Britain Can Take It: The British Cinema in the Second World War

Cinema and Society

by Tony Aldgate, Jeffrey Richards

At the outbreak of the Second World War all cinemas in Britain were closed.  Ten days later they were opened again as a valuable way of boosting morale and a principal source of recreation for the nation at war.  Feature films were not just escapist entertainment; they provided instruction and information, and over the next six years some 300 feature films and thousands of short films and news reels were produced in what is now seen as British cinema's 'finest hour'. 
'Britain Can Take It' charts this momentous period through the eyes of thirteen key films. Aldgate and Richards make use of key resources, from scripts and box-office returns to official Home Office documents and censorship archives, to bring these films to vivid life.  In telling their stories, the authors also recreate the society, the politics and war-time conditions in which they appeared and flourished.
 
This new edition of 'Britain Can Take It' features a new chapter on Launder and Gilliat's 1943 film on women factory workers, 'Millions Like Us.  It will be welcomed back by film scholars and historians, students and film lovers as essential reading.
 

Genres: History, Nonfiction

350 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1986

Reviews

[R.S. Rowland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhat dry exploration of how British cinema helped and reacted to WW2. Through the detailed examination of 13 films, including cast, script, ticket sales and reviews, each film is analyzed for their contribution to the war effort and morale at home. I've seen 5 of the 13 and I felt the authors hit the point of the films exactly. Great read and wonderful insights into British film making.

[Hillingdon Libraries]

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