West End Jungle

Moving picture of London's Trafalgar Square traffic, filmed with a kinesigraph.

In the racially turbulent UK of the early 70s, a group of black musicians came together in South London with a common love of rhythms and a message of peace. Cymande – with the dove as their symbol – combined jazz, funk, soul and Caribbean grooves to form a unique sound. Despite success in the USA they faced indifference in their native Britain, becoming disillusioned and disbanding. But the music lived on, as new generations of artists imbibed and reworked their pioneering sounds in fresh ways. From Soul II Soul to De La Soul, MC Solaar to The Fugees, the Dove had spread Cymande's message far and wide, prompting their return after forty years. This is their story.

Born in Portugal, Paula Rego is one of Britain's leading artists. This intimate film follows the artist from her retrospective in Madrid to the privacy of her studio in London while she talks with humor and candor about her compulsion to produce works that, though accessible, deal with the most private themes.

Emilia Fox and Britain’s top criminologist, Professor David Wilson, cast new light on the Jack the Ripper case. Together, they examine the Ripper’s modus operandi using modern technology to recreate the murder sites to help understand the extraordinary risks the Ripper took to kill his victims. Using the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System (HOLMES)—a bespoke computer system used by the police to help detect patterns in criminal activity—and evidence uncovered within the investigation, results strongly indicate another woman was, in fact, the first Ripper victim.

In the summer of 1920, Shanghai was scandalized by a sensational murder, a high-profile case and subsequent trial that was the ongoing topic of conversation in the city's numerous cafes, clubs and teahouses. Among the various reasons for its notoriety, two stand out: first, the victim was a high-class prostitute, well known in Shanghai; second, the murderer had been a mid-level manager in a respected foreign firm, a playboy who in Manhattan might have been termed a "prominent young man about town." There were detailed press reports daily as the case wound its way through the judicial system.

Red Maria

This documentary in the Look At Life series – made by the Rank Organisation for screening in Odeon and Gaumont cinemas – was released in 1967 and anticipated a radical redevelopment of Piccadilly Circus, which never actually happened.

While flying to the first stop on their latest tour, the four members of the Australian music group The Seekers recall in flashback the origins of the group and their rise to success.

Dance for All

This is the tale of a young woman, growing up in the age of the internet and turning the search for oneself into a public spectacle, allowing kids from all over the world to live their life through hers. Through her fragmented personalities you see the emergence of a new generation, in which the concept of a fixed identity has grown old.

Five Sex Rooms und eine Küche

Based on Geoffrey Fletcher’s book, this captivating documentary exposes the real London of the swinging sixties. Turning its back on familiar sights, the film explores the hidden details of a crumbling metropolis. With James Mason as our Guide, we are led on an tour of the weird and wonderful pockets of London from abandoned music-halls to egg breaking factories.

Cocottes et courtisanes dans l’œil des peintres

Em is an escort girl and a heroin addict. From New York to Los Angeles via Pittsburgh, Em’s daily life is revealed.

A look at the "private clubs" of London. From the famous political clubs of the 18th century to the gambling clubs and the bohemian night clubs of the West End.

The film Fire Over London is about the operation of the London Fire Brigade. In an office's switchboard room we see one of the hideous T&N green and ivory telephones supplied by General Telephone Systems. Another shot deep in the bowels of St Paul's Cathedral gives a glimpse of a two-tone grey ATE 'Coffin Phone' as used on Communications Systems private exchange systems.

A look at the day-to-day running of the historic Tower of London and coping with up to 16,000 visitors each day. A stunning display of the Crown Jewels.

A look into London's street markets and how they're suffering to compete with supermarkets.

Take a history tour on the River Thames. Lots of famous footage: Parliament, Big Ben, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral, Port of London, Cleopatra's Needle and much more!

A look at the River Thames, its past and present, from source to the sea. An examination of what has been done and is being done to modernize port services and to keep traffic moving—from holiday pleasure seekers to bustling commerce.