BFI

'Beside the Sea', uses stylish photography and editing to convey the delights of a trip to Blackpool - then, as now, one of the most visited tourist destinations in Britain.

However, Mr Purdey, the miner featured, wrote to the producers complaining that this Mining Review issue wasn't screened in his local cinema on the dates listed by the distributor. Mining Review was supplied free of charge to cinemas, who welcomed it as a means of helping reach the quota of British films they were obliged to show, as well as for its local interest to audiences in mining areas. However, this no-show incident raises suspicions that some unscrupulous cinemas may have been claiming to show it, whilst not actually bothering.

Ros Cranston

*This film is included in the BFI DVD compilation 'Portrait of a Miner: The National Coal Board Collection Volume 1'.

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