Kitchen Magic - Fanny Cradock (1963) Gas Council Film NEW TRANSFER

This is a new version of a film I originally uploaded in 2008.
A promotional film made by Film Workshop for the UK Gas Council. Now with extra footage!
BFI Database: The Bon Viveur team, Johnnie and Fanny Craddock, demonstrate their skill to a young wife who learns that cooking can be fun and how to present dishes attractively.
This vintage technicolor 16mm print has been cleaned and uploaded in much higher quality than before. The original version of this film had to be shortened to get the running time under the limit that was in place on KZbin at the time. For the first time on KZbin this film is presented complete. Part of the opening titles were receated as they were missing.
The copyright in this film belongs to The National Gas Archive.
Reuploaded after accidental deletion

[@phillgreenland2390]

That is the most pleasant and kind I've EVER seen Fanny Cradock!

[@brunswickboy22]

I keep waiting for her to snap and start yelling at Sarah.

[@amiblueful]

She was being paid to stick to the script for the advert.

[@carolinewaite7185]

Me too lol! Probably got a huge commission from the Gas Board lol😂

[@phillgreenland2390]

@ LOLOLOL

[@phillipsimpson3359]

I'm ROOOAARING OUT LOUD!!!! 🤣🤣😂

[@melchestermodelrailway]

When she mentioned the word Omlette, I broke out in a cold sweat at the thought of her mince meat omlette!

[@Zoe-dr5ps]

Don't forget the icing sugar on top 🤮

[@hulapineapple]

Fanny’s entrance was spectacular! I hope to step out of an exploding tv someday.

[@finncullen]

Cheeky!

[@carolineg1872]

This is just wonderful. A time capsule of camp.

[@lucyhurst2534]

And that’s just Richard.

[@carolineg1872]

@Tom Lowery Who the fuck cares? Any way, Fanny Craddock played up to her image, that's how she sold books and realized people wanted to see her Bette Davies on crack image. Therefore, that's camp.

[@simonjones7727]

@@lucyhurst2534 LOL!

[@5thdimensionliving727]

Mr and Mrs Craddock were incredible in this video 😊 such clear and coherent explanations 🙏

[@simonjones7727]

They were fun, weren't they? The act had been honed in public lectures and presentations for years. Wicked, really. In the austere 1950s the government encouraged frugality. Fanny and Johnny went on stage and showed how to cook classic French Haute Cuisine, the dishes enlivened with cream, wine, spirits and all sorts of luxuries and treats. It was, it turned out, exactly what everyone wanted!

[@5thdimensionliving727]

@@simonjones7727 Thank you 🙏 Amazing insights. I feel very fortunate to watch such great footage of the Craddocks via YT ✅

[@harrietlyall1991]

What a wonderful film! So slick, stylish and beautifully choreographed ❤ shades of “Bewitched” with a faint whiff of Alfred Hitchcock.

[@DavidPaulMorgan]

what a great description!

[@nathanjustus6659]

Fanny did look like Endora too!

[@nowimfollowingu3925]

Fanny is absolutely batshit, she is TV gold

[@drstranger7430]

Coiffure, vintage accents, splendid outfits. What a different world

[@zeddeka]

"The past is another country. They do things differently there."

[@EJP]

Vintage accents? I still talk like that

[@Knappa22]

“It’s no longer an omelette, IT’S A PUDD’N!” Fanny the unremitting battleaxe!

[@seikibrian8641]

I thought she said "It's no longer an omelette, it's a puck!"

[@HotVoodooWitch]

@@seikibrian8641 pudd'n.

[@ria1636]

Fanny's right though!

[@chriswalford4161]

Imagine her as mother-in-law, though!

[@songplugger8330]

That was absolutely mesmerizing.

[@cmaden78]

Right?! For some strange reason, even though I taught my children how to make omelets by the time they were 10, I just can't click off I'm still watching after about 15 minutes😂😂😂

[@lifesprint5541]

Possibly the best video I’ve ever seen

[@simonjones7727]

What do you mean "possibly"? Nothing, absolutely nothing, competes with this.

[@bohdiisubaru6336]

Thoroughly enjoyed viewing this video, I'm a humongous Fanny Cradock fan 😁

[@simonjones7727]

It is superb isn't it? She just conveys so much fun.

[@stevebirch7175]

My Mum thought she was wonderful. Many a time we suffered her efforts...

[@multimill]

Also humongous fan 😊

[@stephenwilliams1269]

I first watched Fanny Craddock cook on the television when I was about 6. I loved Fanny and Johnny with his wine. I think it was her no nonsense approach that caught me as my mother and grandmother had that air. Thank you for sharing It was most enjoyable. Fanny was a born entertainer.

