1950s Documentary Movies

Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.

People are interviewed in Dresden, Ontario, to sample local attitudes towards racial discrimination against black people that brought this town into the news. After a round-up of the opinions of individual citizens, white and black, commentator Gordon Burwash joins two discussion panels, presenting opposite points of view. The rights and wrongs of the quarrel are left for the audience to decide.

One of the first filmed portraits of a jazz musician.

Through the forward-looking windows of the new diesel multiple-unit trains reveals a new world of signs, signals and railway sights to those who ride behind the driver. For children, particularly, find this is a fascinating experience. This film communicates something of their excitement and wonder as well as some of the wry, un-conscious humour with which their pertinent and amusing questions and comments are so often interlerded.

The story of a poor girl who leaves her starving family and sheep for a more prosperous village. Her grandfather finds her and tries to convince her to return to her home.

Detailed record of the celebration of the day of the Virgin of Andacollo, a feast that takes place between December 23 and 27 in the city of Andacollo, located in the Coquimbo Region, Chile. The arrival of the pilgrims, the way to the temple, and the beginning of the procession of the Virgin through the town, along with the dances of the numerous brotherhoods that gather. Then, the penitences for completed errands, other activities around the festivity and, finally, the departure of the pilgrims.

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A synthesis of the life and soul of Portugal, with the sea, the river, the mountains, the plains, and the people who dance and work, cry and laugh, are born and die. From the Minho to the Algarve, distant places, sometimes difficult to access, were chosen for their beauty and picturesque, to figure in a register that allies realism to poetry?

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Twenty-four hours in the story of the British Railways Channel ferryboats, the 'link spans' directly joining the roads and railways of Britain with those of France and all the Continent. The Lord Warden laden with an assortment of road vehicles from Dover, and the Night Ferry from Newhaven carrying passengers bound for Paris, Vienna or Rome are two of the ferries illustrated in this film; and freight is not forgotten.

A feature-length documentary showing the changing world of nature, the sky, the sea, the sun, planets, insects and volcanic action. A story of nature's strange and intricate designs for survival and her many methods of perpetuating life.

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Documentary about farming in Havrå, outside Bergen. A film from a closed-off small Norwegian rural community.

Over a decade after the almost total wartime destruction, Warsaw still looks bruised and battered. Ruined houses are nevertheless inhabited which can be dangerous for the local population.

Memorable attack by the southern Irish government on sectarian Northern housing policies in Fintona, Co. Tyrone.

A short documentary directed by Jesus Franco.

A montage of the night-life of Piccadilly Circus across the hours, from early evening to the last lingering passers-by.

An East German documentary by Andrew and Annelie Thorndike investigating NATO General Hans Speidel’s alleged role in the 1934 assassination of Yugoslav King Alexander I and French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou. Drawing on archival footage and documents, it scrutinizes Speidel’s past and postwar career, provoking controversy and a ban in West Germany. The film won First Prize at the 1958 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the Heinrich Greif Prize in East Germany.

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Life and work of frontier force, guarding national safety.

A documentary on the work of artist Henry Moore.

Directed by renouned animator Ward Kimball, ' Mars and Beyond' is a lighthearted exploration of the history and future of Space Travel as understood back in 1957! Theories from scientists and philosophers are discussed. Focusing on Mars. Ideas from science-fiction authors H.G. Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs are brought to life with colorful animation. Pulp science fiction comics of the time are parodied. Life on other planets is considered, profiling each of the planets in the solar system from the perspective of what would happen to man on them. A masterpiece of animation and sci-fi that was way ahead of it's time. Ward Kimball was perhaps the most inventive of all Disney animators and probably the only one who admitted to experimenting with psychedelic drugs in the 60's. Also the only animator who Walt Disney ever called a "genius."

Short drama-documentary showing the first day in England of a Hungarian refugee.

Although first glance reveals little more than stones and sand, the desert is alive. Witness moving rocks, spitting mud pots, gorgeous flowers and the never-ending battle for survival between desert creatures of every shape, size and description.

Join renowned explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau as he investigates aquatic habitats worldwide, showcasing whales, sharks, and diverse marine life. The film highlights the brutal realities of nature while capturing the wonder of underwater exploration, as the team ventures into previously unseen ocean depths.

Grand Canyon is a 1958 American short documentary film directed by James Algar and produced by Walt Disney Productions. It is a pictorial interpretation of Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite. Grand Canyon is one of Walt Disney's more unconventional and experimental works, as it has musical accompaniment, but no dialogue or narration. The short won an Oscar at the 31st Academy Awards in 1959 for Best Short Subject (Live Action).

Based on the real life story, the director turned his camera towards the real world of Âşık Veysel, the great poet who wandered around the Anatolian villages.

A documentary on the island off the French Riviera where 'bathing in the buff' isn't just practiced, it's highly encouraged!

Within the cultural policy framework of the 1950s, Mikoláš Aleš was, in terms of fine art, equivalent to Bedřich Smetana in music and Alois Jirásek in history and literature. This biopic presents Aleš as an artist of a devoted to his nation and its folk traditions. The movie depicts the most important events of the celebration of “Aleš’s Year” (in honour of the hundredth anniversary of Aleš’s birth), which was conceptually prepared first and foremost by the then education minister Zdeněk Nejedlý, who was also a crucial figure in terms of cultural policy.

Excerpts from some of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's outstanding operas performed at the Vienna State Opera, played by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Rudolf Moralt. Cinematically modest, as it focuses entirely on depicting the performances, but musically delightful.

Andrzej Wajda's first movie looks at the pottery in the town of Iłża, Poland. Much of it shows the actual process of creating all the objects out of clay.

The film depicts a young male beaver who must defend his new family against hungry predators, mischievous river otters, and the ever-impending threat of winter.

A live television broadcast covering the world premiere of A Star Is Born, capturing the arrivals, spectacle, and excitement surrounding one of Hollywood’s most lavish premiere events.

However impressive the site is, however bossy the guides are, the visitors of the Musée Napoléon listen only absent-mindedly. Does this young lady really care about the tragic destiny of emperor Napoleon or Europe's changing face or isn't she more interested in her won reflection in a window case? And isn't the camera operator more prone to film the cornet wimples of visiting nuns than the fossilized remains of Napoleon's fallen grandeur...?

A staged documentary that started the Polish Black Series. The film takes the form of a warning against indifference to the rogue behavior of hooligan groups and their pernicious effect on young people flowing into the cities.

Johan van der Keuken's first film is a uniquely beautiful portrait of Paris at dawn.

Documentary on the fresco paintings of Candido Portinari, who contributed to the development of a more realistic and modernist style in the art of Brazil.

Zoilo Cajigas y Sotomayor is a carver of wooden models of saints. Don Zoilo is one of Puerto Rico's best-known artisans and was 96 years old at the time of the filming. The film shows the elaborate process behind his craftsmanship.

This short film takes a look at the sights, sounds, and customs along Italy's Amalfi Coast.

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