Off The Job

Finally, the sequence in 'Stone Into Steel' where it all goes weird and the music gets clattery and we see into the men's heads and get glimpses of their public and private passions, gaining an insight into what they do when they're not at work. In the case of the last picture, he seems to be doing Pat Butcher.

Life On Mars

The vast alien landscape of the Appleby-Frodingham steelworks in Scunthorpe, as seen in the super duper 'Stone Into Steel'. How do I know the name of the steelworks? Extensive research, instinct, and a small clue within the film itself..

Stone Into Steel

I watch an awful lot of documentaries, public information films and the like. I don't know why, I like them and they make me feel happy and contented and, strangely, full of hope for a long gone age, usually one that I didn't ever experience myself. Some of the films are deadly dull, of course, but most make for riveting viewing, especially the ones about ship building. That was a riveting joke, by the way. 

My favourite film of many favourites is 'Stone Into Steel', from 1960. It shows us the process by which iron ore is extracted from rock and, eventually, turned into battleships and radio telescopes. It does all this in just over half an hour and, apart from some opening captions, no other explanation other than what we see on the screen - no dialogue, no commentary, just the odd bit of ambient noise and an ever changing modernist classical score by Edward Williams. Every frame is beautiful, and although the pace is gentle, it's never boring even if, like me, you have no specific interest in the steel industry. It was directed by Paul Dickson, who later went on to make episodes of 'Department S' and 'Jason King' - clearly, a very talented man.  

Frustratingly, I've been unable to illegally reproduce my nice, bright version of the film, so, if you're interested, for now you'll have to watch a scabby, faded copy on You Tube. Start here.