Housing Problems

Produced by the Gas, Light and Coke Company, Housing Problems, highlights the social problem of poor housing, and its solution in the slum clearance programme and the rebuilding of new homes with gas appliances. The documentary is clearly regulated by the (upper middle-class) voice of authority in the voice-over which introduces and takes us through the film.

There is a remarkable freshness in the direct-to-camera interviews with working-class people, bulky sound recording equipment and unwieldy 35mm cameras were taken into the slums of London and residents were asked to speak openly about their experiences. One memorable case was a formidable Cockney woman describing in vivid detail her fight with a large, ferocious rat.

This sense of spirit is echoed in Housing Problems where the tenants are portrayed as both articulate and resilient. They describe the problems of their environment with neither a note of self pity or militant outrage, accepting their difficulties and hoping for something better soon. Despite the standards of their accommodation, those interviewed still seemed to take pride in it, being filmed in front of mantelpieces and pictures. In one particularly revealing shot we see a woman beating the dust from a door mat only for it to blow back in her face. This image underlines the hopelessness of their conditions; regardless of their desire to uphold standards, they are limited in doing so by the housing.