# Song of the Clouds - Air Travel in 1956 - Shell historical film documentary

Explore the 1956 world of air travel, a mere five decades after the Wright brothers' first flight in 1903.

Shell Historical Film Archive

Shell’s surprising and captivating Historic Film Archive dates from 1934 and covers various topics from technology, science, and engineering to craftsmanship, motorsport, and travelogue.

The Shell Film Unit, responsible for the content, was a highly celebrated part of Britain’s Documentary Movement. Key figures from that movement were involved, including Jack Beddington, Edgar Anstey, Arthur Elton, John Grierson, Kay Mander, Stuart Legg, and Douglas Gordon.

Its films were wide-reaching, often screened in cinemas and through the non-theatric film distribution circuit, which brought the film to educational establishments and organizations across the UK. While many films covered technological themes related to Shell’s activities, others were entirely unrelated and served purely to educate the general public.

As Shell innovated in technologies that would provide oil and gas products for the world, the Shell Film Unit also innovated in the technological advancement of film, incorporating graphics and different forms of animation as early as the 1930s.

During WW2 the Shell Film Unit was co-opted into the war effort, making films for the Ministry of Information’s film division. Its prowess in technological documentary suited the MoI’s need for technical training films.

While the name and the medium has changed many times over the years,…

- Kind: Documentary
- Year: 1956
- Runtime: 1 h 43 min
- By: The Shell Film Unit
- Genres: Documentary, History, Travel
- Archive: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Song_of_the_Clouds_-_Air_Travel_in_1956_-_Shell_historical_film_documentary.webm)
- Licence or status: Public domain (as the archive states it)
- Credit: The Shell Film Unit
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/commons/179364868?play=1)