[@simonsimons8885]

Absolutely enjoyed this, I'd never seen this, the whole thing was beautifully presented, and they made some tasty things, I am definitely going to try that omelette and butter trick. ❤😊😊😊😊

[@glamdolly30]

I've always put a few dabs of butter into the raw eggs for an omelette or scrambled eggs, I had no idea it was Fanny Cradock's trick!

[@nidhavellir]

Mother looks slightly more terrifying than Fanny.

[@sjwhittingham4394]

My mum used to work for what was then "The Gas Board" in the 60s & a couple of times she met Fanny Craddock who was giving cookery demonstrations on new models of gas cookers. She said she swore like a trouper and bossed Johnny about something rotten.

[@jadeclothier8587]

Dont forget she was also a chain smoker

[@HotVoodooWitch]

She was kind of the Culinary Barbara Cartland, no? Do you guys miss the pre-metric/pre-decimalization days?

[@simonjones7727]

@@HotVoodooWitch More like the love child of Margaret Thatcher and Bette Davies in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" (especially in later life) but close...

[@cliffarroyo9554]

@@simonjones7727 Say what you want... it just makes me love her more.

[@simonjones7727]

@@cliffarroyo9554 It is impossible not to love her...

[@Chillmax]

Fabulous, utterly fabulous, everything's better with Fanny! Lovely quality, thank you.

[@kendalson7100]

Awesome. Fanny and Johnny were incredible here!

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

what a fun video!!! Thank you for posting this gem, 'twas very entertaining indeed !

[@melissam.4017]

This was better than " Bewitched"!

[@chriswalford4161]

😀

[@JSDesign.Hongkong]

Brilliant. This is a classic!

[@PDXGregor]

That. Was. Amazing.

[@bribabytt]

If I tried that omelette plating move, it would end up on the floor 😖 Fanny had some strength in those guns. Johnnie's voice was so calm and soothing, bit of contrast to Fanny's more emphatic delivery. Love the monocle.

[@glamdolly30]

OMG this was AMAZING! Fanny was 53, coming up for 54 here and I think she's in her prime. She was so lucky to find Johnny, he was the perfect sidekick for her (he left his wife and kids for her). They met in the 1940s but lived in sin until they finally married in 1977 because Fanny was already married and couldn't get a divorce (I think her husband refused because he was Catholic). She changed her name to Cradock by deed poll and they just told everyone they were married. It would have been quite a scandal back then, had that skeleton ever come out! Fascinating woman and by all accounts, quite mad.

[@handsoffmycactus2958]

glamdolly20 lived in ‘sin’ ? What on earth

[@JM-bv4hc]

@@handsoffmycactus2958 That's exactly what I was thinking when I read that, lol.

[@handsoffmycactus2958]

J M I know it’s a saying but it’s just a bit strange to hear, even upon reflection of the past! It’s a weird thing to say if you aren’t joking

[@scottrogue946]

Is this 1930? Lived in sin 🤣🤣🤣

[@jimajams7080]

Already knew all this

[@ria1636]

Thanks for the upload, this was such fun. Loved the outfits and if I still ate eggs I'd definitely make the omelette and soufflés they looked perfect. I'll try the trick with the tangerines/oranges they are still served filled with ice-cream in Indian restaurants.

[@jdmollohan]

This is completely unhinged

[@ultravioletgaia]

I was just looking for some cookie recipes and ended up here

[@ACandRS]

What the hell am I watching at midnight? 😂

[@zoezwar9911]

It’s hysterical!😂😂😂

[@Victoria-gq8gt]

So glad ive been given the opportunity to watch this off- the -wall, quirky, slightly camp happy piece. To think, without KZbin and this channel, I might have never seen it and would have had a poorer life for it.

[@Talentedtadpole]

SLIGHTLY?????!!!!

[@robertfraser9873]

If you haven't seen the drama based on the true story of Fanny Cradock called (ahem) " The Fear of Fanny" starring amongst many other fine British actors the legend that is Julia Davis who gives us her Fanny (😂😂) it really is worth a watch. Someone has kindly uploaded the whole thing on to KZbin. ❤❤

[@janwong9437]

That was utterly charming, thank you for sharing 👍

[@comawhite015]

The way she explodes out of the TV made me have to pause it cuz I was laughscreaming so hard

[@RenaissanceEarCandy]

I thought I was the only one 😂😂😂😂

[@dartanianrubanne3394]

Now, that really did entertain me 😀

[@Goldi3loxrox]

I love this uk vintage little gem.

