Enthralling film footage of BT’s early development occupies significant shelf space in the General Post Office (GPO) Film Unit archive held by the British Film Institute (BFI).
This autumn there is an ideal opportunity to view some of these classic films as the film unit celebrates its 75th birthday.
The birthday is shared with the BFI, prompting a double celebration which is being supported by the BFI, BT heritage, the Royal Mail and the British Postal Museum and Archive (BPMA).
A number of the original films have been reprinted to mark the anniversary - a good few capturing the beginnings of BT before it was separated from the Royal Mail.
The archive is a fascinating mixture of public information films, drama-documentary, social reportage, animation and advertising.
Famous among its many reels is Night Train from 1936 with verse by poet WH Auden and music by composer Benjamin Britten, following the Postal Special’s nightly run from London to Scotland.
While Night Train described the transport of traditional mail at high speed, the GPO Film Unit also sought to educate audiences with entertaining films about the latest technologies being introduced to make the telephone cheaper and much more accessible to a wider audience.
The Fairy of the Phone from 1936 is a fanciful comedy with musical sequences. A fairy dances along the telegraph wires, a chorus of telephonists sings a catchy tune and there are various comic cameos on how to make and receive calls, based on instructions printed in the 1936 London telephone directory.
Other highlights of BT’s nascent steps are the many films educating the British public on some of the rudiments of telephony.
These include The Coming of the Dial in 1933, designed to ease phone users’ worries about using such advanced technology to request a phone number without operator intervention.
Raising broader awareness about the power and reach of telecoms were films such as World Exchange in 1936 about the international telephone exchange in London.
Another memorable film shows rural Britain just before the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. Midsummer Day’s Work was shot during a perfect summer as gangs laid an 18-mile underground cable in the Chiltern Hills from Amersham to Aylesbury. The film’s lyrical depiction of life in the countryside has special poignancy and was perhaps mindful of what was to come - the film stresses the importance of telecoms in the defence of Britain, said David Hay, head of BT heritage and corporate memory.
The work of the GPO Film Unit is highlighted on this website where some of the titles can also be viewed . Higher resolution copies can be purchased from the BFI.
There is also a chance see a new 80-minute omnibus which includes clips from many of the memorable films in the GPO collection from the 1930s. Love Letters and Live Wires is now touring cinemas nationwide until the end of the year.
The 75th birthday is also marked by the launch of a new GPO Film Unit collection on DVD. Volume one - Addressing the Nation - contains 15 films made from 1933 to 1935.
BT, BFI Screenonline and BPMA have also collaborated on an archive online interactive hosted by Derek Jacobi. The actor delves into the film unit's rich history, with a range of clips.
David said: “The work of the GPO Film Unit recorded important milestones and topics in BT’s history.
“The technological developments it introduced to an astonished public - such as the automation of the telephone network and the first transatlantic telephone service - were as innovative then as the 21st century network and the roll-out of fibre-based super-fast broadband is today.
“The films bring alive a revolution in mass communications as epoch changing in the 1930s as today’s internet.”
Information on all the GPO Film Unit’s 75th anniversary initiatives can be found online.