Night Mail (John Grierson) and West Highland, two classic films from the famous GPO Film Unit Archives.

Night Mail
The first is the John Grierson inspired classic 1936 film of the nightly postal express from London Euston to Scotland. Directed by Harry Watt and Basil Wright, with music by Benjamin Britten and the famous verse "This is the Night Mail crossing the border ..." by W.H. Auden. More than 70 years later Night Mail is still a fascinating film with all the attributes of the classic British 'documentary' style established by John Grierson.

West Highland
By 1960 the reign of steam on Britain's most scenic railway, the West Highland, was drawing to its close. John Gray, a BBC  Scotland producer and sound engineer with the GPO Film Unit in the 1930s, made 'West Highland' as his tribute to this wonderful line. Perhaps the last of the lyrical documentaries, it completes a superb double bill for both film and railway enthusiasts in crisp black and white.

Running time: 55 mins b/w.
Format PAL