Best Documentary Movies of 1956

This short film presented by the Reynolds Metals Company details how aluminum is manufactured and illustrates the seemingly endless uses of this versatile product.

Walt Disney explains some of the techniques of animation, and includes for the first time the pencil test footage of the "Soup Eating Sequence" from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Walt references a book called "The Art of Animation" which shows a technique that is used in animated cartoons that dates back to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks.

A documentary showcasing the world's many different animal species, both past and present.

A night at the Wood Green Jazz Club - an example of 'Free Cinema'.

A couple in love interacts across a multitude of environments.

The story of Donald Campbell, son of the late Sir Malcolm Campbell, British champion auto-racer, and his efforts to survive driving a jet-powered boat at record speeds on Lake Meade, Nevada. After a number of failures at breaking the water-speed record of 216 mph, Campbell and his boat, the 'Bluebird', set a new record by, at times, breaking 250 mph.

The minutiae of daily life on Edinburgh's Rose Street in the fifties is presented in this impressionistic documentary piece.

A documentary covering the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne and Stockholm.

This short shows how the city of Reading, Pennsylvania would implement civil defense procedures to help residents survive a nuclear attack. Through a network of volunteers, makeshift hospitals would be set up, auxiliary police officers would maintain order, and other elements of the civil defense program would be put in place.