[@kevincassidy1983]

When fanny speaks up I stand to attention. She's the boss

[@Talentedtadpole]

Crikey sounds a bit saucy that.

[@janetsymonds1541]

I remember going to the local Gas Showroom on tuesday afternoons, to free watch cookery demonstrations.

[@robertfraser9873]

Isn't those cooking demos how Mary Berry started her career? ❤❤

[@janetsymonds1541]

@robertfraser9873 Apparently, Mary Berry started by going into peoples homes to demonstrate how to cook a victoria sponge, for the electricity board.

[@thislifewelive5206]

My mum used to make that fish dish I now know where she got it ! I thought it so fancy 😂

[@emilywestwood7776]

love a bit of fanny!

[@thislifewelive5206]

The gas council was wild for this film

[@gordeaux2006]

Beautiful looking omelette!

[@PeteretePeter]

This is the most bizarre thing I have watched this year

[@simonjones7727]

"This year" or "Ever"?

[@simonjones7727]

Sweetie seems to be using Ruth Berolzheimer's "Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook" in the opening scenes from the look of the section title pages.

[@DavidPaulMorgan]

Fanny really knew her stuff - and a great British eccentric. Oh, I grew up learning to cook, with my mother, on that kind of Parkinson-Cowan standalone gas cooker! (mid to late 60s)

[@DIETRICHCICCONE]

Hilda wouldn't have fiddled with fish fingers...hoho

[@LindaRiley-x5c]

Very funny!!! Yes I think so also the most nicest I've ever seen fanny cradock!

[@NICKROBERTS23]

I still have those exact same scales in my kitchen cupboard!

[@stephmaccormick3195]

Well... that went to 11 rather quickly.

[@dangerman8625]

Fanny, and her Johnny craddock, this film reminds me of the Wizard of Oz.!

[@daal9335]

I still cant quite wrap my head around the idea of leaving the pan filled with salt on a gas burner for 48 solid hours!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@UnIimited_Power]

3:05 "Go and get her to cooka your fish fingers!" "I'm Italian all of a sudden!"

[@david15214]

Brilliant chips!

[@larryshaver3568]

This is amazing i thought England didn't have color tv till 1967

[@ephemeralfilm]

@@larryshaver3568 This promotional film was distributed on 16mm and wasn't intended for television. It would have been shown at exhibitions and other events. A lot of films like this were offered on free loan to organisations in the UK to be shown to local groups and societies.

[@Alexander_Timonin]

wow! That took an unusual turn!

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Fish fingers is serious business!

[@emilywestwood7776]

Gil Chesterton - the early years!

[@ginseattle]

I had never heard of the "very famous French trick" of running softened butter through the beaten eggs.

[@salfordiandy4987]

Neither have I! As much as I love butter, there did seem to be rather a lot going in to that omelette.

[@HotVoodooWitch]

I've cooked classic omelettes for family and friends. They were horrified when they saw the amount of butter I use. Hey, it's FRENCH and the omelettes don't stick to the non-nonstick pan. No one complains when they start eating. Can't wait to include the "very famous French trick!"

[@ria1636]

@@HotVoodooWitch The omelette looked perfect and if I still ate eggs I'd definitely make as well.

[@samhaine6804]

i think youre supposed to cut COLD butter into small cubes, and then add then to the mixture

[@HotVoodooWitch]

@@samhaine6804 I suspect she knows what she's doing and she seems pretty specific.

[@rogerlegends166]

HILDA WOULDN'T HAVE FIDDLED WITH FISH FINGERS

[@chriswalford4161]

😂

[@chriswalford4161]

You wouldn’t believe the tricks she could do with a packet of Findus…..

[@HotVoodooWitch]

Fantastic!

[@zerolubin]

She was magnificent.

[@Jayrascali]

This is like one of those old public safety videos… “why a carbon monoxide alarm is essential to prevent death and fanny induced delirium”…

[@FruityMat]

Did all ovens back then require manual lighting? 😮

[@simonjones7727]

Not all, but it was not uncommon based on my memories of the very early 70s.

[@subplantant]

Ours was still in the 80s

[@montyf2165]

I miss homemade chips. Nothing compares to them.

[@fraserkatie]

Too dangerous now because of frying them in that oil!

[@jameswillett7186]

She was a UK mid century Martha Stewart.

[@Jayrascali]

That cactus in the background at 10:48 looks JUST like the sort of item our fanny would buy for Johnny at the local Ann Summers 😳

[@chriswalford4161]

😂 I bet the propmaster had to search hours and hours for that

[@lesleyscott938]

She was actually a very good cook ❤

[@alexherbst9477]

Fanny could be a character played by Molly Shannon. "I like to kick! Stretch! Annnnd Kick! I'm FIFTY!"

