Channel: Live Channel
Film Club - Automobile Magazine
SYNOPSIS
In this programme, we unearth two classic employee information films from the incredible Renault archive. Made in the 1950s these films were shown to employees in purpose built theatres in or nearby the manufacturing sites. Each made up of several stories about Renault activity form the time they provide a fascinating insight into how Renault saw itself and the wider world. Always charming, often suprising, the first features a state visit from Emporer Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, and the second includes the story of the world-beating Etoile Filante speed testing car.
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This short film tells the fictional tale of two girls being challenged to use all their guile and charm in order to inherit a rural farm. The conditions of the inheritance mean they must travel 5000kms in their Renault Domaine – on just one tank of petrol! Despite the reasonably frugal Renault doing it's best to make the trip without refuelling, the girls are soon involved in all sorts of japes and adventures to keep the petrol coming. These scenarios range from an innocent request for any spare fuel from passers by, to the girls taking part in a beauty contest, while along the way they find themselves looking after somebody's cows!
These two films, made 25 years apart, celebrate the unadulterated imagination of childhood and the creativity it can produce. The first film, an extract from a 1958 “The Automobile Magazine” shows the fun children can have with cars, in this show some of the lucky children get to drive beautiful scale models of race cars and also get a slightly less exciting crash course in motor mechanics and road safety. The second film is from 1983 and is the result of when Renault asked 3000 8 to 11 year olds to “Design me a Car” and imagine what they thought the transport of the future might look like. From the resulting pictures an unusual animated film was produced. As we are now living in that future it's fascinating to see if those bright young minds of 1983 were on the right track!
This film describes the exciting experience of taking part in the 1954 Monte Carlo rally but from an unusual point of view. The whole story of preparation, travelling to the event and taking part is told to us by a slightly sarcastic and rather feisty Renault 4CV. Renault used to, and still does, love giving its cars a human character and how better to do this than allow the car itself to describe the experience of taking part in Europe's most famous rally event. The 4CV was always one of the less powerful entrants so keep your eyes open for the much heavier, more powerful Mercedes, Alfas, Jaguars and Rovers, however because of deft preparation and the poor conditions, plus the excellent traction from the rear engine layout, the little 4CV was often to be found finishing rallys in surprisingly high postions.
Two episodes of Renault's pioneering 1950s motoring magazine show, one features items on old bangers at Le Mans, a women only Dauphine race, the Paris car show and a rally raid across Europe, the other is entirely devoted to one story. Shot on beautiful colorfilm, this film follows the amazing road trip undertaken by the adventurous Mahuzier family that as they have the hliday of a lifetime in North America. Handsomely equipped with a Renault Domaine, a 1000KG van and a caravan they set out to cross the vast Canadian continent enjoying its wilderness as they go, eventually finishing their trip in California from where they returned to Europe by boat. It's another example of the unhurried pace of the films that were made by the Renault film unit in the 1950s and 60s and stands in stark contrast with the impatience and hard selling of today's film and television productions, relax and enjoy.
This programme features two different films that clearly illustrate the changing roles and increasing freedom that cars were bringing to the lives of women in the post World War 2 years. The first is an episode of Renault's Automobile Magazine show that focuses on the rapid growth in women drivers and the way they use them to go about their work. Then we follow a chic Parisienne as she goes to the Paris Motor show to see a beautiful new Renault; the Floride. The other is a documentary about four intrepid Elle fashion models who drove a pair of Renault 4s from the southern most tip of South America all the way up to Northern Alaska. They were taking part in Renault's famous “Around the World” scheme and had all sorts of trials and tribulations along the way. The alluring mix of gritty determination and sophisticated glamour makes this especially engaging viewing.
Two films about the fantastic Renault Gordinis of the 1960s and the way they enabled a generation of keen drivers to follow their dreams. The first, Chrono175, focuses on the R8, perhaps the most iconic of all Renault Gordinis. The film also spends quite some time showing, in detail, how to drive one on, and sometimes beyond, the R8 Gordini's considerable limits. The second film is a marvellously atmospheric record of a glorious sun and petrol soaked summer motoring festival that took place at Le Castellet race circuit in 1970. Surrounded by thousands of gleaming examples of his blue and white creations, “The Sorcerer” or Amadee Gordini as he was properly known, was the beaming guest of honour at this one off event. Any one who was into Gordinis in 1970 had to be there, and never one to miss a trick, Renault took the opportunity to introduce their brand new model; the R12 Gordini at the event they called G-Day!
This programme contains two great films about the joys of travel, one a documentary, one a complete fantasy. The first is about a scheme Renault supported in the late 60s and early 70s that gave young scientists the chance to travel to far flung places in search of new horizons. Renault not only provided the cars and trained the teams in basic mechanics and off road driving but they also provided 16mm film cameras, stock and the training needed to effectively document these life changing journeys. The second film is a fictional tale of a young boy who wanders astray amid the hostile winter mountains and is given sanctuary by an unusual Renault 8. The car takes him on a magical ride through jungle, across deserts and even to the beach. Although this film contains no dialogue, the quality of the cinematography and the playful ideas combined with an orchestrated score, illustrate just how much care Renault put into their promotional work in the 1960s.
These two films show how well Renaults could cope with rough treatment & rugged terrain – even in the 1950s and early 60s! On the Caravan Trail is a record of the amazing trip a convoy of Renault's undertook in 1955. Setting off from Renault HQ at Billancourt, a Fregate, an off road Colorale, an ambulance and a support truck took on a 10,000km journey to Libya via western Asia. The second film is a romantic musical interlude featuring the adventures of two Renault 4s having fun in the Camargue region in the South of France. There are hitch hikers, wild horses, cowboys and a rodeo, plus a mystery donkey to be seen in another example of the unhindered structure and creatively free films Renault's cinema department were making in the 1960s. It's gentle nature and refreshing simplicity is all quite a contrast from the highly polished, carefully choreographed, but often soulless, corporate films that are used to promote modern cars!
In this programme, we are treated to two gems form the Renault film archive, giving us the insiders view of one of the most iconic motorsport events the world has known, the Le Mans 24 Hour Race. First up is a film made in 1966, when the Ford GT40s were dominant in the top class, but where the Renault Alpine, in distinctive Gordini colours won its own class and finished 9th overall. The second film is from 1977, and tells the story of a direct fight between the Porsche 936 and Renault Mirage. A motorsport treat from the archives!
We’re off around the world with Film Club, as the archives give up two amazing stories of exploration in the name of science. In the first film we follow L’Equipe Vulcain to Indonesia as a team of hardy scientists seek greater understanding of Valcanoes. In the second film Zahir in Africa is our destination as a photographer and entomolgist team up to see if they can learn more about the insect world. Remarkable people in far flung places and two special films from Renault vaults.
We all know the French love cycling, so its little wonder that the Renault archives contain evidence of the company’s commitment to the sport over the years. This programme features a film from 1980 which tells the story of the World Cycling Championships that took place in the country around Mont Blanc in the French Alps. The womens event was won by an American, so all eyes were on the thigh-busting 268km mens race and French hero Bernard Hinault. Could the local boy and Renault team rider win on home soil?