I think we must be getting jaded, but in the last few weeks we've started films only to give up on them half way through: there was the Belgium horror film 'Daughters of Darkness', then 'Senso', 'Iphigenia' and 'Conclave' (which I feel we must finish before we return it to my family. The alternative would be to lie, which no doubt we will in any case.), and then finally the other night there was Alain Resnais' 1974 film 'Stavisky'. Not even the presence of Jean Paul Belmondo, and a score by Stephen Sondheim, could save it from near terminal accidie. It is, in all, a list of shame. Perhaps, like everybody else, we are loosing our ability to concentrate. That and the interminable hot weather.
And so I turn to 'Shellarama' of 1965. Again this something I have a vague recollection of watching as a child, when in the early days of colour television here in the UK the BBC showed these short documentaries, designed for the cinema, as Trade Test Colour Films. Judging by what I've read in researching this post Shell seemed to have a reputation for producing well made if rather dry films, usually of a scientific or technical bent. Another Shell film I saw as a child, and a good example of this Shell style of documentary, is the ultra high-minded and visually impressive 'Crown of Glass' of 1967, directed by Michael Heckford, with technical innovation is coupled with the artistic, creative world.
'Shellarama', I suppose, marks a high point in the work of the Shell Film Unit, and indeed of the whole post war documentary movement. There was nothing before and nothing afterwards quite like this in its expansiveness, or its supreme confidence, or glamour. One feels a lot of money was devoted to this project. Richard Cawston, the writer and director, created in 'Shellarama' something bright, stylish, and modern. A paean of praise to Modernity and the post War boom. It is certainly not dry. Nor high-minded. Rather it has a deep sensuousness. Colours are saturated. Without dialogue, it comes close to pure cinema.
'Shellarama', I suppose, marks a high point in the work of the Shell Film Unit, and indeed of the whole post war documentary movement. There was nothing before and nothing afterwards quite like this in its expansiveness, or its supreme confidence, or glamour. One feels a lot of money was devoted to this project. Richard Cawston, the writer and director, created in 'Shellarama' something bright, stylish, and modern. A paean of praise to Modernity and the post War boom. It is certainly not dry. Nor high-minded. Rather it has a deep sensuousness. Colours are saturated. Without dialogue, it comes close to pure cinema.
Filmed in Super Technirama 70, using 35 mm film stock pulled horizontally rather than vertically, using a camera fitted with an anamorphic lens, it is said 'Shellarama' was two years in the filming, and all for a mere 14mins of screen time - no chance of creeping ennui! Those two years however were not wasted: the cinematography is marvellous. The score, by Johnny Scott, is lavish, swinging, and cool. The first half of the film is concerned with the exploration, extraction and refining of oil. The second half explores the joy of driving and is given over to a montage of locations around the globe, (this film is rather cosmopolitan, a bit 'jet-set') and this montage (the editor was Fred Burnley) seems to be constructed rather like a visual rondo that is an alternating of two themes in this case one fast and one slow, active and contemplative, until we reach apotheosis. I think the score does the same. Either way the result is masterly.
The foundation of the Shell Film Unit by Edgar Anstey in 1934 was under the auspices of the Shell publicity manager, the remarkable Jack Beddington. Inspired by the Frank Pick, the head of London Transport, Beddington made use of contemporary artists and writers such as John Betjeman and Geoffrey Grigson. It was Shell that sponsored the Shell County Guides, edited by Betjeman and and Piper. Betjeman also appeared the 'Discovering Britain with John Betjeman' series for Shell on the nascent ITV in the 1950s. In addition, Shell published 'shilling guides' to the UK counties, and also a whole range of really well produced books such as the 'The Shell Guide to English Villages', and the 'Shell Book of Rural Britain'. Books that were erudite and stylish.
Things, however, I guess, began to slowly decline from the early 70s onwards. In 1975 the Film unit was restructured, the budget reduced, and the lending library of films closed. I think the publishing arm remained relatively untouched by these events. Films made after 1975, such as the 'Regions of Britain' series, show a noticeable decline in quality even though they were still employing writers of the quality of Henry Thorold and David Verey. In 1984 the last of the old Shell Guides was published - Henry Thorold's 'Nottinghamshire'. The culture, sadly, had moved on.
Things, however, I guess, began to slowly decline from the early 70s onwards. In 1975 the Film unit was restructured, the budget reduced, and the lending library of films closed. I think the publishing arm remained relatively untouched by these events. Films made after 1975, such as the 'Regions of Britain' series, show a noticeable decline in quality even though they were still employing writers of the quality of Henry Thorold and David Verey. In 1984 the last of the old Shell Guides was published - Henry Thorold's 'Nottinghamshire'. The culture, sadly, had moved on.
Shellarama
1965
Producer: Dimitri de Grunwald, Roger Good
Director: Richard Cawston
Cinematographer: Stanley W Sayer
Crown of Glass
1967
Producer: Douglas Gordon
Director: Michael Heckford
Cinematographer: Allan Fabian
Further viewing and reading:
'Shellarama' is one of the films available on the excellent DVD box set 'Shadows of Progress; Documentary Film in Post war Britain 1951 - 1977', BFI, 2013. Excellent liner notes. It is a gold mine and well worth exploring. Also:
Shadows of Progress: Documentary Film in Post-War Britain. London: BFI, 2010, Patrick Russell and James Piers Taylor (eds)
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