Promotional film produced by Turners Film Unit in 1957 advertising Premier Supermarkets, the first American style self-service retailing in Britain, with the first store opened in Streatham High Street, London, in 1951. The firm behind Premier was Express Dairies. The film features opening scenes of young women enjoying leisure time with family and friends contrasting with the effort involved in shopping before the advent of the supermarket. The second half promotes the convenience, speed and...

Promotional film produced by Turners Film Unit in 1957 advertising Premier Supermarkets, the first American style self-service retailing in Britain, with the first store opened in Streatham High Street, London, in 1951. The firm behind Premier was Express Dairies. The film features opening scenes of young women enjoying leisure time with family and friends contrasting with the effort involved in shopping before the advent of the supermarket. The second half promotes the convenience, speed and dazzling choice of products available at Premier Supermarkets for the shopper, and also records the food production, selection and supply, processing and packaging industries that deliver to Premier Supermarket warehouses and shops. A Morris Minor Traveller estate car drives off a country road onto the grass beneath an orchard. A couple get out of the car and their children follow. The man throws a blanket to his wife. She helps her youngest child from the car. Her daughters dressed in identical checked dresses, slip out of the car, leaving the doors open behind them. The couple set up a picnic area, laying the checked blanket on the floor and unfolding the portable picnic chairs. Wide shot of the clearing in the trees, the parked Morris Minor, the children playing ball with their father. Shot of the woman, seated, leafing through a fashion magazine opened on her lap, with illustrations visible. She is dressed in a white and black polka dot full skirted calf length dress and pink cardigan, with rolled, mid length hairstyle. The scene cuts to the grounds of a sports club, with sign “Stormart” visible on the building. In the foreground two fashionable women dressed in tennis whites walk out to play. The red-headed woman on the left bounces a ball on her racket. Close-up portrait shot of the young woman with red hair, framed against the blue sky. She serves a ball on the tennis court. Next, a woman (checked skirt glimpsed to the right) pours tea into patterned china cups, the tea set arranged on a wooden trolley, with cupcakes and scones on plates of the lower shelf. Close shot of four women and men, seated around a Formica and chrome coffee table, playing cards, the focus on the card hands and table. Next, a different young woman in white shirt, collar-up, and black skirt is seated in an armchair next to a tiled fireplace reading a book, in a lounge decorated with lurid pink patterned wallpaper. Flowers are arranged on a sideboard to the right. A tin of Quality Street chocolates are placed on a table to her left. A woman snips daffodils from a flowerbed, laying them in a wooden basket beside her. A man and woman pull golf bags onto a golf course, a red brick pavilion in the background. The woman, now in bobble hat, tees off. Close-up of the golf ball on a tee. Back shot as the woman swings her golf club. View of a high street with shops including Cresta Sports. A young woman with vibrant red hair (previously seen) window shops down the street. She wears a green and white patterned wide skirted frock, black belt, black court shoes, white gloves, and carries a black handbag. Medium close shot as she walks up to a fashion shop window and looks in. Portrait shot of her admiring (unseen) window display. Medium close shot of crowds of pedestrians moving past shops on the high street. Close-ups of shopping list in a pad: “Baker.” “Greengrocer” “Dairy.” “Grocer” “Chemist.” “Confectioners” Shots of a hand crossing off names from the list are intercut with medium close shots of the lower half of a woman in patterned frock skirt, seamed stockings, carrying a woven colour check basket, walking on pavement. Lower half shot of the woman walking across carpet, sitting on an armchair next to the fireplace, easing off her shoes, and rubbing her feet. Three shots of exterior shop signage: “Supermarket,” “Premier,” and “Supermarket” again. Wide shot of exterior shop front of Premier Supermarket. Shoppers enter and exit from supermarket. A woman