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A War on Two Fronts: British Morale, Cinema and Total War, 1914–1958

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Abstract

Lord Kitchener’s call to arms and the creation of a large citizen-army in 1914 likely marks the beginning of the era of total war in Britain. The establishment of the Ministry of Munitions and the introduction of conscription and food rationing would soon follow. In 1916, the film The Battle of the Sommeplayed to packed cinemas across the country. Cinema had joined the war effort and would continue to play its part throughout the rest of the war, the next war, and beyond. With its ability to reach vast audiences and enlist the participation of large proportions of the population, the film proved to be the medium of total war. Often intended to bolster morale, it also provides a commentary on changing ideas concerning the nation at arms and on Britain’s role in the world.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “Ystradgynlais Lads on the Somme: Local Boys in Battle Pictures.” Llais Lafur, Labour Voice, October 21, 1916.

  2. 2.

    Gerard Oram, Military Executions during World War One (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2003), 41–42.

  3. 3.

    Fighting U-Boats in a London Back Garden (Ministry of Information, 1918).

  4. 4.

    Jay Winter, “Propaganda and the Mobilization of Consent,” in The Oxford Illustrated History of The First World War, ed. Hew Strachan (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 221.

  5. 5.

    The Woman’s Portion (1918), Film Producers’ Guild, UK.

  6. 6.

    “To The Young Women of London,” IWM Poster, IWM (Art.IWM PST 4903). Retrieved from https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/28305.

  7. 7.

    Gerard Oram, “Britain, Post-World war I Army Mutinies and Revolutionary Threats,” in The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, ed. Immanuel Ness (Oxford: Blackwell, 2009), 510–511.

  8. 8.

    H. Bruce Woolfe, Tell England, directed by Anthony Asquith and Geoffrey Barkas (United Kingdom: British Instructional Films, 1931). Michael Balcon, Forever England, directed by Walter Forde and Anthony Asquith (United Kingdom: Gaumont British, 1935).

  9. 9.

    Michael Balcon, I Was a Spy, directed by Victor Saville and Herbert Mason (United Kingdom: Gaumont British, 1933).

  10. 10.

    Michael Balcon, Alfred Hitchcock, The 39 Steps, directed by Alfred Hitchcock (United Kingdom: Gaumont British, 1935).

  11. 11.

    Stanley Baldwin, “A Fear for the Future” cited in Times, November 11, 1932, 7.

  12. 12.

    John Buchan, The 39 Steps [1915], in The Complete Richard Hannay (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1991).

  13. 13.

    Alexander Korda, Things to Come, directed by William Cameron Menzies (London: London Film Productions, 1936).

  14. 14.

    Anthony Aldgate, Cinema and History: British Newsreels and the Spanish Civil War (London: Scolar, 1979).

  15. 15.

    Susan Tegel, “The Politics of Censorship: Britain’s Jew Süss (1934) in London, New York and Vienna” in Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television 15, no. 2 (1995): 219–244.

  16. 16.

    Michael Balcon, Jew Süss, directed by Lothar Mendes (United Kingdom: London Film Productions, 1934).

  17. 17.

    Michael Balcon, A Lifetime in Films (London: Hutchinson, 1969), 99.

  18. 18.

    Tegel, “The Politics of Censorship,” 239.

  19. 19.

    James Chapman, The British at War: Cinema, State and Propaganda 1939–45 (London: I.B. Tauris, 1998), 19–40.

  20. 20.

    Chapman, British at War, 31.

  21. 21.

    Brian Desmond Hurst, Miss Grant Goes to the Door, directed by Brian Desmond Hurst (United Kingdom: MOI, 1940); Michael Balcon, Went the Day Well? Directed by Cavalcanti (United Kingdom: Ealing Studios, 1942).

  22. 22.

    Commentary, London Can Take It (1940).

  23. 23.

    Chapman, British at War.

  24. 24.

    John Sutro and Norman Walker, The Way Ahead, directed by Carol Reed (United Kingdom: Two Cities Films, 1944).

  25. 25.

    Noel Coward, In Which We Serve, directed by Noel Coward (United Kingdom: Two Cities Films, 1942).

  26. 26.

    A ‘rating’ is a non-officer position/rank.

  27. 27.

    Chapman, Britain at War, 185.

  28. 28.

    Edward Black, Millions Like Us, directed by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder (United Kingdom: Gainsborough Pictures, 1943).

  29. 29.

    Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (United Kingdom: General Film Distributors, 1943).

  30. 30.

    Chapman, British at War, 84.

  31. 31.

    Chapman, British at War, 194.

  32. 32.

    Memorandum of March 30, 1942, by Professor Frederick Lindemann, Baron Cherwell (British government’s chief scientific adviser) sent to the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

  33. 33.

    “On the Chin,” British Pathe, February 8, 1942, Newsreel, https://www.britishpathe.com/video/on-the-chin; Alexander Korda, The Biter Bit (Coombe Productions, MOI, 1943).

  34. 34.

    Edward Black, Waterloo Road, directed by Sidney Gilliat (United Kingdom: Gainsborough Pictures, 1945).

  35. 35.

    A ‘spiv’ is a slang word from the United Kingdom to describe a man, who is usually a flashy dresser, and who makes a living by disreputable dealings. This word was predominately used during the Second World War and in the post-war period when goods were rationed due to shortages.

  36. 36.

    Robert Murphy, Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939–49 (London: Routledge, 1992), 151.

  37. 37.

    Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, and George Busby, A Matter of Life and Death, directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (United Kingdom: Archers Productions, 1946).

  38. 38.

    Daniel M. Angel, Reach for the Sky, directed by Lewis Gilbert (United Kingdom: Rank Film Distributors, 1956).

  39. 39.

    Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, The Battle of the River Plate, directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (United Kingdom: Rank Film Distributors, 1956).

  40. 40.

    Robert Clark and W. A. Whittaker, The Dam Busters (1955), directed by Michael Anderson (United Kingdom: Associated British Picture Corporation, 1955). See also John Ramsden, The Dam Busters: A British Film Guide (London: I.B. Tauris, 2002).

  41. 41.

    Paddy Ashdown, A Brilliant Little Operation: The Cockleshell Heroes and the Most Courageous Raid of WW2 (London: Aurum, 2012).

  42. 42.

    Phil C. Samuel and Cubby Broccoli, The Cockleshell Heroes, directed by Josè Ferrer (United Kingdom: Warwick Films, 1955).

  43. 43.

    Bill Sparks, Cockleshell Commando: The Memoirs of Bill Sparks DSM (Barnsley: Leo Cooper, 2002), 105–106.

  44. 44.

    Sparks, Cockleshell Commando, 106–107.

  45. 45.

    The film was amongst the top ten British films for the year.

  46. 46.

    Cited in Sparks, 107.

  47. 47.

    Peter Rogers and Kenneth Myers, Carry On Sergeant, directed by Gerald Thomas and Peter Rogers (United Kingdom: Peter Rogers Productions, 1958).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Swansea University, Swansea, UK

    Gerard Oram

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  1. Gerard Oram
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Correspondence to Gerard Oram .

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  1. University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia

    Martin Kerby , Margaret Baguley  & Janet McDonald ,  & 

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Oram, G. (2019). A War on Two Fronts: British Morale, Cinema and Total War, 1914–1958. In: Kerby, M., Baguley, M., McDonald, J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Artistic and Cultural Responses to War since 1914. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96986-2_14

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