown Film Unit for the Royal Air Force (1948) [RAFM]
[1. Refuelling Procedures 2. Pre-flight Checks 3. Care with Improvisation
4. Flight Authorisation Book 5. Switching-off Procedures 6. Oxygen Mask Care 7. Escape Hatch Security 8. Ground Crew Vigilance 9. Slipstream Dangers]
Music played by: Orchestra/John Hollingsworth
(*the series was filmed at RAF Grimston during the summer of 1948)

Charting the Seas - Realist for the Central Office of Information/ Admiralty (1948) [BFI/IWM]
Director: Harold Lowenstein
Music played by: Orchestra/John Hollingsworth

Gates of Power - Anglo-Scottish Films for the Board of Trade/GFD (1948) [BFI]
Alt. Title: Stairway to the Sea
Director: Anthony Squires
Music played by: Orchestra/James Walker

Report on Steel - Data Films for the Central Office of Information/Ministry of Suppy (1948) [BFI]
Director: Michael Orrom
Music played by: Orchestra/John Hollingsworth
(in 1951 Arnold re-worked the music into his Symphonic Study"Machines" for brass, percussion and strings Op.30)

'Mining Review' series* - Data Films for the Central Office of Information and the National Coal Board (1948) [BFI]
Director: Michael Orrom
Music played by: Orchestra/Malcolm Arnold
(* research on-going for exact title(s))

Every Drop to Drink - World Wide Films for Metropolitan Water Board/ British Lion(1948) [BFI]
Alt.Title: Hydrography
Director: Mary Francis
Narrator: Frederick Allen
Music played by: Orchestra/John Hollingsworth

Queen of the Border - Crown Film Unit for the Central Office of Information/Board of Trade (1948) [BFI/SSA]
Alt.title: Hawick
Director: Martin Wilson
Music played by: Orchestra/John Hollingsworth

The Struggle for Oil - 'This Modern Age'* series No.20 (1948) [BFI]
(this was the first of many films in the `This Modern Age' series for which Arnold provided the music - it is probable that Muir Mathieson conducted them all. The series producer for the J.Arthur Rank Organisation was Sergei Nolbandov and the series associate producer and Literary Editor was James L.Hodson)
Music played by: London Symphony Orchestra/Muir Mathieson

Women in Our Time - 'This Modern Age' series No.22 (1948) [HFA*]
(* HFA have the soundtrack on 78rpm discs only)

Lancashire's Time for Adventure - 'This Modern Age' series No.23 (1948) [BFI]
Alt.title: Cotton

E.V.Ws.(European Voluntary Workers) - Data Films for the Central Office of Information (1949)
Director: Michael Orrom
Music played by: Orchestra/John Hollingsworth

This Farming Business - Green Park (1949)
Music played by: Orchestra/John Hollingsworth

The Frasers of Cabot Cove - Green Park for the Central Office of Information (1949)
Alt. title: An Island Story
Director: Humphrey Swingler
Music played by: Orchestra/John Hollingsworth

Drums for a Holiday - Anglo-Scottish Films/British Lion (1949) [BFI]
Director: A. R. Taylor
Music played by: Orchestra/James Walker

Terra Incognita - Verity (1949) [BFI]
Music played by: Orchestra/Malcolm Arnold

The Beautiful (Fair) County of Ayr - Anglo-Scottish Films/British Lion (1949) [SSA]
Director: Charles Heath
Music played by: Orchestra/James Walker
(some of the music was later incorporated into the third movement of the Four Scottish Dances Op.59)

Dollars and Sense - Crown Film Unit (1949) [BFI]
Director: Diana Pine
Music played by: Orchestra/John Hollingsworth

Fight for a Fuller Life - 'This Modern Age' series No.30 (1949) [BFI]

Trieste: Problem City - 'This Modern Age' series No.32 (1949) [BFI]

When you went away - 'This Modern Age' series No. 33 (1949) [BFI]

The Riddle of Japan - 'This Modern Age' series No.35 (1949) [BFI/IWM]

Where Britain Stands - 'This Modern Age ' series No.36 (1950) [BFI]

Science in the Orchestra - Realist for the Central Office of Information/Ministry of Education (1950) [BFI/HFA]
This series of three films won First Prize in the Music Section of the Venice International Film Festival in 1951 - they were designed as the scientific counterpart of the 1946 film Instruments of the Orchestra where the music was provided by Benjamin Britten.
[The titles of the three films are:
1. Hearing the Orchestra 2. Exploring the Intruments 3. Looking at Sounds]
Director: Alex Strasser
Music played by: Orchestra/Muir Mathieson

'Oil Review' series No.5 - Green Park (1950) [BFI]
Music played by: Orchestra/John Hollingsworth

ECA (Electrical Contractor's Association) Productivity Team* (1950)
(*this may an alternative title for the following film)