[@joshybean1289]

I thought the exact same thing! I’m Fifty! Fifty years oldddd!

[@davidhealey5207]

Anyone know who the young actress was/is.

[@glennjoselane1690]

Everybody loves Fanny!

[@MS-xf2zd]

Fanny at her most delightfully terrifying bizarre, in concept and delivery. Psychedelic. Now I understand more her fashion statement in her more severe later years, shaving off her eyebrows and painting on new ones several inches up. Perhaps an inspiration for Bowie’s Aladdin Sane…? Or certainly Odo from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 😶‍🌫️

[@gaggymott9159]

POOR JANET!! 😕

[@rumpoh8039]

HAMMER HOUSE OF FANNY

[@craigmartin664]

Gas on for two days 😂😂😂

[@1234j]

16:10 is Johnnie wearing a rimless monocle?

[@simonjones7727]

Yes, and a Broderie Anglaise French Lace edged basque underneath his suit.

[@dalymc]

King prawns and shrimps wrapped in sole- covered in oil and cooking sherry. Exactly what we ate in the 70's. Cheap cooking, so easily done.

[@PSUK]

Her husband Johnny: That’s all for today. I hope your donuts turn out like Fanny’s

[@janinefarnell8570]

I'm going to leave my omelette pan on a bead of gas for 48 hours😂 adding a nut of butter......

[@adamreadman9416]

Janine Farnell Hahahaha no wonder house fires were more common in 63

[@ria1636]

If you already have an omelette pan there's simply no need. It's only for an iron pan!

[@HotVoodooWitch]

"Knob."

[@simonjones7727]

I am watching how a chiffon sleeve hovers over that cauldron of smoking chip fat. But, yes, leave a naked flame on the hob on for two days as you go out to work and things. what could possibly go wrong?

[@treasalynam8940]

She was a good actress, she shoulda done acting

[@ria1636]

She was indeed a woman of many talents.

[@glamdolly30]

Fanny's whole life was an act!

[@queenofkingsbury]

Those were the days

[@tozmom615]

That first husband is camper than a row of tents.

[@boondoggle6]

Wasn’t she Danny La Rue as well?

[@Rebel1972x]

God i love fanny

[@matthewjackknight453]

Anyone familiar with the music being used for the opening and closing credits?

[@ceeemm1901]

Geez Jeremy Clarkson looks really young there...

[@traceydaizy]

That was brilliant 😂

[@frannieo1707]

Fanny is Queen.

[@mattcresswell5737]

Such a great find. Do you know anything about the cast i.e. Janet and Richard?

[@ephemeralfilm]

Sadly not, but if anyone else has any info I'd love to hear about it.

[@mrslaffeetaffee]

Since they couldn't act, they probably worked for the Gas Board.

[@simonjones7727]

@@mrslaffeetaffee Read the meters, probably.

[@lindajordan6753]

@@simonjones7727 I just watched this again and realized they're wearing way too much hairspray to be around those open flames.

[@simonjones7727]

@@lindajordan6753 How do you think Fanny Craddock lost her eyebrows? Chiffon near an open flame? A visit to A+E waiting to happen!

[@pennytravers5991]

Fanny was a natural actress and missed her true metier.

[@ericbelify]

Hilda wouldn’t have fiddles with fish fingers!!😂

[@sicherheit]

the set design and costumes are Vincent Peranio / Van Smith level

[@jeffreymartin6369]

I didn’t even know fish HAD fingers!

[@Trixie287]

I like the way they cook in evening dresses - o sorry of my fat strains, i was just cooking

[@C-Rex1]

Camper than a row of tents

[@Highland-Lass]

I forgot all about the poker to light the oven!😅

[@duncanb4835]

She missed the mincemeat and icing sugar from the omelette...how VERY DAAAARE SHE😡

[@jamesedinger4956]

As satisfying as spray cheese in a can

[@faithoffaith]

Anyone know the names of the actors?

[@ritawing1064]

Did anyone see the tv episode where she dissed the poor farmer's wife? It really upset people.

[@doctorshawzy6477]

great fun

[@finncullen]

I wish my doughnuts would turn out like Fanny's

[@weerobot]

The Legend...

[@sushicourier]

When all the homes took out (or were built new) their proper fires and put those horrible fake ones in.

[@SimonLeicester]

Thank goodness M&S invented ready meals so people didn’t have to eat Fanny’s