G.B.I. Instructional Films

In the 1930s, the Secrets team were involved in two parallel projects. Transferring to Gaumont-British Instructional, they produced a new series of popular films under the title Secrets of Life, while a series of more specialist classroom films were prepared under the supervision of a team of consulting scientists, including Julian Huxley, E. J. Salisbury and H. R. Hewer. A list of these films is found below, based on a G.B.I. pamphlet. This list covers only those films relating to natural history and biology, which G.B.I specialised in, but the company had a much wider remit, releasing instructional films on topics including ‘Domestic Science’, ‘Geography’ and ‘Physical Education’, as well as producing documentary films intended for the theatrical market. To learn more about G.B.I., read this excellent overview on the Colonial Film website. These films are yet to be digitized, although the BFI National Archive holds copies of many of them.