Rent The Best of the COI (1981)
3.3 of 5 from 49 ratings
6h 5min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Established in April 1946, the Central Office of Information (COI) was the successor to the wartime Ministry of Information and went on to produce and distribute thousands of films for use across Britain, the Commonwealth and the world. Many famous names passed through the COI, including luminaries of the British documentary movement such as Paul Rotha, Humphrey Jennings and Lindsay Anderson, and in later years the likes of Hugh Hudson (Chariots of Fire) and Peter Greenaway (The Draughtsman's Contract). This collection brings together many of the COI's most loved (and in some cases feared) productions, including 'Design for Today', 'Apaches', 'Lonely Water' anti 'Charley's March of Time'. Also included are two previously unreleased COI classics, 'Smoking and You' and 'Waverley Steps'. - Actors:
- Harold Berens, Geoffrey Sumner, Andrew Badeley, Colin Baker, Frank Bough, John Challis, Ève Karpf, Christopher Owen, Louise O'Hara, Robbie Oubridge, Ian Scrace, Sharon Smart, Fion Smith, Wayne Tapsfield, Stephanie Cole, Stephanie Coles, Nigel Rhodes, David McKail, Jo Kendall, Miranda Hunnisett
- Directors:
- Joy Batchelor, John Halas, Budge Cooper, Jacques B. Brunius, Maurice Harvey, Hugh Hudson, Anthony Pelissier, John Krish, John MacKenzie, David Hughes, Peter Greenaway, Brian Smith, John Eldridge, Michael Law, John Waterhouse, Dudley Birch, Derrick Knight, Gordon Hales, Don Levy, Sarah Erulkar
- Producers:
- Richard Massingham, John Arnold, Leon Clore, Annabel Olivier-Wright, Joy Batchelor, John Halas, Alexander MacKendrick, James Mellor, Derrick Knight, Dema Sagovsky, Humphrey Swingler, James Archibald, Anne Balfour-Fraser
- Voiced By:
- Harold Berens, Geoffrey Sumner, Stephen Murray
- Narrated By:
- Patrick O'Donavan, Sir Hugh Casson, Gerald Andersen, Stephen Murray
- Writers:
- John Halas, Joy Batchelor, Budge Cooper, Patrick O'Donovan, Hugh Hudson, David Cammell, Michael Gilmore, John Krish, Neville Smith, David Hughes, Brian Smith, John Sommerfield, Michael Law, Richard Massingham, John Waterhouse, Quentin Dobson, Mary Frances, Derrick Knight, Hilary Douglas, Sarah Erulkar
- Aka:
- The Best of COI: Five Decades of Public Information Films
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Anime & Animation, Children & Family, Documentary, Drama, Special Interest
- Collections:
- Pig Power: Animal Farm At 70
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 20/04/2020
- Run Time:
- 367 minutes
- Languages:
- English LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- None
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Various
- Colour:
- Colour and B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Searching (1974, 1 min) Meticulously planned and expertly executed by director John Krish, Searching won the COI a Golden Lion at Venice. It still hits hard and still hurts
- Grain Drain (1975, 1 min) The perils of farmyard grain pits are laid bare in this filler that is simple yet terrifyingly effective
- Tornado Trailer (1985, 2 mins) Cut together from the rushes of a longer COI film, Tornado, this adrenalin-filled two minutes features synth music by BAFTA-winning composer Chris Gunning
- AIDS: Iceberg (1987, 1 min) Part of perhaps the most chilling government campaign ever made, this features music by the legendary Brian Eno and was directed by Nic Roeg (Don't Look Now)
- Disc 1:
- This disc includes the following Films:
- Children of the City (1944)
- Brief City (1952)
- Design for Today (1965)
- Voyage North (1965)
- Lonely Water (1973)
- Drive Carefully, Darling (1975)
- Apaches (1977)
- Building Sites Bite (1978)
- Insight: Zandra Rhodes (1981)
- Special Features - Disc 2:
- This disc includes the following Films:
- Your Children and You (1946)
- Waverley Steps (1948)
- Charley's March of Time (1948)
- What a Life! (1948)
- Another Case of Poisoning (1949)
- Riding on Air (1959)
- Smoking and You (1963)
- The Poet's Eye (1964)
- Opus (1967)
- Never Go with Strangers (1971)
