Courtesy of Scottish Screen Archive

One of a group of documentaries produced by the Films of Scotland Committee (set up in 1937), under the supervision of John Grierson and made for screening at the 1938 Empire Exhibition held in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. The Committee was charged with the task of producing a series of films on Scottish life. The group of seven titles was much publicised at the time, the subject of comment in newspapers and on radio. Years later film industry observers hailed the project as unique in film history and successful in every way.

Wealth of a Nation drew a contrast between the old and the new in industrial Scotland, between the coal, iron and steel of the Industrial Revolution and a new age which was harnessing water power for electricity and turning from heavy industries into new lighter materials. Critics have accused the film of being overly optimistic, but excuse this as part of Grierson's film philosophy to accentuate the positive.

Kenneth Broom

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