Roundabout: 1963 – A Year in Colour on DVD [read more]
A glimpse of the past
Roundabout: 1963 – A Year in Colour, released on 25 March, is the first in a new BFI series of previously unreleased ‘cine-magazine’ films from exactly 50 years ago, making an ideal gift for anyone celebrating a 50th birthday or anniversary this year.
In the 1960s, the British Government, through the Central Office of Information (COI), produced a range of topical films about Britain for distribution throughout the commonwealth, of which Roundabout (aimed at the Asian market) was one of the most popular.
To show the connections between the Commonwealth countries and Britain, many of the films illustrate how raw materials from one country, such as rubber, palm kernels, wood or cocoa, were used in manufacturing industries in the UK.
Highlights amongst the 11 globe-trotting films on this disc include a visit to the Royal Mint, trips around factories making the Mini car, cigarettes, sweets and books; a tour of a rubber tree plantation in South East Asia and a look at modern architecture in London, Djakarta and Saigon. There is a story on the then new activity of skin diving, the versatile British jet boat and the building of a new stand for racing at Ascot.
Click above to see a short clip from a visit to a British factory producing plastic.
