Look Who it Was Random video

Fresh As a Daisy (1945) | BFI National Archive

621 views · Published 12 December 2017 · 16:13 · Indexed 29 October 2026

Channel: BFI · 2017 · Film & Animation

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Pioneer cinematographer Percy Smith's spectacular stop-motion close-ups awaken us to the splendour and resilience of the common daisy. Smith's skill, patience and inventiveness (he made many of his own photographic 'gadgets') combined with a liberal sprinkling of wry humour made for educational yet entertaining viewing. It is a forerunner to later wildlife television documentaries.

British Instructional Film's Secrets of Nature series continued into the 1930s, when it became Secrets of Life (1934-1950) and thrived until Percy Smith's death in 1945, the year this film was made. The films were shown in cinemas and classrooms across Britain and abroad and in their day were as popular as David Attenborough's wildlife documentaries.

This video is part of the Orphan Works collection. When the rights-holder for a film cannot be found, that film is classified as an Orphan Work. Find out more about Orphan Works: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/copyright/orphan_works/index_en.htm.  This is in line with the EU Orphan Works Directive of 2012. The results of our search for the rights holder of this film can be found in the EU Orphan Works Database: https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/web/observatory/orphan-works-database 

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