For Freedom (1940 film)

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For Freedom
For Freedom (1940 film).jpg
Directed by
Written by
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Arthur Crabtree
Edited by
Music by
Production
company
Distributed by General Film Distributors
Release date
  • 4 May 1940 (1940-05-04)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
Language English

For Freedom is a 1940 British drama film directed by Maurice Elvey and Castleton Knight, and starring Will Fyffe, Guy Middleton, and Terry-Thomas. [1] [2] [3] It was written by Leslie Arliss and Miles Malleson, and was made largely for propaganda purposes during the Second World War. [4] Through its blending of fiction and documentary it was similar to The Lion Has Wings (1939) produced by Alexander Korda's London Films.

Contents

Synopsis

The film portrays the early events of the war, particularly the Battle of the River Plate, from the point of view of a British newsreel production company.

Cast

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The framework of this story is original, ingenious and appropriate. The result combines magnificent, inspiring and thrilling spectacle with the unswerving regard for accuracy typical of the documentary at its best. The events leading up to the war are eficctively shown, and bitingly but not bitterly commented upon by Will Fyffe, whose shrewd and pawky humour is exactly right and telling. The battle scenes introduced and commented upon by Vice-Adumiral Harper are breath-taking and unforgettable, and most impressively reconstructed. The telling has dignity, restraint, and a sense of values and proportion. All the actors, professional and amateur, give of their best, and very good this is." [5]

Kine Weekly wrote: "Spectacular melodrama, inspired by a great and glorious Naval occasion, presenting at one and the same time epic adventure, impressive documentary, and thrilling confirmation of Britain's supremacy on the high seas. Victory at the battle of River Plate is, together with superb shots of the magnificent Altmark incident, the piece de résistance of the inspiring patriotic scheme, and each s re-enacted by many who, took part in the memorable engagement. Rigid regard for accuracy and atmosphere is not the least of the film's many showmanlike qualities." [6]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "very good", writing: "excellent semi-documentary strikes just the right note." [7]

References

  1. ↑ "For Freedom". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  2. ↑ "For Freedom". BFI. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
  3. ↑ "Movie Supplement The Navy is Here—and Invincible!". Sunday Times (Perth) . No. 2214. Western Australia. 30 June 1940. p. 2 (Motion Pictures). Retrieved 26 October 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (1 December 2024). "Forgotten British Film Moguls: Ted Black". Filmink. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  5. ↑ "For Freedom". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 7 (73): 54. 1 January 1940. ProQuest   1305811848.
  6. ↑ "For Freedom". Kine Weekly . 278 (1722): 22. 18 April 1940. ProQuest   2339674020.
  7. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 209. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.

Bibliography

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