The Obedient flame

Charming promotional film extolling the virtues of gas cooking through a series of simple animations. Gender stereotypes are anachronistic, but innocent rather than patronising - intended audience was contemperaneous “housewives”. McLaren’s animations employ an economical graphic style strongly influenced by the art deco and industrial aesthetics of the day - as always, stiking and appealing. The last film Norman McLaren made in the United Kingdom.

Credits

production company

Science Film

producer

John Grierson

director

Norman McLaren

Duration

00:09:55:00

Production places

United Kingdom

Production dates

1939

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

323677

Language

English

Subject categories

Animation

Education, Instruction, Teaching & Schools → Gas - Heating and cooking

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Gas - Heating and cooking

Mathematics, Science & Technology → Gas - Heating and cooking

Short films

Short films → Short films - Great Britain

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Black and White

Holdings

16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/77713--the-obedient-flame/ |title=The Obedient flame |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=23 May 2022 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}

United Kingdom, 1939

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