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OIL FOR THE 20th CENTURY (1956)

1956 · Short film · 31 min

  • War
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Synopsis

This 1956 film was written and produced by Jack Howells for British Petroleum and tells the history of the company. It covers the prospecting for oil in Persia and the eventual construction of the Abadan Refinery complex with extensive footage of this. This is followed by the company’s expansion into new markets following the Abadan crisis as well as other challenges it had to face including the Suez Crisis. The film also strongly pushes a narrative of colonial progress, notably how the oil riches are “generously” redistributed in the countries of extraction through the construction of schools and hospitals. 0:08 vehicles driving down roads in London, 0:31 “Oil for the 20th Century” A BP Film, 0:40 a historian going through documents, 1:23 different landscapes in Persia including the desert, rivers, and cities, 2:24 people crossing the desert with their cattle, 2:45 G.B Reynolds, 2:59 shots from a camp in the desert, 3:47 workers digging and constructing the first oil wells in Persia and operating them, 6:00 Royal Navy Ships, 6:11 Winston Churchill getting out of a car, 6:28 workers digging paths and preparing infrastructure for oil extraction, 7:08 pipelines being constructed, 7:48 combat footage from the First World War with a focus on petrol powered vehicles, 8:22 oil pipelines in Persia, 8:25 operations at the Abadan Oil Refinery, 9:25 footage of new petrol powered vehicles including racecars, motorcycles, and cars, 10:19 amenities at the Abadan refinery including a…

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Details

Running time
31 minutes
Collection
Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

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