Island People (1941)

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The British Council Film Collection is an archive of more than 120 short documentary films made by the British Council during the 1940s designed to show the world how Britain lived, worked and played. Preserved by the BFI National Film Archive and digitised by means of a generous donation by Google, the films are now yours to view, to download and to play with for the first time.Diverse Britain is captured on film in Island People, depicting the scope and scale of British life and showcasing major cities' involvements in agriculture, industry and commerce. The fourth wall is removed from rural and urban homes as we gain insight into the day-to-day lives of the British family; their varied careers, an unwavering passion for sport and dancing and a love for the occasional, well-deserved drink at a traditional public house.
This film aims to instil within the minds of its viewers that the fundamental values of British society are hard work, sport, family, home and togetherness. It demonstrates how the overwhelming proportion of the British public are pillars of the community working not just for themselves but for others around them, strengthening the idea of a communal British nation.
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[@karensheldon1366]

Our perfect island. Of course she wasn’t perfect but it was our island.

[@rayrumming7901]

Oh to go back in time.

[@smegmalyzer]

+Ray Rumming thats right, a war, good idea

[@arriesone1]

Ray Rumming If only eh.

[@alexandergordon7203]

Churchill: 'Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth[e] last for a thousand years, men will still say, "This was their finest hour." '

[@hhoward14]

That was when children could be trusted not to knock the oil lamp over...

[@garythomas6410]

When adults were in charge.

[@blakepablo1035]

Instablaster.

[@andrewgibbon-williams7974]

There once was a time when Great Britain set standards of civilised behaviour. Almost the entire world acknowledged it. This culture had evolved on the back of disgraceful colonialist exploitation. Notwithstanding that horror, most people in the UK and the Empire/Commonwealth appreciated its stability. People, wherever, like to know where they stand. This culture is now extinct. Many regret its passing.

[@kiwitrainguy]

This film was probably shown in the USA at the time to help convince them to come in to the war on the British side.

[@thinking-as-I-wander]

That film was Mrs Miniver...... Before its release 90% of Americans were against coming to the aid of the British-----after its release 90% of Americans were in favor of immediately helping the British

[@coleenallen5963]

We were so proud I was as a boy when I saw an Army Band it was very British we were one But now gone to far we need English people looking after England that’s why it was Great Britain Very Sad

[@aardvarkmcgillicuddy]

Unfortunately, no longer separated from Europe by the English Channel.

[@greghill7759]

Oh, how times change. Happy now?

[@Signals927]

Those were the day's.

[@frantisekjanosik5339]

good history document.

[@uaung6140]

very good history

[@michaeljamesmacaulay1689]

Ahh ~ the good old days when humans "made the world go round". Now humans are controlled by computers, and mistakes are blamed upon the machines. "Hi-Tech" will eventually render humans redundant.

[@marcioferreira8538]

Belas imagens 👍👍

[@danielgreen3715]

This is what it is to be English where did we go???

[@pmacc3557]

Now that is team work of a unified country !

[@kerriegrant6293]

Ah i remember this world, i was born in april 1941, when sanity ruled

[@pauledwards6723]

I don’t think sanity ruled in 1941 by a long shot

[@edwardkerrigan5356]

@@pauledwards6723 Compared to today it did.

[@edwardkerrigan5356]

@@pauledwards6723 Were you around in 1941? If not you can't judge.

[@Ess666]

@@edwardkerrigan5356 jesus effin christ - are you allowed out on your own

[@edwardkerrigan5356]

@@Ess666 Yes - when Covid doesn't interfere.

[@mathewgreen4099]

A nice short, thanks for posting.

[@jpstenino]

Excellent photohraphy

[@kesmarn]

"Stenographer Jane knows much more about the stock market than her employer. In fact she is the only reason he still has a job. Jane makes one tenth of the money that her employer does. Unfortunately the "fringe benefits" he keeps offering involve nothing that she is interested in."

[@photosphotos]

I thought there was a war on? I must have been mistaken, oh well.

[@johnjones6601]

Shot in the year 1941 BE

[@ianperry9914]

How do we get it back .

[@nemo6686]

Easy: invent a time machine and warn people that voting for government to provide services is an exercise in egoism doomed to failure. I'd set it for May 1945, when National Socialist Germany had been defeated and the British people immediately elected a government of socialists promising nationalisation.

[@modestMouseism]

/pol/ was right

[@gavinreid8351]

48 million. Now closer to 67.

[@sarahlouise7163]

nearer 80 at least now

[@sarahlouise7163]

almost twice the population in 2023

[@PIANOPHUNGUY]

Of course he meant to say soccer.

[@kevinbrigginshaw719]

I LIVE THERE.... BUT WORK IN HAITI..

[@anuradhainamdar8967]

If this was the scenario in 1941 then it is certainly frightening because it means that mothers are use tubful of water to bathing children, grass mowers emitting carbon is already in use which is alarming for environment. Now the earth is burdened by about 9 billion people wasting water in watering grass lawn and using water in bathing their children in bathtubs, the situation in the poorer countries like India is more horrendous because it is using its precious ground water in tube wells. And so we have been handed a urgent problem of environmental damage, degradation, denudation ,extreme fragile ecology.

[@nemo6686]

Wow: I'm sure they had bigger environmental concerns in 1941 than lawn-mowers. As to the water - do you expect them to send it to India? How does consumption in places where water is abundant affect people where water's scarce?

[@olivercromwell9500]

What a load southen crap

[@billstamford1043]

Where did they go then. I mean one minuet their there and then they are gone. Don't seem all that activity counted for much. I better stop there or the label of Racialist will come to mind.

[@smegmalyzer]

+Bill Stamford where did who go then? 1941, there was a war on