The Vintagent Classics: The films that inspired us. 

ISLE OF MAN T.T 1950 (1950)

Run Time: 28:01
Producer: Shell Films, with the cooperation of the Auto-cycle Union.
Director: Geoffrey Hughes
Narrator: H.W Louis of ‘The Motor Cycle’
Key Cast: Leslie Graham, Phil Heath, Bob Foster, et al

FILM MAKERS

As a boom in car ownership in the 1930s stoked competition between oil companies, so Shell looked to make documentary films as a way of raising its profile. The company created its Shell Film Unit 80 years ago under the guidance of the UK’s most influential documentary film-maker of the time, John Grierson (1898 – 1972). One of the first to see the power of motion pictures to educate and shape opinion, Grierson is still widely regarded as the father of the documentary today.

The films Shell produced set out to inform and entertain, using action and animation to explain the mechanical marvels of the age to a wide audience. They demonstrated how people around the world could overcome challenges in health, food and transport. The intention was not to advertise Shell’s brands: the film-makers consciously took a journalistic approach, and the company name and pecten logo appeared only at the end of films.

SUMMARY

This delightful film was produced by the Shell Film Unit using no less than 10 camera crews around the famous Mountain Course. Following a nostalgic look at the pre-race activities, a classic confrontation ensues between the works Norton riders Artie Bell and Johnny Locket who do their best to finish in front of ‘newcomer’ Geoff Duke. After a runaway first Isle of Man win in the previous year’s Clubman’s event. Duke was up against formidable opposition in his first Senior TT, not only from his experienced team-mates but also from Les Graham (AJS ‘Porcupine’) Reg Armstrong (Velocette), Harold Daniel (Norton) and Bob Foster (Velocette). So, with the first ever one-piece leather zipped up thight, head on tank and both wheels powering through some memorable drifts, Geoff Duke set about casting the mould of an historic racing career. The Shell cameras portray the race comprehensively and many viewers enthuse, not only about the high standard of coverage (in black and white) and the super racing, but also about the way it succeeds in encapsulating what the fabulous fifties were all about. We think you will agree!

RELATED MEDIA

Buy the DVD ‘IOM Senior TT 1950’ at Garage Company

Shell Film Unit

 

Classics documentary Film Racing