Seawards the Great Ships (1960)

Name: Seawards the Great Ships
Genre: Documentary
Released: 1960-03-04

29m

Running Time

March 4, 1960
Release Date

External Links & Social Media

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Plot.

Documentary about shipbuilding on the Clyde. In 1960, Glasgow and other towns and ports on the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland, were still one of the world's great centres of shipbuilding. The film gives an idea of the business of building a ship - the largest moving thing made by man - from the naval architects who design her to the workmen, the shipbuilders in the yard, through to a ship's launching.

Where to Watch.

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Cast & Crew.

Bryden Murdoch

Narrator

John Grierson

Screenplay

Kenneth Kendall

Narrator

Hilary Harris

Director

Marcus Dods

Conductor

Jim Macaulay

Animation

Clifford Hanley

Script

Iain Hamilton

Music

Media.

Details.

Release Date

March 4, 1960

Status

Released

Running Time

29m

Genres

Documentary

Last updated: 2025-05-30

This Movie Is About.

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Wiki.

Seawards the Great Ships is a 1961 British short documentary film directed by Hilary Harris. It won an Oscar in 1962 for Best Short Live Action Subject, the first Scottish film to win an Academy Award.

The film chronicles the Shipbuilding industry of the River Clyde during the early 1960s, featuring footage from the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, John Brown & Company and Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company. It was produced by Glasgow-based Templar Films for the Clyde Shipbuilders' Association and the Central Office of Information (COI). It was released onto Blu-ray by Panamint in 2010 as part of their 'Faces of Scotland' compilation.

It includes dialogue between shipyard workers, but this is all scripted. They had hoped to use genuine dialogue between shipyard workers, but this included too many swearwords to be usable.