Best Documentary Movies of 1935

1935 documentary about the hard working life of Welsh coal miners.

This visit to Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific Ocean shows that life for the residents has changed little in the years since Fletcher Christian and his fellow mutineers on HMS Bounty, along with several Tahitian natives, landed here. The island is self-sufficient and has few visitors. Among the islanders we see at work is Fletcher Christian's great-grandson.

The problem of slum dwellings in the 1930s.

Compilation of lighting and costume tests from various films, most notably Sternberg's The Devil Is a Woman (1935).

A promotional short to hype the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935).

Documentary about the building of ships at Barrow-in-Furness.

Basically this is a commercial for Hollywood's Lido Lounge and for MGM contract players. The Lido is a large watering hole; we visit one afternoon with an orchestra playing, all sorts of stars and would-be stars sitting at tables near the pool alongside paying customers, and bathing beauties parading and diving. The Lido's manager, Reggy Denny, introduces the stars in the audience. He's sometimes interrupted by someone who does a bit, sings a song, or otherwise entertains: most of these are novelty acts. By the end, everyone's having a swell time.

This Traveltalk series short visits Los Angeles, California. In one of the highlights of the film, narrator James FitzPatrick visits the Disney cartoon studio and shakes hands with Walt Disney.

After the audience is instructed how to use the 3-D glasses they received, demonstrations of three-dimensional films are presented. Various objects move towards the camera, including a ladder being shoved out a window, the slide on a trombone, a woman on a swing, and a thrown baseball.

Collection of Warner's stars blundering through missed takes.

Complete presentation of the banana industry from the clearing of the jungle and the planting to the shipment of the fruit to the American markets.

An impressionistic portrait of the BBC.

The 1935 Morro films, shot by Martin and Osa Johnson, recount the 60,000 mile "Flying Safari" undertaken by the filmmakers as they flew their two amphibious airlanes(the Zebra stripped 'Osa's Ark' and the Giraffe-spotted 'Spirit of Africa') from Capetown, South Africa to Cairo, Egypt. Famous shots from the movie include the first-ever aerial pictures of the tops of Africa's highest peaks, Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya. Along the journey, Martin filmed Osa surrounded by a pride of Lions and together they captured amazing scenes of a baboon colony, an event striking enough to give the movie its name.

This Traveltalk short visits Hawaii's capital city.

Made in commemoration and celebration of the Jubilee of King George V, this is the story of the first twenty-five years of his reign, told through the many travels of a penny that was minted in the year of his accession: 1910. Through a series of individual stories, Royal Cavalcade covers a period of striking change in every area of life – from the suffragette movement to the trenches of World War One, the effects of the Depression to single events such as the first ever Royal Command Performance, featuring Anna Pavlova and George Robey.

This short film focuses on the majestic towns and landscapes of the Canadian Rockies.

This short film focuses on how racehorses are trained.

This Traveltalk series short looks at pre-World War II Tokyo, highlighting the influences of Western culture.

This Traveltalk series short visits The Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon.

Public information film aimed at the unemployed, commissioned by the Ministry of Labour.

James A. FitzPatrick takes a look at colorful Guatemala.

A Technicolor travelogue of the islands in the Indian Ocean east of Africa.

This short film showcases water sports activities such as sailboat racing and surfboard riding, including Christian Peterson doing a human surfboard at 45 mph.

"The Immortal Swan", is a 1935 documentary tribute filmed not long after Pavlova's death that depicts the star dancing, including her most famous solo, "The Dying Swan".

Promo for MGM's upcoming 1935-36 releases hosted by Laurel & Hardy and Jimmy Finlayson. Brief clips are shown from Rose Marie, Anna Karenina, Broadway Melody, China Seas, The Great Ziegfield and others. Don't miss a few seconds from the 1935 version (now lost) of Tarzan Escapes showing Jane with a great ape; there were no great apes in the 1936 release.

This short documentary narrated by sportscaster Ted Husing explores the free-time activities of some of Hollywood's most popular celebrities. Big names such as Boris Karloff, Buster Crabbe, and Clark Gable make appearances, enjoying games of golf, field hockey, swimming, and many other fun hobbies.

Academy Award nominated short film.

Ingratiation of Simón Bolívar

Great story shows us how to prepare appetising food for a picnic

A production by Chevrolet from 1935 on safety around trains

A short film depicting the Nazi Imperial Capital of the 30s as a modern, vibrant metropole, reconstructing itself under the auspices of the new regime and bracing for the role it was about to play in the new political order.

“Produced by the Portuguese Consortium of Tin Fish to advertise Portuguese canned food products in foreign markets, and possibly directed by Leitão de Barros, Tin Sardines is a curious account of its manufacturing process”.

Hei Tiki, also known as Primitive Passions and Hei Tiki: A Saga of the Maoris, is a 1935 American mock-documentary film made in New Zealand by the eccentric Alexander Markey and released (with sound added) in America. The film gained notoriety in America for having scenes of nudity cut in various states. It is one of four films (with The Devil's Pit, Down on the Farm, and On the Friendly Road) which claim to be the first "New Zealand talkie", although the claim is dubious in this case as the sound was added in America.

This 1935 film, produced by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago under the supervision of Dr. James Henry Breasted was written and told by his son, Charles Breasted. Though we no longer think about archaeology in the same way, this film gives us insight into the early days of the field.

Here from 1935 is Gaumont British's documentary about the Royal Air Force, simply titled "RAF", and directed by John Betts.This film looks at the training of new recruits, and includes views of many aircraft of the period. Anyone who thinks that formation flying started with the Red Arrows had better think again - here we see bi-planes flying in perfect synchronization over 70 years ago.

Short documentary about a trawler fishing for hake.

The story of the most famous train in the world

A 1935 black and white film advertising London and exolting it's most popular tourist attractions.