Collection
Secrets of Nature
A series of short educational nature documentaries that were produced from 1919 to 1933 by British Instructional Films.
Timeline
- 1
- 2The Life Story of the Caddis Worm1/1/1919 0.0
A precursor short film to the Secrets of Nature shorts.
- 3The Life Story of the Garden Spider1/1/1919 0.0
A precursor short film to the Secrets of Nature shorts.
- 4
- 5Infant Welfare in the Bird World1/1/1922 0.0
A Secrets of Nature short depicting methods employed by sea birds to care for and protect their young are contrasted with those used by various land-based birds.
- 6
The Cuckoo's Secret1/2/192217m 0.0The film shows a cuckoo caught in the act of laying an egg in the nest of two titlarks. The egg is hatched by the foster-mother, and she and her mate feed and tend the young cuckoo, even to the detriment of their own chicks.
- 7
The White Owl1/2/192212m 0.0A short black-and-white silent documentary film featuring the life-cycle of the Barn Owl.
- 8
The Battle of the Ants1/2/192212m 0.0A short black-and-white silent documentary film featuring the conflict between two colonies of wood ants joined by a piece of tiber laid across a moat at a zoological garden.
- 9
Skilled Insect Artisans1/2/19229m 0.0The pictures show how the ailanthus silkmoth and the red admiral spin silk and weave a cocoon, and the way in which the change from caterpillar to moth is affected.
- 10
Fathoms Deep Beneath the Sea6/30/192213m 0.0Beneath the waves are mountains, plains and valleys full of life: here the conger, the octopus, and the wrasse hunt for food; shrimps and prawns act as scavengers; sea anemones and starfish decorate the seafloor, and the spider crab assumes protective colouring by covering its back with pebbles.
- 11Studies in Animal Motion12/31/192210m 0.0
Captivating slow-motion and quadrupeds aplenty in this fascinating look at animal movement.
- 12The Comma Butterfly1/1/19239m 0.0
A study of the insect, from caterpillar to butterfly. Part of the “Secrets of Nature” series.
- 13
Winter2/1/19238m 0.0A sign of approaching winter - the frost catches the leaves which begin to fall.
- 14Paws and Claws1/1/1925 0.0
Nature adapts the limbs of animals to the works they will be required to do. This principle is illustrated by the Lion, the Tiger, Leopard, Giant Ant-Eater, Armadillo, Camel, Reindeer, Gazelle, Fowl, Chameleon, Otter, Beaver, Penguin, Fruit-Bat, Spider Monkey and Gibbon.
- 15Seed Time1/1/19267m 0.0
High speed photography used to show the seed dispersal methods of various plants.
- 16
Busy Bees1/2/192611m 0.0These pictures show the marvellous industry of the Bee, the ingenuity it exercises in making its home, and the ordered programme of life that it appears to follow.
- 17
The Plants of the Pantry1/1/192713m 0.0Short documentary film using innovative filming techniques to show how moulds grow and germinate.
- 18The Story of a Glass of Water1/1/19276m 0.0
How science and nature combine to purify water in a reservoir. Micro-cinematography shows the bacteria present in the water.
- 19Plant Magic1/1/19279m 0.0
Micro-cinematography is used to show how plants transform their secretions into other substances.
- 20
Floral Co-operative Societies1/2/192712m 0.0A short black-and-white silent documentary film featuring the sexual elements of pollenation in Dandelion, Globe thistle, Daisy, Cornflower, Carline thistle and Everlastings.
- 21
- 22The Frog1/1/192911m 0.0
A life history of the Frog. Released in a silent (1929) and sound (1930) version.
- 23
Scarlet Runner & Co4/17/192910m 0.0Time lapse photography of the broad bean flower unfurling. Released in a silent (1929) and sound (1930) version.
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Plants of the Underworld6/1/193011m 0.0The world of fungi captured by micro-cinematography and time-lapse photography.
- 28
Peas and Cues7/11/19309m 6.0The film shows the birth, life and reproduction of sweet peas, a familiar and well loved plant of British gardeners.
- 29
The Strangler12/31/193011m 5.0The Strangler shows the life history of dodder, from its earliest stage as a seedling, to its parasitic stage feeding off its host.
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Magic Myxies2/1/193110m 0.0Short film showing (with limited accuracy) the life-cycle of myxomycetes.
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The Bittern12/31/19319m 0.0The breeding cycle of the bittern, the cryptically plumaged relative of the herons.
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- 48Nature's Double Lifters6/10/193210m 0.0
Mary Field edits the time-lapse photography of F. Percy Smith to show the life cycle of ferns and related plants.
- 49
Romance in a Pond7/1/19329m 0.0Short, anthropomorphically-inclined documentary showing the life-cycle of the common newt.
- 50
Brewster's Magic1/1/19338m 0.0A short documentary study of hops, barley and yeast, and how they interact.
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