John Grierson, who died in February 1972, was without doubt the most influential figure in the history of the factual film. He gave - 'documentary' its name and established it in Britain, Canada and elsewhere as a significant force - 'a mirror for the present and a hammer for the future.'
Grierson stimulated a generation of film-makers whose creative heyday came in the 30s. Tonight's film looks at a story that began with one man, a film that he made, and its showing on a winter's afternoon by the London Film Society.
Narrator Iain Cuthbertson
(BBC Scotland)