Words for Battle

Last updated

Words for Battle
Screen shot Words for Battle.png
Title frame
Directed by Humphrey Jennings
Written byHumphrey Jennings
Produced by Ian Dalrymple
Narrated by Laurence Olivier
Edited by Stewart McAllister
Production
company
Release date
  • 28 April 1941 (1941-04-28)(UK)
Running time
8 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Words for Battle (also known by its original title In England Now) is a British propaganda film produced by the Ministry of Information's Crown Film Unit in 1941. [1] It was written and directed by Humphrey Jennings, and features seven sequences, each containing images of rural and urban Britain at war overlaid with audio commentary by Laurence Olivier, reciting passages from different English literary works and speeches. [2]

Contents

Synopsis

In 1941 England is an idyllic and bountiful place as depicted by Philemon Holland's translation of William Camden's Britannia. A recitation of part of John Milton's tract Areopagitica , accompanies images of Westminster Abbey, Royal Air Force recruits in flight training and Adolf Hitler speaking with Nazi officers. The words from William Blake's poem Jerusalem punctuates a scene of children being evacuated from London. Images of Royal Navy destroyers at sea are backed by Robert Browning's Home-thoughts, from the Sea.

Firemen and police officers searching through the remains of damaged houses during the Blitz are accompanied by a recitation of Rudyard Kipling's ' The Beginnings. Winston Churchill inspecting a parade of soldiers has his 1940 speech, We shall fight on the beaches in the background. Post-Blitz, as Churchill's speech continues, rebuilding of homes and businesses is taking place. An extract from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address coincides with footage of tanks passing the statue of Lincoln in Parliament Square with the chimes of Big Ben punctuating civilians travelling to work.

Production

Words for Battle was produced with the purpose of raising morale and is an example of compilation documentary, in which various film extracts are assembled into a coherent whole, accompanied by a commentary to explain the intended message and powerfully associates these passages with music by Handel and Beethoven. [1] This form of documentary was used for other British wartime propaganda films, such as Britain at Bay (1940). [2]

Reception

The director Humphrey Jennings described Words for Battle as being about "the Lincoln statue in Parliament Square". [2] On this basis, film historian Michael Bartlett has emphasised the final sequence, stating that it "underlines Jennings' belief in the ordinary man and woman as both the nation's driving force and the rightful beneficiaries of victory in war", as underlined by the words of the address about "the government of the people, by the people, and for the people". [2] Historians Anthony Aldgate and Jeffrey Richards in Britain Can Take It: British Cinema in the Second World War, have pointed to the importance of the image of St Paul's Cathedral during the Blitz, juxtaposed with Churchill's words "we shall never surrender", as one of many examples of the use of the undamaged landmark as an artistic symbol for British defiance. [3]

Words for Battle was heavily criticised by the Documentary News Letter , a publication produced by documentary film-makers who favoured realism over poetry. [3] It was described as:

...an illustrated lantern-slide lecture...the effect of which on morale is quite incalculable. The man who must feel most out of place is poor old Handel. As he stood on his gaily coloured barge conducting the Water Music that was to bring him back into royal favour he can hardly have guessed that it would come to this. [3]

DVD release

Words for Battle is available in the BFI DVD boxset, Land of Promise: The British Documentary Movement 1930-1950 (2008) and the Complete Humphrey Jennings: Volume 2, Fires were Started (2012). [2] The Imperial War Museum has also released it on DVD as part of a collection of nine propaganda films, under the title: Words for Battle.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humphrey Jennings</span> British documentary filmmaker (1907–1950)

Frank Humphrey Sinkler Jennings was an English documentary filmmaker and one of the founders of the Mass Observation organisation. Jennings was described by film critic and director Lindsay Anderson in 1954 as "the only real poet that British cinema has yet produced".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">We shall fight on the beaches</span> 1940 speech by Winston Churchill

"We shall fight on the beaches" was a speech delivered by the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 4 June 1940. This was the second of three major speeches given around the period of the Battle of France; the others are the "Blood, toil, tears and sweat" speech of 13 May 1940, and the "This was their finest hour" speech of 18 June 1940. Events developed dramatically over the five-week period, and although broadly similar in themes, each speech addressed a different military and diplomatic context.

<i>Fires Were Started</i> 1943 British film

Fires Were Started is a 1943 British film written and directed by Humphrey Jennings. Filmed in documentary style, it shows the lives of firefighters through the Blitz during the Second World War. The film uses actual firemen rather than professional actors.

John Louis Beddington (1893–1959) was a United Kingdom advertising executive, best known for his work as publicity director for Shell in the 1930s and as head of the Ministry of Information Films Division during World War II.

<i>The Lion Has Wings</i> 1939 British propaganda film

The Lion Has Wings is a 1939 British, black-and-white, documentary-style, propaganda war film that was directed by Adrian Brunel, Brian Desmond Hurst, Alexander Korda and Michael Powell. The film was produced by London Film Productions and Alexander Korda Film Productions and 'was preparing the nation [for war] and shining a light on the power of the RAF'.