in black hooded coat pushes a pram past the Premier Supermarket, whilst other women with children in prams enter the shop. View of brightly lit, modern supermarket interior displays, with multiple shelves, displays piled or stacked high with goods. A sequence of close-ups of hanging shop food signs for cheese, bacon, milk, cream and yogurt, sausages, frozen foods, dairy, cooked meats, preserves, beverages, cake and pudding mix, pickles and sauces, condiments, canned meat. Pan along well stocked supermarket shelves. Close-up and pan along modern, tiered shelving with multiple cans and multiple brands. Close-ups of Golden Syrup, Birds Custard Powder, Heinz Tomato Ketchup, Colman’s Mustard. A hand picks up a carton of Yogurt. A carton of Premier tea costing 1 shilling and 6 pence is displayed. A female supermarket employee in uniform, hands a shopping basket out to a woman customer as she enters the shop. Women customers browse the shelves holding baskets. A woman picks items from the shelves as she pushes a trolley down a supermarket aisle. A young woman in smart grey pencil skirt suit walks quickly past the shelves and displays. A hand full of coins is handed over at the check-out, a receipt offered in return. The woman in grey runs out of the Premier Supermarket, a Premier truck parked on the street outside. A Kraft Foods truck pulls into the yard and loading bay at a large modern brick warehouse. Men unload Kraft food boxes onto a forklift truck. Interior shot of warehouse full of boxed products. A forklift picks up boxes of Heinz Baked Beans from the warehouse shelves and loads them onto a truck. Close-up of Heinz baked Beans box that reads “6d per tin.” Close-up of Heinz baked bean tins piled in a supermarket display. A woman and child push a shopping trolley through the store. Close-ups of hands holding various Premier branded products: tea, coffee, apricots. Pan along rows of biscuits on shelves. A man shows his wife two brands of biscuits and the woman chooses one. A male employee in white lab coat uniform places a sticker on a pineapple in the grocery display. Shot of an abundance of fruit on display at a supermarket. Close-up of a sign that reads: “Premier Supermarkets Thorpe Lea Nurseries.” Shots of workers at the nurseries follow. A truck leaves the nurseries loaded with crates of fresh fruit and vegetables. Interior shot of women in a packaging plant, bagging tomatoes at a conveyor belt. Women and men work at a production line, bagging and weighing potatoes. Close-up of soil ploughed. A tractor ploughs a field. Women and men browse the long Fresh Meat freezer counter in a supermarket. Close-ups of signs for meat: New Zealand Chops, English Beef. Two men view cattle in a farm field. Meat carcases are hanging in a cold store. A man stamps them with the Premier brand name. Meat carcases are then loaded into a Fatstock Marketing Corporation truck. The trucks drive off along a country road. Two male workers hang the meat carcases in a van. Butchers cut the meat into joints on butchers’ blocks. Women are packaging the different cuts in the same space. Men weigh the meat cuts and price them. Close-up of packaged lamb chops at 3 shillings and 8 pence per pound. Close-ups of signs for “Fresh”, “Meat” and “Trimmed.” Shots of customers and supermarket staff in white lab coats serving at the meat counter. Close-ups of the many different cuts of meat on offer. A male assistant holds out a beef cut to a woman customer. A woman examines a chicken and is served by a male assistant in a white chef’s hat and lab coat. Two chickens roast on horizonatal spits in a chrome, glass-fronted grill or rotisserie. Close-ups of Premier margarine and dairy butter products. Shots of the cheese counter and the multiple types of cheeses on offer. Close-ups of packaged sausages and hams. A woman chooses a loaf from the bread shelves. Close-up of a sign for “Health & Beauty” followed by shots of chemist’s products on shelves. Close-up of the sign for sweets, followed by shots of piles of chocolate bars. Close-up of a sign for glassware. Shots of shelves of “Phoenix” pyrex plates and dishes. Women pick products from a freezer. Close-up of a sign that reads: “This Supermarket Remains Open Until 8pm each Friday Night.” A woman pushes her packed supermarket trolley to the checkout where a female assistant serves her, whilst another assistant packs her bags. Exterior shots of a busy Premier Supermarket. Close-up of S Premier logo sign.