Look at Life was a regular British series of short documentary films of which over 500 were produced between 1959 and 1969 by the Special Features Division of the Rank Organisation for screening in their Odeon and Gaumont cinemas.
[1] Produced on 35mm film and in Eastmancolor, these eight-minute 'featurettes' melded a light-hearted magazine format with a more in depth documentary approach and depicted aspects of life, mainly in Britain, but sometimes further afield.
The films often depicted elements of the 'push button' or 'jet age', demonstrating advances in technology and a reflection on the changing tastes, fashions and trends representative of the so-called 'swinging sixties' era, which were often portrayed in a glossy, vibrant and optimistic way.
The films also reported on topical issues that were affecting modern day society such as road safety, civil defence and pollution, and often sought to explain the rapid changes that were taking place in the country in an entertaining and informative narrative.
In the most part narration of the films was provided by well known celebrities and presenters of the time including Raymond Baxter, Eamonn Andrews, Wynford Vaughan-Thomas, Michael Ingrams, Anthony Bilbow, Sid James and Martin Jarvis in later editions.
Look at Life was a popular formula but did become rather frozen in time with its light-hearted presentation and jaunty theme tune, despite subtle changes to the opening titles, their graphics and the introduction of the Rank 'gong' logo at the beginning of later films.
Digitally restored from the original film elements, the Look at Life series is now licensed by ITV Studios Global Entertainment, previously known on screen as Granada Ventures and distributed by the Network imprint.