Taxi

Series

Series Name: Ingot Pictorial

Issue

Issue No.

Date Released

Aug 1956

Length of issue (in feet)

2358

Stories in this Issue:

Story

Story No. within this Issue

5 / 5

Summary

NoS synopsis: We begin outside Burlington Arcade, where Fred Griffiths nearly runs a gentleman over with his taxi. Fred then describes how he came to be there. We see him learning "The Knowledge" in London in order to qualify as a London cab driver, on a push bicycle. He goes round Cambridge Circus, Soho backstreets and Shepherds Market, and the final test at the Public Carriage Office is shown, with Trafalgar Square as one of the places to which he has to drive. At the PCO, his cab is tested, and then the license is screwed onto the back. The film then follows his first day as a fully fledged cabby, giving a lightning tour of London for an American tourist, stopping for lunch and driving to Paddington Station. His last passenger asks to be taken to Richard Thomas and Baldwins -
Fred - Never heard of them. Who are they?
Passenger - They just happen to be the people who made most of the steel in your taxi, that’s all!'

Researcher Comments

Derrick A. Gladwell acted as Production Adviser for this issue.

Keywords

Education and training; Transport; Motor vehicles; Scenery and travel

Written sources

Viewing Copy - bfi Used for synopsis
British Film Institute Databases
National Film Archive Catalogue
Film User Vol.10 No.120 October 1956, p460.

Credits:

Support services: Derrick A. Gladwell
Presenter: Fred Griffiths
Director: Geoff Busby
Sponsor: Richard Thomas and Baldwins Group
Editor: Stan Hill
Production Co.: Verity Films Ltd.

This series is held by:

Film Archive

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Notes: The BFI National Archive also preserves the original nitrate film copies of British Movietone News, British Paramount News, Empire News Bulletin, Gaumont British News, Gaumont Graphic, Gaumont Sound News and Universal News (the World War II years are covered by the Imperial War Museum).
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Record Stats