Director Robert Vas was himself a refugee from Hungary, having arrived in London only three years earlier when he received a grant from the BFI to make the film. Despite its slightly incongruous use of voiceover,Refuge Englandwas adopted by the Free Cinema movement for its stylistic contrast of contradictory images and sound and its focus on the dispossessed. With its enquiry into themes that are just as resonant in today’s society, and its uncompromising...

Documentary, public information film, morale booster; propaganda film – all descriptions that apply to Humphrey Jennings and Stewart McAllister's extraordinary war-time film. Using his customary combination of poetry and propaganda, Jennings constructs a collage of the various people and classes of Britain, at home and at work, at war and at peace. The result, while not overtly proselytising, sounded a clear clarion call to internal and international...

Delve deeper into the dastardly deeds of history’s greatest blockbuster rulers as this new series dishes up the much-loved revolting recipe of sketches and songs peppered with gruesome gags and hideous hilarity, but adds a bold new twist and an exciting new cast. Each episode will take a sideways look at the life and times of one prominent historical figure. The approach is even bigger and bolder, capturing the rottenest, most remarkable names across...

History of the development of nuclear power as it has been applied to United States Navy submarine and surface ships. Participation of the USS Enterprise, Long Beach and Bainbridge during Operation Sea Orbit—the around-the-world cruise of Task Force One without refueling. Arrival and first combat action of the Enterprise off Vietnam.

Babe Ruth, one of baseball's greatest and most popular players, died on August 16, 1948, from cancer of the larynx. During his 22-season career in the major leagues, first with the Boston Red Socks, then later playing for the New York Yankees, Ruth batted .342, with 2,873 hits, including 714 home runs. As the montage shows, Ruth was also known for visiting sick children in the hospital. Copyright The WPA Film Library.

Part one of three films on military history of the Korean War. Jim Lucas of Scripps-Howard newspapers helps to tell the story. (29 minutes)

Pope Paul VI visits Colombia.

Chiang Kai-Shek served as leader of the Chinese government from 1925 until 1949, when Communist insurgents led by Mao Zedong overthrew his government and assumed control of China. Chiang then fled to the island of Taiwan, where he continued to serve as president until his death in 1975. Taiwanese continued to celebrate an annual national holiday commemorating the 1911 Chinese revolution against the Qing dynasty, rather than the National Day observed...

World events 1939–1941: war in China, early phases of World War II in Europe; fall of France; U.S. mobilization; and Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. (29 minutes)

Opened in 1852, San Quentin is the oldest prison in California and one of the most notorious prisons in the United States. Charles Manson was incarcerated at San Quentin, as was Sirhan Sirhan, who assassinated Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. Copyright The WPA Film Library.