CFF Documentaries

Released on 15th April 2024 my new short documentary Danger at the CFF.

 

CFF Bumper Box Volume 5 (3 x DVD)
Directors: Muriel Box, Gerald Thomas, Peter Rogers, Don Chaffey

Children’s Film Foundation Bumper Box Volume 5 offers up another gorgeous opportunity for a warm wallow in nostalgia, showcasing nine more of the best feature-length Saturday Morning Pictures ever made, from the UK’s best-loved, longest running purveyor of quality cinematic entertainment for kids.

You’ll find escapist fun and vintage thrills galore for all the family in this latest selection of terrific time-capsules and corking old-school classics, unleashed at last from the vaults of the BFI National Archive – from the far-away 1940s, right up to the electric 1980s, alongside a sumptuous array of exciting retro extras and a brand new documentary.

As usual, there are well-known names galore, with featured filmmaking talents including Gerald Thomas and Peter Rogers of ‘Carry On’ renown, trailblazing female director Muriel Box and adventure-specialist Don Chaffey all featured behind the cameras; and, in starring roles across this extensive set on the other side of the lens, famous faces like Carol White, Peter Butterworth, Robin Askwith and Keith Chegwin.

The Films:

  • The Secret Tunnel (1947)
  • Circus Friends (1956)
  • The Piper’s Tune (1962)
  • The Rescue Squad (1963)
  • Daylight Robbery (1964)
  • All at Sea (1969)
  • The Hostages (1975)
  • Robin Hood Junior (1975)
  • The Boy Who Never Was (1980)

Extras:

Five short films from the Children’s Film Foundation collection – Bouncer Breaks Up (1953, 9 mins), A Good Pull-Up (1953, 17 mins), The Chiffy Kids (1976, 17 mins), The Magnificent 6 and ½ (1976, 16 mins), Our Magazine No 11 (1955, 10 mins)
Danger at the CFF (2023, 16 mins) : a new documentary by filmmaker and CFF aficionado Jason Gurr as he revisits some of the stunts that featured in the films and how child actors wouldn’t be expected to do such things now!
Fully illustrated booklet featuring new writing by CFF expert Vic Pratt and a CFF quiz by the BFI’s Trevona Thomson

 

 

Released on 27th Febuary 2023 is a new short documentary about the Children’s Film Foundation London Locations. It is part of the forth CFF Bumper Boxset. Details below.

Had enough of the hideous here and now? Take a moment of me-time, turn off your phone and whizz back to analogue days with this effervescent assortment of retro-cinema corkers from the Children’s Film Foundation – Britain’s best-loved makers of quality children’s cinema for kids young and old, from the boxy blazered 1950s to the synthetic-fibred 1980s.

This very British cinematic rabbit hole leads to a land of eccentric fun, silly scrapes and escapist thrills where you’ll encounter nine marvellous feature-length mini-masterpieces for kids, not to mention a sumptuous sideshow of unusually invigorating extras. So grab your outsize bag of sherbet lemons, crack open a Vimto and settle down for a terrific box-set binge to beat those modern-world blues!

The Films:

  • The Dog and the Diamonds (1953)
  • The Stolen Airliner (1955)
  • Blow Your Own Trumpet (1958)
  • The Missing Note (1961)
  • The Big Catch (1968)
  • Blinker’s Spy-Spotter (1972)
  • The Flying Sorcerer (1973)
  • Mr Selkie (1978)
  • Gabrielle and the Doodleman (1984)

 

  • Five short films from the Children’s Film Foundation collection – Horsey hi-jinks and sneaky saddle-snappery in Stable Rivals (1952, 16 mins), saggy socked seaside shenanigans in Swift Water (1952, 16 mins), the Chiffy Kids meet Kenny ‘Dr Terror’s House of Horrors’ Lynch and Harry H ‘Steptoe and Son’ Corbett in Pot Luck and Chimp Mates – The Big Kick (1976, 36 mins total) and reminders of pre-internet pastimes in Our Magazine No 4 (1952, 11 mins)
  • A brand spanking new documentary by filmmaker and CFF aficionado Jason Gurr as he revisits some of the greatest ever locations used in the many productions
  • Fully illustrated booklet featuring new writing by CFF expert Vic Pratt, recollections from Samantha Weysom (The Appointment) on her role in Mr Selkie and a CFF quiz by the BFI’s Trevona Thomson

 

 

 

CFF Bumper Box Vol. (3-disc DVD)
Directed by Various

For over 30 years, The Children’s Film Foundation produced quality entertainment for young audiences, employing the cream of British filmmaking talent. Unavailable for years, these much-loved films finally make a welcome return to out screens.