Fifty Acres - Green Park for the British Electrical Development Association (1950) [BFI]
Director: Peter Plaskitt
Music played by: Orchestra/John Hollingsworth

'Airways' series Nos. 1-3 - John Harvel (1950) [BFI]
[The titles of the three films are:
1. Standard Beam Approach 2. Airport Control 3. Area Control]
Music played by: Orchestra/John Hollingsworth

'This is Britain' series* - Crown Film Unit for the Central Office of Information/Board of Trade (1950) [BFI]
Music played by: Orchestra/John Hollingsworth
(* research on-going for exact titles(s))

Alien Orders - Crown Film Unit for the Central Office of Information (1950)[BFI]
Alt. Title: Malaya
Music played by: Orchestra/John Hollingsworth

Power for All - 'The Changing Face of Europe' series No.1 - Wessex Films (1950) [BFI/IWM]
Director: Anthony Squires
Series Producer: Graham Wallace
Narrator: Leo Genn
Music played by: Orchestra/Malcolm Arnold

Men and Machines - 'The Changing Face of Europe' series No.4 - Wessex Films (1950) [IWM]
Director: Ian Dalrymple
Music played by: Orchestra/Malcolm Arnold

The Local Newspaper* - Crown Film Unit for Central Office of Information/Foreign, Commonwealth Relations and Colonial Offices (1952)[BFI/FI/IWM]
Music played by: Orchestra/John Hollingsworth
(* the story of the Newbury Weekly News)

Channel Islands - British Transport Films for British Transport Commission (1952)[BFI/HFA]
Director: Michael Orrom
Music played by: Orchestra/Malcolm Arnold
(VHS format available for sale from British Transport Films)

The Island - Data Films for the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (1952)[BFI]
Alt. title: Kent Oil Refinery
Director: Peter Pickering
Music played by: Orchestra/John Hollingsworth

Copenhagen, City of Towers - Seven League Productions for Fitzpatrick Traveltalk (1952)
Director: Hans M.Nieter
Narrator: Richard Ainley

Man of Africa - Group Three/Regent (1953)[BFI]
Alt.Title: Kigusi Story
Director: Cyril Frankel
Editor: Alvin Bailey
Narrator: Gordon Heath
Music played by: Orchestra/Malcolm Arnold

Powered Flight: the Story of the Century - Shell Film Unit for Shell Petroleum (1953) [BFI/HFA/IWM]
Documentary based on original research for the Royal Aeronautical Society by Adrian de Potier
Editor: Ralph Sheldon
Music played by: Orchestra/Malcolm Arnold

New Zealand - 'The Royal Tour' series No3. - Pathe Documentary Unit for Associated British Pathé (1954) [BrP]
Editor: Lionel Hoare
Series producer: Howard Thomas
Music played by: Orchestra/Muir Mathieson

Welcome to the Queen - Pathe Documentary Unit for Associated British Pathé (1954) [BrP] [BFI]
Music written in conjunction with Sir Arthur Bliss
Editor: Lionel Hoare
Narrator: Edward Ward
Music played by: Orchestra/Muir Mathieson

Continued

'War in the Air'* - BBC Television Service with the Air Ministry (1954-55) [IWM]
[*There were a total of fifteen films in this series - titles and transmission dates of those scored by Malcolm Arnold were as follows:
1. The Fated Sky (8 November 1954) 4. Maximum Effort (29 November 1954) 10. Operation Overlord (10 January 1955)]
Written and produced by John Elliot
Series director: Philip Doreté
Instr: 2/1/2/1 - 4/3/3/1 - timp. perc. str.
Music played by: London Symphony Orchestra/Muir Mathieson
(complete series available on VHS format from DD video Nos. 3358/9)

Let go For'ard - Esso Film Unit for Esso Petroleum (1955) [BFI/CW]
Music played by: Orchestra/Malcolm Arnold

Roses Tattoo - Anglo-Scottish Pictures (1956)
Music played by: Orchestra/James Walker

Coupe des Alpes* - Shell Film Unit for Shell Petroleum (1958) [BFI/HFA/SFA]
Director: John Armstrong
Music played by: Orchestra/Malcolm Arnold
(*also used as a BBC-2 Trade Test Film in the sixties)

North Sea Strike - Gerald Holdsworth Productions for Esso Petroleum (1967) [BFI/CW]
Director: Don Kelly
Music played by: Orchestra/Malcolm Arnold

Divertimento - British Petroleum (1968) [BPFA]
(*the soundtrack is the 1952 Divertimento Op.37. The visual content of the film is explained by the caption at the start. "To those seeking wider knowledge of the ways and uses of oil the microscope reveals a world of beauty." The film was one of a series of twenty from BP used on BBC-2 Television as a trade test colour film. It was first shown on 29 December 1969 and finally on 20 August 1973.)