Ian Dalrymple was a British screenwriter, film director, film editor and film producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basil Wright</span> English documentary filmmaker

Basil Charles Wright was an English documentary filmmaker, film historian, film critic and teacher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British propaganda during World War II</span> Information and media used to influence support for the war effort

Britain re-created the World War I Ministry of Information for the duration of World War II to generate propaganda to influence the population towards support for the war effort. A wide range of media was employed aimed at local and overseas audiences. Traditional forms such as newspapers and posters were joined by new media including cinema (film), newsreels and radio. A wide range of themes were addressed, fostering hostility to the enemy, support for allies, and specific pro war projects such as conserving metal and growing vegetables.

London Can Take It! is a short British propaganda film from 1940, which shows the effects of eighteen hours of the German blitz on London and its people. Intended to sway the US population in favour of Britain's plight, it was produced by the GPO Film Unit for the British Ministry of Information and distributed throughout the United States by Warner Bros. The film was directed by Humphrey Jennings and Harry Watt, and narrated by US journalist and war correspondent Quentin Reynolds.

<i>Listen to Britain</i> 1942 British film

Listen to Britain is a 1942 British propaganda short film by Humphrey Jennings and Stewart McAllister. The film was produced during World War II by the Crown Film Unit, an organisation within the British Government's Ministry of Information to support the Allied war effort. The film was nominated for the inaugural Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1943, but lost against four other Allied propaganda films. It is noted for its nonlinear structure and its use of sound.

Christmas Under Fire is a 1941 British short documentary film directed by Harry Watt for the Crown Film Unit of the Ministry of Information. It was conceived as propaganda primarily for an American audience, to raise support for the Allied cause during the Second World War. Produced in the context of German bombings of British cities, it depicts the resilience of British civilians despite the hardships they suffered during the 1940 Christmas, by showing the continuation of Christmas traditions in the face of the disruptions caused by war. The film is a sequel to London Can Take It!, with the same narrator, Quentin Reynolds. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short, which was won by Churchill's Island.

<i>Warclouds in the Pacific</i> 1941 film

Warclouds in the Pacific is a 20-minute 1941 Canadian documentary film, part of the Canada Carries On series of short films by the National Film Board of Canada. The film was produced, written and directed by Stuart Legg and narrated by Lorne Greene. Warclouds in the Pacific, which warned of an imminent Japanese attack, was released just one week before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuart Legg</span> British documentary filmmaker

Stuart Legg was a pioneering English documentary filmmaker. At the 14th Academy Awards in 1941, Legg's National Film Board of Canada film Churchill's Island became the first-ever documentary to win an Oscar.

Miss Grant Goes to the Door was a short propaganda film made for the British Ministry of Information in 1940. It was directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starred Mary Clare and Martita Hunt as two sisters, Caroline and Edith Grant, who have to deal with two invading Germans who arrive at their cottage. The film addressed the threat of invasion, and was intended to inspire confidence and convey the message 'Keep your heads'.

Ships with Wings is a 1941 British war film directed by Sergei Nolbandov and starring John Clements, Leslie Banks and Jane Baxter. The film is set during the Battle of Greece (1940-1941). It depicts military aviation.

<i>Documentary News Letter</i> Former magazine about documentary film

Documentary News Letter was a magazine about documentary film founded by filmmaker John Grierson. The publication was developed as the wartime successor to World Film News, which ceased publication in 1938, and sought to promote a "documentary approach to everyday living." It published its first edition in January 1940, with an editorial board that consisted of Grierson, Paul Rotha, Basil Wright, Arthur Elton and Thomas Baird.

Stewart McAllister was a British documentary film editor who collaborated closely with Humphrey Jennings during the Second World War to produce films for the Crown Film Unit of the Ministry of Information. His contributions towards these films was largely neglected until Dai Vaughan's biography of him, Portrait of an Invisible Man, was published in 1983.

<i>Men of the Lightship</i> 1940 British wartime propaganda film directed by David MacDonald

Men of the Lightship is a short propaganda film produced by the Crown Film Unit for the British Ministry of Information in 1940, the year after the beginning of the Second World War. It dramatises the bombing of the East Dudgeon lightship by the Luftwaffe on 29 January 1940 and was designed to portray Germany as a barbaric enemy. An opening narration explains the traditional understanding of lightships as neutral vessels during war.

<i>Britain at Bay</i> 1940 British film by Harry Watt

Britain at Bay is a 1940 British propaganda film directed by Harry Watt and produced by the General Post Office GPO Film Unit of the British Ministry of Information and distributed by the National Film Board of Canada. The film was written and narrated by noted author and political commentator J. B. Priestley.

<i>Spare Time</i> 1939 British film

Spare Time is a 1939 British film directed by Humphrey Jennings for the GPO Film Unit, and made for the 1939 New York World's Fair. It is 15 minutes long and documents the leisure activities of workers in the coal, steel, and cotton industries in Sheffield, Bolton, Manchester and Pontypridd. Commentary is provided by Laurie Lee.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 "The Art of War: 'Words for Battle'." The National Archives. Retrieved: 2 February 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Bartlett, Michael. "Words for Battle", Screenonline , British Film Institute Retrieved: 2 February 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Aldgate and Richards 2007, pp. 222–223.

Bibliography

  • Aldgate, Anthony and Jeffrey Richards. Britain Can Take It: British Cinema in the Second World War. London: I.B. Tauris, 2007. ISBN   978-1-8451-1445-9.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.