The Bumper Box Collection Vol.3 includes the following the following CFF adventures; The Clue of the Missing Ape, Adventure in the Hopfields, Tim Driscoll’s Donkey, Runaway Railway, Calamity the Cow, Cry Wolf, Big Wheels and Sailor, Breakout and Our Exploits at West Poley. As always the films feature a plethora of familiar faces, including George Cole, Melvyn Hayes, John Moulder-Brown, Ronnie Barker, Shelia Reid, Brenda Fricker and of course last but not least, the one and only Phil Collins!

Extras:

Watch Out (1953, 18 mins)
That’s an Order (1955, 18 mins)
Playground Express (1955, 18 mins)

Illustrated booklet with a new writing on the films by the BFI’s Vic Pratt

 

Children’s Film Foundation Bumper Box 2 (3-disc DVD Box Set)

Have a sizzling Saturday-afternoon sofa-thon with this mouth-watering melange of cinematic corkers from the Children’s Film Foundation: Britain’s best-loved and longest-running producer of quality children’s cinema for kids of all ages.

It’s fun, excitement and adventure all the way from the fabulous Fifties to the excellent Eighties, with this second bumper box set for the whole family crammed full with nine sugar-rush top-drawer vintage feature-film smashers and an array of awesome extras. So turn off that tablet, plump up the cushions, mute the modern world and station yourself on the settee cos it’s time for another cracking retro binge-watch bonanza!

Chase civil war booty in Lone Pine series author Malcolm Saville’s Treasure at the Mill, hunt secret formulas with Arnold Dad’s Army Ridley in Wings of Mystery, and cheer on Sally Man About the House Thomsett and hiss Warren ‘Alf Garnett’ Mitchell’s Seventy Deadly Pills
Step on the gas with Dennis ‘Minder’ Waterman and Wilfred ‘Steptoe’ Brambell in Go Kart Go, shout Boo! at haunted-house developers Ronnie Barker and his bumbling lackey Bernard Dr Who Cribbins in A Ghost of a Chance and save the earth with a tribe of aqua eco-warriors in The Sea Children
Take off for a model-plane Battle of Britain with Bill Heartbeat Maynard in Sky Pirates, go underground in The Mine and the Minotaur and face the folly of war in Friend or Foe
Witness long-lost sights and sounds of the British Isles inA Letter from the Isle of Wight, A Letter from Wales and A Letter from Ayrshire – three 1950s movie-missives to write home about. As if that wasn’t enough, actor-turned-pop idol Simon Fisher Turner spills the beans on working for the CFF in the 1970s and Friend or Foe director John Krish appears in his last interview.

 

 

 

Children’s Film Foundation Bumper Box (3-Disc DVD set)

A wizard weekend for all the family is guaranteed with his carefully curated assortment of tasty cinematic treats from the Children’s Film Foundation: Britain’s best-loved and longest running producer of quality cinema entertainment for kids of all ages.

It’s fun and adventure all the way from the feisty Fifties to the electric Eighties with this bumper box set, lovingly loaded with nine fab, fast, furious full-fat vintage features and a brand-new documentary. Switch off your phone, grab the duvet and hit the sofa-‘cos it’s time to bed down for a binge-watch bonanza!

Stand well back for 1960s bonfire-night fun in Peril For the Guy, have a classic kick-about with George Best and Bobby Charlton at Manchester United in Cup Fever and share your orange squash with an incredible invisible rabbit in Mr Horatio Knibbles.

Take your seats in the Big Top for circus hi-jinx with Anoop and the Elephant, befriend the world’s only ice-lolly-loving Yeti in The Zoo Robbery and become a young 1970s eco-warrior for The Battle of Billy’s Pond.

Attempt the avert nuclear disaster in the nail-biting One Hour to Zero, chase cockney crooks down London’s canals as you join 4D Special Agents and enlist The Who’s Roger Daltrey to back your 1980s reggae band on Brighton Pier in Pop Pirates!

Take doggie delight in Rover Makes Good, Juno helps Out and To The Rescue three 1950s canine crackers from the CFF vaults, guaranteed to make you roll over, woof and wag your tail.

Do your film-history revision fun-style with a new interview with veteran CFF writer John Tully (16 mins) and The Children’s Film Foundation Story (84 mins) a fabulous new feature-length documentary telling the true tale of the Foundation and the talents who worked there. Featuring interviews with CFF luminaries including John Krish, Harley Cokeliss and a cast of thousands!