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This documentary film made in 1960 by the Films of Scotland Committee won an Oscar the following year for its stirring presentation of ship building on the Clyde. The film made at the peak of the ship building era on the Clyde is a vivid reminder of an industry that was once flourishing. The resonant film narration declares that ‘a voyage up the river is a voyage into the industrial age’. The film illustrates all aspects of the work involved in the building of a vast steel ship, including images of the drawing office, the marking of the steel for cutting, welding and riveting. Images of the men working on the ship wearing flat caps and the supervisors in bowler hats contrast with the dignitaries that arrive in their finery for the Launch of the ship. 'Seawards the Great Ships' is part of a collection of over 160 documentary films commissioned by the Films of Scotland Committee between 1938 and 1982 which feature social, cultural and industrial aspects of Scotland's history. To accompany these films, the Scottish Screen Archive produced the monograph 'To Speak Its Pride; the work of the Films of Scotland Committee 1938 - 1982' published by the Scottish Film Council 1996. The archive also holds films from a variety of sources which cover aspects of Scotland's industrial heritage including ship building as well as the steel industry, engineering, locomotive and boiler making, and oil mining in the north sea amongst others. As part of the Films of Scotland Collection, 'Seawards The Great Ships', and 'The Face of Scotland' (1938) are included in the many films made available through the Edina 'Film and Sound Online' service to Higher Education. |
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