Description
From the BFI:
The Children’s Film Foundation
BUMPER BOX Volume 2.
3-DVD Set
Year: 1957-1982 Total running time: 503 minutes Black & White and Colour
For over 30 years, the Children’s Film Foundation provided young audiences with entertainment, employing the cream of British film-making talent. Unavailable for years, these much-loved films now make a welcome return.
The Bumper Box Collection Vol. 2 includes the following Childrenís Film Foundation adventures; Treasure at the Mill, Wings of Mystery, Seventy Deadly Pills, Go Kart Go, A Ghost of a Chance, The Sea Children, Sky Pirates, The Mine and the Minotaur and Friend or Foe. Some famous faces in early roles include actors Judy Geeson, Dennis Waterman and renowned composer Simon Fisher Turner.
Films included:
Treasure at the Mill (1957)
Director: Max Anderson Cast: Richard Palmer, John Ruddock, Hilda Fenemore, The Pettit family. Fourteen-year-old John dreams of finding treasure and buying his mother a cottage.
Wings of Mystery (1963)
Director: Gilbert Gunn Cast: Judy Geeson, Hennie Scott, Patrick Jordan, Francesca Bertorelli, Graham Aza, Anthony Jacobs, Arnold Ridley. Someone in the Sheffield steelworks is selling details of a new alloy to a foreign agent but a group of children are on the trail, with some extra help!
Seventy Deadly Pills (1964)
Director: Pat Jackson Cast: Sally Thomsett, Robert Ferguson, Len Jones, Timothy Bateson, Leslie Dwyer, Harry Fowler, Warren Mitchell. A gang of children find some deadly pills left by some criminals and share them.
Go Kart Go (1964)
Director: Jan Darnley-Smith Cast: Dennis Waterman, Jimmy Capehorn, Frazer Hines, Robert Ferguson, Graham Stark, Wilfrid Brambell. A group of youngsters build their own go-kart, hoping to beat a rival gang at the local race track.
A Ghost of a Chance (1968)
Director: Jan Darnley-Smith Cast: Stephen Brown, Mark Ward, Cheryl Vidgen, Jimmy Edwards, Graham Stark, Patricia Hayes, Bernard Cribbins, Terry Scott, Ronnie Barker. Three children fight the destruction of a local historic landmark, helped by a group of friendly ghosts.
The Sea Children (1973)
Director: David Andrews Cast: Simon Fisher-Turner, Perry Balfour, Lesley Dunlop, Stephen Garlick, Earl Younger. Skin divers on holiday in Malta discover strange world beneath the sea.
Sky Pirates (1977)
Director: C.M. Pennington-Richards Cast: Adam Richens, Michael McVey, Sylvia OíDonnell, Bill Maynard, Reginald Marsh, Jamie Foreman. Boys wage battle against diamond smugglers with radio controlled model Spitfires.
The Mine and the Minotaur (1980)
Director: David Gowing Cast: Adam Rhodes, William Booker, Felicity Harrison, Charlie Cork, Janette Legge. Two children on holiday in Cornwall discover a golden Minotaur statue stolen from the British Museum.
Friend or Foe (1982)
Director: John Krish Cast: John Bardon, Stacey Tendeter, John Holmes, Edward Burnham, Robin Hayter, Ann Mitchell. Two children in wartime England find a German fighter pilot.
Special Features:
A Letter from the Isle of Wight (1953, 11 mins).
A Letter from Wales (1953, 15 mins).
A Letter from Ayrshire (1954, 11 mins).
Meeting John (2020, 19 mins): featuring the last filmed interview with John Krish, director of Friend or Foe, this short film looks at a number of the late director’s works including the Children’s Film Foundation film Out of the Darkness.
Moonage Daydreams Simon Fisher Turner (2019, 27 mins): the musician, songwriter, composer and producer speaks about his earliest days in film and television and his starring role in The Sea Children. Includes fully illustrated booklet with new writing on the films by Vic Pratt.
