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Ration Books and Rabbit Pies
Films from the Home Front

Continuing the BFI’s exploration of Britain on Film, this fascinating DVD collection brings together a selection of public information films, propaganda shorts and adverts from the Second World War, drawn from the BFI National Archive. Ration Books and Rabbit Pies: Films from the Home Front, released on 18 January 2016, contains films that give essential advice to a nation living in an age of austerity. Amongst the handy hints and tips, we learn how to support the war effort from home by rationing, staying healthy, growing vegetables, cooking and salvaging.

Highlights of the collection include Tea Making Tips (1941), with ‘the six golden tips’ for making the perfect cuppa; director/artist/animator Len Lye’s When the Pie Was Opened (1941); Did You Ever See a Dream Talking (1943) starring ‘silly ass’ comedian Claude Hulbert playing a Home Guard volunteer; Wisdom of the Wild (1940), a wartime twist on the long-running Secrets of Life natural history series; The Wicked Witch (1943), an advert for Rinso and A-Tish-oo! (1941), an instructional film on how to make a face-mask.

The release of Ration Books and Rabbit Pies accompanies the season Blitz Flicks running at BFI Southbank throughout January 2016. Each weekend, audiences have the chance to experience a matinee programme, 1940s-style, with all features playing with a supporting programme of propaganda shorts, just as they would have been shown at the time.

THE FILMS

COOKERY TIPS
• Cookery Hints: Oatmeal Porridge (1940, 6 mins)
• When the Pie was Opened (1941, 8 mins)
• Mrs T and Her Cabbage Patch (1941, 12 mins)
• Two Cooks and a Cabbage (1941, 6 mins)
• Tea Making Tips (1941, 10 mins)
• Food Flashes: Milk, Fish and Potatoes (1942-1944)

SAVE YOUR SHILLINGS AND SMILE
• Did You Ever See a Dream Talking (1943, 6 mins)
• Keep Them Safe Keep Them Happy (1939, 2 mins)
• Bob in the Pound (1943, 2 mins)
• Save Your Shillings And Smile (1943, 7 mins)
• Get Cracking (1944, 1 min)
• Food Flash: Bread and Dough (1942-1944)

MAKE DO AND MEND
• Salvage With A Smile (1940), 6 mins)
• Wisdom Of The Wild (1940, 13 mins)
• Sabotage! (1942, 2 mins)
• Mrs Mopp Entertains (1943, 2 mins)
• The Wicked Witch (1943, 2 mins)
• Dustbin Parade (1942, 6 mins)
• Little Annie's Rag Book (1942, 2 mins)
• Little Miss Muddlehead (1943, 2 mins)
• Food Flash: Ration Books (1942-1944)

FIGHTING FIT
• Fitness Wins: 4 and 20 Fit Girls (1940) 11 Mins
• A-Tish-Oo! (1941) 6 Mins
• ABCD of Health (1942) 9 Mins
• Round Figures (1944) 9 Mins
• Food Flashes: Eggs, Cocoa and Cod Liver Oil (1942-1944)

DIG FOR VICTORY
• The Backyard Front (1940, 16 mins)
• Bampton Shows the Way (1941, 6 mins)
• Food Flashes: Canteens and Rats (1942-1944)

This set also contains an illustrated booklet with essays, film notes and full film credits.

Product details
RRP: £19.99 / Cat. no. BFIV2071 / Cert E
UK / 1939 – 1944 / black and white / English language / 151 mins / original aspect ratio 1.33:1 / DVD9 / PAL / Dolby Digital 1.0 mono (160kbps)