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Press release!
THE GUINEA PIG
Directed by Roy Boulting
Richard Attenborough, Sheila Sim, Bernard Miles
Blu-ray/DVD release on 20 July 2020, and on iTunes and Amazon Prime on 3 August 2020
This ground-breaking drama of youth and social change from the Boulting brothers, starring Richard Attenborough with fine supporting performances from Sheila Sim (A Canterbury Tale) and Bernard Miles (In Which We Serve), retains all of its thought-provoking power. It is presented by the BFI on Blu-ray and DVD for the very first time. Complementary extras include a films about British education as seen on screen across nearly 90 years in the 20th century and films about the ration-book world of the early 1940s.
Working-class schoolboy Jack Read (Richard Attenborough, Brighton Rock) is given the chance to swap life in a Walthamstow tobacconist's shop for the ivy-clad academia of Saintbury School as part of an experiment in less class-conscious education. Read struggles to adjust to the world of the public school, rife with snobbery, corporal punishment and conformity. Can he overcome his background, as well as the prejudices of masters and schoolmates, to emerge triumphant?
Special features
• Newly remastered by the BFI and presented in High Definition and Standard Definition
• Old School (1901-1987, 71 mins): learn all about British education as seen on screen - from Edwardian Board school parades to 1980s comprehensive kids getting to grips with GCSEs - with a century-spanning selection of rare documentary films from the BFI National Archive
• The Make-Do-And-Menders (1941-1945, 24 mins): recall the ration-book world that provided the real-life social background for The Guinea Pig in this eccentric assortment of archive oddities from the war years
• Image gallery
• ***FIRST PRESSING ONLY*** Illustrated booklet with new essays by John Oliver and Corinna Reicher, notes on the extras and full credits
Product details
RRP: £19.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1381 / PG
UK / 1948 / black and white / 98 mins / English language, with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles / original aspect ratio 1.37:1 // BD50: 1080p, 24fps, PCM 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit) / DVD: PAL, 25fps, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/16-bit)
BFI DVD/Blu-ray releases can be ordered from home entertainment online retailers or from the BFI Shop (online only) at https://shop.bfi.org.uk/.
About the BFI
The BFI is the UK's lead organisation for film, television and the moving image. It is a cultural charity that:
• Curates and presents the greatest international public programme of World Cinema for audiences; in cinemas, at festivals and online
• Cares for the BFI National Archive - the most significant film and television archive in the world
• Actively seeks out and supports the next generation of filmmakers
• Works with Government and industry to make the UK the most creatively exciting and prosperous place to make film internationally
Founded in 1933, the BFI is a registered charity governed by Royal Charter. The BFI Board of Governors is chaired by Josh Berger CBE.
THE GUINEA PIG
Directed by Roy Boulting
Richard Attenborough, Sheila Sim, Bernard Miles
Blu-ray/DVD release on 20 July 2020, and on iTunes and Amazon Prime on 3 August 2020
This ground-breaking drama of youth and social change from the Boulting brothers, starring Richard Attenborough with fine supporting performances from Sheila Sim (A Canterbury Tale) and Bernard Miles (In Which We Serve), retains all of its thought-provoking power. It is presented by the BFI on Blu-ray and DVD for the very first time. Complementary extras include a films about British education as seen on screen across nearly 90 years in the 20th century and films about the ration-book world of the early 1940s.
Working-class schoolboy Jack Read (Richard Attenborough, Brighton Rock) is given the chance to swap life in a Walthamstow tobacconist's shop for the ivy-clad academia of Saintbury School as part of an experiment in less class-conscious education. Read struggles to adjust to the world of the public school, rife with snobbery, corporal punishment and conformity. Can he overcome his background, as well as the prejudices of masters and schoolmates, to emerge triumphant?
Special features
• Newly remastered by the BFI and presented in High Definition and Standard Definition
• Old School (1901-1987, 71 mins): learn all about British education as seen on screen - from Edwardian Board school parades to 1980s comprehensive kids getting to grips with GCSEs - with a century-spanning selection of rare documentary films from the BFI National Archive
• The Make-Do-And-Menders (1941-1945, 24 mins): recall the ration-book world that provided the real-life social background for The Guinea Pig in this eccentric assortment of archive oddities from the war years
• Image gallery
• ***FIRST PRESSING ONLY*** Illustrated booklet with new essays by John Oliver and Corinna Reicher, notes on the extras and full credits
Product details
RRP: £19.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1381 / PG
UK / 1948 / black and white / 98 mins / English language, with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles / original aspect ratio 1.37:1 // BD50: 1080p, 24fps, PCM 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit) / DVD: PAL, 25fps, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/16-bit)
BFI DVD/Blu-ray releases can be ordered from home entertainment online retailers or from the BFI Shop (online only) at https://shop.bfi.org.uk/.
About the BFI
The BFI is the UK's lead organisation for film, television and the moving image. It is a cultural charity that:
• Curates and presents the greatest international public programme of World Cinema for audiences; in cinemas, at festivals and online
• Cares for the BFI National Archive - the most significant film and television archive in the world
• Actively seeks out and supports the next generation of filmmakers
• Works with Government and industry to make the UK the most creatively exciting and prosperous place to make film internationally
Founded in 1933, the BFI is a registered charity governed by Royal Charter. The BFI Board of Governors is chaired by Josh Berger CBE.
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