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Charley Says... The Best Public Information Films In The World [1970]
![Charley Says... The Best Public Information Films In The World [1970]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5126RR3HM3L._SL160_.jpg)
On the DVD: The 4:3 picture definition is generally excellent, with even the black and white films taken from masters, and the mono sound is more than adequate, though no subtitles are provided. The 157 shorts are individually accessible via four selection lists, but the random play facility throws up the same options a little too often. --Richard Whitehouse
RRP: £14.99
Our Price: £9.49 (subject to change)
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
A priceless record of British society in the 1960s and 70s, Charley Says is two-and-a-half hours of public information films produced by London's Central Office of Information between 1959 and 1983. Topics, though numerous, are dominated by an obsession with safely crossing the road. Mid-1970s celebs such as Shaw Taylor and Jimmy Saville try to coerce us into wearing then-optional seat belts or propound the still-incomprehensible "Splink" theory of road awareness. Dave Prowse looks uneasy as the Green Cross Code superhero months before he found immortality as Darth Vader and Edward Judd briefly achieves cult status with "ThinkBike". Animation is also well represented, with the engaging psycho-babble of Charley the cat and the witty repartee of Jo and Petunia to guide us through the dangers of everyday living, while Tufty and Mrs Fluffytale look concerned as Willie the Weasel gets hit by every car in town. "Lonely Water", however, is a real spine-chiller, and the TV licence-detector man assumes a menace worthy of Quatermass. By the early 1980s, recourse to passing fads such as Space Invaders and break-dancing confirm that the era of paternalistic TV was almost over.
You'll be amazed how these worked....
Review date: 2008-01-28 Rating: 10 out of 10
"Breaststroke,Backstroke,Butterfly and Crawl
Dog Paddle
Belly Flop
You can do them all...
LEARN TO SWIM!"
It's the best part of nearly 30 years later,and I can still remember that.In fact,now my 2 nephews (aged 5 and 8) have seen it,they are now singing it around the house!
This DVD is a must for anybody who remembers those little reminders to "...always tell your mummy before going somewhere", "put the chain on.." and "Clunk Click Every Trip". It even also can provoke thought and fear - Donald Pleasance's voice over on the The Spirit Of Dark & Lonely Water and Patrick Allen's narrative for Action after Warnings and dealing with Casualties in the event of the event of Nuclear Attack (luckily we didn't eventually need to Protect and Survive) made the top 100 in Channel 4's Greatest Scary Moments and are both featured here.
However it is not all doom and gloom - there are plenty of things to make you smile and reminisce - the Dad's Army cast on a Pelican Crossing,Jo & Petunia looking out at the man in his "little dinghy",Alvin Stardust telling kids "you must be out of your tiny minds", and Dave Prowse showing why James Earl Jones had to dub Darth Vader - as the Green Cross Code Man's accent is pure Evening Mail paper seller outside Bristol Temple Meads station !
Also you can play spot the celeb as many famed character actors start their careers in these little 30 second pieces of brilliance. Look out for Gillian Taylforth,John Altman,and Jean Boht anongst others making cameo appearances.
Only one regret - no "Bedtime Routine" on this or the other Charley Says 2 DVD - one for Charley Says 3 me thinks !
Similar Products
- Charley Says... Vol 1 & 2 (Over 300 UK Public Information Films)
- Charley Says... Vol. 2
- Mr Benn - The Complete Series
- Classic Commercials Vol.1
- John's Not Mad (BBC Q.E.D. Documentary) [1989]
Reviews
Are you out of your tiny minds?!
Review date: 2006-12-13 Rating: 10 out of 10
Some of the Public Information Broadcasts on this DVD are funny because they are so bad, for example:
SPLINK!
S for Stop
P for Pavement
L for Look (and listen)
I for If (traffic appears)
N for no (don't cross if there's traffic)
K for keep (looking for traffic as you cross)
John Pertwee was the star of this broadcast (dressed in his Doctor Who garb) and it was notoriously difficult to remember what the acronym stood for! The campaign was dropped in favour of the Green Cross Code.
The Green Cross Code ads are on here too "Are you out of your tiny minds?!". Excellent!
The broadcasts concerning what to do after a nuclear blast are a terrifying reminder of the fear of the cold war. These are chilling to watch and leave you slightly numb after watching them, especially after being told to leave identifying notes on dead bodies.
The star of this show has to be Kenny Everett voiced Charley himself, watching Charley nearly drown is both devastating and hillarious!
This is social history at its finest!
Wonderful nostalgia
Review date: 2006-08-24 Rating: 10 out of 10
Who would ever imagine that mundane public information films would somehow define/signify our past?
These will take you back to another age with no bother at all and generate contemporaneous memories that will (mostly) please you with views of a simpler and probably happier time.
However, thirty years on I am STILL chilled by "I am the spirit of dark and lonely water..."
Excellent journey back in time
Review date: 2006-06-02 Rating: 10 out of 10
Just watched this dvd and it is so great to see all those old films again from years gone by.
In this modern world we now live in I think that a lot of these films are still relevant and could do with being shown again to a new generation of people.
Watch out for the very scary film called 'Lonely Water' - it certainly gets the message across.
Overall, this dvd comes highly recommended.
Putting a rug on a polished floor is like setting a giant tr
Review date: 2006-03-24 Rating: 8 out of 10
Those who grew up in the 1970's and early 1980's were very lucky, as this wonderful collection of PIFs (Public Information Films) released from the central government archives serves to remind us of what a dangerous place Britain was during the 1970's. If you were not electrocuted getting your Frisbee from a substation, badly injured by putting a rug on a polished floor or skidding off the road because you'd mixed cross ply's and radial tyres on your car you were probably hiding in your fallout room with the curtains drawn after hearing the air attack warning sound.
In all seriousness this is a wonderfully nostalgic look back at these films, which were once commonly screened on TV and really only highlighting basic common sense. Cheaply made using many famous faces, they were almost mini dramas with stern voiceovers and dramatic accompanying music getting louder as the danger becomes more apparent. They have slipped almost out of people's memories as they only tend to be screened very late at night now just before closedown, and modern PIFs tend to be less dramatic. Some of the PIFs on this disc are also much older and would have been screened in cinemas before films rather than shown on TV.
PIFs have a cult following as retro TV nostalgia, and this collection is a fine tribute to them.
Product Details/Specifications
Recording label: Network
Manufacturer: Network
EAN: 5027626209544
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Black & White, Colour, Full Screen, PAL,
Release date: 2001-08-27
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Exempt
Running time: 150 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1970
Language: English (Original Language)