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IPPANGXXI © 2026

The Complete Collection

Secrets of Nature

A series of short educational nature documentaries that were produced from 1919 to 1933 by British Instructional Films.

No Poster
1919

The Life Story of the Cuckoo

A precursor short film to the Secrets of Nature shorts.

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1919

The Life Story of the Caddis Worm

A precursor short film to the Secrets of Nature shorts.

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1919

The Life Story of the Garden Spider

A precursor short film to the Secrets of Nature shorts.

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No Poster
1922

Hand Versus Feet

A Secrets of Nature short, shot in a Zoo.

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No Poster
1922

Infant Welfare in the Bird World

A Secrets of Nature short depicting methods employed by sea birds to care for and protect their young are contrasted with those used by various land-based birds.

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The Cuckoo's Secret
1922

The Cuckoo's Secret

The film shows a cuckoo caught in the act of laying an egg in the nest of two titlarks. The egg is hatched by the foster-mother, and she and her mate feed and tend the young cuckoo, even to the detriment of their own chicks.

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The White Owl
1922

The White Owl

A short black-and-white silent documentary film featuring the life-cycle of the Barn Owl.

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The Battle of the Ants
1922

The Battle of the Ants

A short black-and-white silent documentary film featuring the conflict between two colonies of wood ants joined by a piece of tiber laid across a moat at a zoological garden.

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Skilled Insect Artisans
1922

Skilled Insect Artisans

The pictures show how the ailanthus silkmoth and the red admiral spin silk and weave a cocoon, and the way in which the change from caterpillar to moth is affected.

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Fathoms Deep Beneath the Sea
1922

Fathoms Deep Beneath the Sea

Beneath the waves are mountains, plains and valleys full of life: here the conger, the octopus, and the wrasse hunt for food; shrimps and prawns act as scavengers; sea anemones and starfish decorate the seafloor, and the spider crab assumes protective colouring by covering its back with pebbles.

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1922

Studies in Animal Motion

Captivating slow-motion and quadrupeds aplenty in this fascinating look at animal movement.

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1923

The Comma Butterfly

A study of the insect, from caterpillar to butterfly. Part of the “Secrets of Nature” series.

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Winter
1923

Winter

A sign of approaching winter - the frost catches the leaves which begin to fall.

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No Poster
1925

Paws and Claws

Nature adapts the limbs of animals to the works they will be required to do. This principle is illustrated by the Lion, the Tiger, Leopard, Giant Ant-Eater, Armadillo, Camel, Reindeer, Gazelle, Fowl, Chameleon, Otter, Beaver, Penguin, Fruit-Bat, Spider Monkey and Gibbon.

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No Poster
1926

Seed Time

High speed photography used to show the seed dispersal methods of various plants.

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Busy Bees
1926

Busy Bees

These pictures show the marvellous industry of the Bee, the ingenuity it exercises in making its home, and the ordered programme of life that it appears to follow.

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The Plants of the Pantry
1927

The Plants of the Pantry

Short documentary film using innovative filming techniques to show how moulds grow and germinate.

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No Poster
1927

The Story of a Glass of Water

How science and nature combine to purify water in a reservoir. Micro-cinematography shows the bacteria present in the water.

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1927

Plant Magic

Micro-cinematography is used to show how plants transform their secretions into other substances.

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Floral Co-operative Societies
1927

Floral Co-operative Societies

A short black-and-white silent documentary film featuring the sexual elements of pollenation in Dandelion, Globe thistle, Daisy, Cornflower, Carline thistle and Everlastings.

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1929

The Home Wrecker

A Secrets of Nature short film about a the cuckoo.

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1929

The Frog

A life history of the Frog. Released in a silent (1929) and sound (1930) version.

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Scarlet Runner & Co
1929

Scarlet Runner & Co

Time lapse photography of the broad bean flower unfurling. Released in a silent (1929) and sound (1930) version.

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No Poster
1930

Playtime at The Zoo

A Secrets of Nature short.

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No Poster
1930

Special Messengers

A Secrets of Nature short.

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No Poster
1930

Mighty Atoms

A Secrets of Nature short.

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Plants of the Underworld
1930

Plants of the Underworld

The world of fungi captured by micro-cinematography and time-lapse photography.

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Peas and Cues
1930

Peas and Cues

The film shows the birth, life and reproduction of sweet peas, a familiar and well loved plant of British gardeners.

6.0
The Strangler
1930

The Strangler

The Strangler shows the life history of dodder, from its earliest stage as a seedling, to its parasitic stage feeding off its host.

5.0
The Aphis
1930

The Aphis

The life cycle of the rose aphid (Macrosiphum Roseus).

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1931

Friendly Flies

A Secrets of Nature short.

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1931

The Light Of Love

A Secrets of Nature short.

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1931

In All His Glory

A Secrets of Nature short.

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1931

War in The Trees

A Secrets of Nature short.

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Magic Myxies
1931

Magic Myxies

Short film showing (with limited accuracy) the life-cycle of myxomycetes.

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The World in a Wine-Glass
1931

The World in a Wine-Glass

Short documentary showing infusoria in a wine-glass.

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Dream Flowers
1931

Dream Flowers

The poppy flower in its psychedelic glory.

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The Bittern
1931

The Bittern

The breeding cycle of the bittern, the cryptically plumaged relative of the herons.

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1932

Water Folk

A Secrets of Nature short.

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1932

The Two Pounder

A Secrets of Nature short.

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1932

Great Crested Grebe

A Secrets of Nature short.

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1932

The Raiders of The Fens

A Secrets of Nature short.

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1932

The Froth Blower

A Secrets of Nature short.

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1932

Short Eared Owl

A Secrets of Nature short film.

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1932

Springtime In The Scillies

A Secrets of Nature short film.

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1932

Orphans of The Wood

A Secrets of Nature short.

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The Nightingale
1932

The Nightingale

The nightingale and its song, its habitat, nest eggs and young.

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No Poster
1932

Nature's Double Lifters

Mary Field edits the time-lapse photography of F. Percy Smith to show the life cycle of ferns and related plants.

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Romance in a Pond
1932

Romance in a Pond

Short, anthropomorphically-inclined documentary showing the life-cycle of the common newt.

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Brewster's Magic
1933

Brewster's Magic

A short documentary study of hops, barley and yeast, and how they interact.

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1933

Fit To Boil

The penultimate Secrets of Nature short.

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1933

Amazing Maize

A Secrets of Nature short.

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1933

Brock The Badger

A Secrets of Nature short.

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Gathering Moss
1933

Gathering Moss

Mosses are seen on walls, old roofs and in hedgerows.

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