Persuasion is a delicate art, one British public information films have delivered with the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the face over the last century.

In an attempt to influence public life, government departments have commissioned bizarre short films on subjects ranging from cycle safety and flu etiquette to the dangers of rickets and how to talk effectively on the telephone.

The films were part of a government policy of using the media to communicate with a mass audience and represent an attempt to change behaviours in the interests of public health and safety - with some interesting results.

In a celebration of cinematic oddity (and dated social virtues), the British Film Institute has re-released a collection of 100 remastered public information films.

How many of them do you remember?

"Hey, stop it, you. Stop it. Stop it!"

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This is just one of actor and director Richard Massingham's many public information films, which helped spread the message "coughs and sneezes spread diseases".

His face was instantly recognisable to cinemagoers in the 1940s, famed for portraying the bumbling every man subjected to an onslaught of lessons in etiquette.

"Don't ask a man to drink and drive."

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This Halas and Batchelor production condemning boozy Christmas parties was released three years before drink driving laws came into place - and presumably before women were allowed behind the wheel.

The film company is best known for its feature-length adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm (1955).

"Charley has reminded me - mummy said I shouldn't go off with people I don't know. Then the man went away."

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Charley, the cat with a conscience, was forever reminding his young companion to behave sensibly in this 1970s animation series.

After dishing out advice in scenarios that save the young boy from unsavoury strangers, running off from his mother and falling into a pond, Charley is usually rewarded with a cardboard cut out fish.

"Charley says always tell your mummy before you go off somewhere."

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This gem in the Charley series was crowned the "nation's favourite" public information film on the 60th anniversary of the Central Office of Information.

The infinitely wise feline later became the subject of a debut single from British electronic band The Prodigy, who sampled his garbled meows on the track Charly, for which the band were unsuccessfully sued.

"Only a fool would ignore this but there's one born every minute."

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With an arsenal of scare tactics that would trounce Project Fear, this horrifying piece presents the dangers of playing in or near expanses of water ranging from rivers to puddles - all haunted by a ghoulish figure waiting to take "fools" and "show offs" into death's clutches.

The film is narrated British actor and Bond villain Donald Pleasence, whose other roles include psychiatrist Dr Sam Loomis in most of the Halloween series.

"Off he goes looking and listening along the way. He's great!"

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In a performance that was undoubtedly a precursor to his Star Wars career, David Prowse appears as the Green Cross Code Man, champion of road safety and excessive praise.

He appropriately U-turned in his role as villainous Dath Vader, which was instead voiced by James Earl Jones.

"Cyclists are many times more likely to be killed than drivers on the same journey."

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Opting for fearmongering over statistical accuracy, this shocking short shows a couple of carefree BMX riders attempting to make a right turn into oncoming traffic.

At the time BMX racing was one of the fastest growing sports in the UK.

Programme and web credit: From Public Information Films available at BFI Player.