Although war films had always had a popular appeal at the box office, especially such First World War classics as Journey’s End (1930) and All Quiet On The Western Front (1930), it was just before, and during, the Second World War that the British war film came of age. This can be partly attributed to the sense of realism instigated by the documentary school of filmmakers, men like Alberto Cavalcanti, and, later, Harry Watt, who joined Ealing Studios from the ranks of the Crown Film Unit.
The Ministry of Information, which was effectively the driving force of the British propaganda campaign, had watched at first with stunned admiration the effect of Goebbels’s propaganda efforts in Germany. The influences he had brought to bear on the media – in particular film, both dramatic and documentary – had stirred the German people into believing not only that they were the master race, but that they were invincible.
The Ministry of Information moved into action in a much more subtle way. Not for them the mass hysteria of Nuremberg rallies and Hitler’s speeches, nor the cream of Aryan youth displaying gymnastic skills and marching to brass bands, banners waving. They showed, through the Crown Film Unit documentaries and newsreel outlets such as Pathé, Movietone and Gaumont British, that not only could the British ‘take it’, they were also stealing themselves to ‘give it’. It was this message that was passed on loud and clear to the filmmakers, a message which become their creative motivation.
In 1940 the Minister of Information, Sir A. Duff Cooper, placed Kenneth Clark in charge of the newly established Films Division of the MOI. Clark approached Michael Powell to make an officially sponsored feature film about minesweeping. But Powell rejected the idea. He did tell Clark, however, that he’d be interested in making a film in Canada. A Sunday newspaper article made it obvious to him that, with Canada being right next to the United States, any involvement Canada had with the War could stir the American conscience and bring them into the conflict. Clark agreed with Powell’s reasoning and thought it a good enough idea to ask the Government for a £4,000 grant for Powell to go to Canada and get official co-operation.
As a result of Powell’s visit, an impressive combination of talent was assembled. Financed by Rank and the MOI, who drew funds from a Treasury grant to make propaganda feature films, it was written, produced and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and titled 49th Parallel (1941). Powell and Pressburger worked on a small percentage of the profits in lieu of fees and, though the budget spiraled to almost double its initial budget, it proved the hit of 1941, with a gross of £2 million in Britain, and even made $1.3 million in the United States.
Featuring cameos from Leslie Howard, Laurence Olivier, Eric Portman, Raymond Massey and Anton Walbrook, the storyline deals with six survivors of a German submarine crew after their U-boat is sunk in the Gulf of St Lawrence by the Royal Canadian Air Force. In a series of overlapping episodes, the survivors’ numbers are gradually reduced as they are variously confronted by the country and its people. At the beginning of their journey across Eastern Canada, they take refuge in a Hutterite settlement of expatriate Germans where the community leader (Anton Walbrook) gives a powerful and moving speech, condemning the doctrine of Nazism, and rejecting out of hand the idea that all Germans are brothers. Instead, he expounds the virtues of living in a free country like Canada.
When at last only two active survivors are left, they come into conflict with Philip Armstrong-Scott (Leslie Howard), an English intellectual and expert on Indian culture. After he has extended them hospitality, the Nazis taunt and goad him about his ‘soft’ way of life until they push him too far, and turn the gentle pacifist into a man seeking, and finding, revenge. The final survivor, Lieutenant Hirth (Eric Portman), is cornered by a Canadian solider (Raymond Massey) who is temporarily AWOL on a train bound for the undefended 49th Parallel, situated between Canada and the (then neutral) USA. On reaching the border, Hirth pleads with the US Customs officers to give him political asylum. But they turn a deaf ear, and send the train shunting back into Canada, showing the world exactly where their sympathies lie.
The ambivalent US foreign policy, although carefully understated in the script, was not lost on its audiences, and the film proved an effective attempt to show the dangers of Nazi mentality, and contrast this with the British democratic philosophy. The fanatics versus the lovers of freedom. A review in the Documentary News Letter stated that 49th Parallel was one of the best-made films ever produced in this country. The national press especially praised Leslie Howard’s performance, whilst Eric Portman moved into the ‘star’ category because of his portrayal of the Nazi Lieutenant Hirth.
Perhaps an even more important film in the attempt to bolster British morale was In Which We Serve (1941). Forever identified with Noel Coward, it remains one of the best examples of the genre. He dedicated the film to his friend, a naval officer whom he much admired, Lord Louis Mountbatten, and to the crew of HMS Kelly. The Kelly had been sunk in similar circumstances to that of the ship in the film, HMS Torrin, and Mountbatten often attended filming in the studio to give Coward advice and encouragement.
The message of In Which We Serve concerned itself with comradeship and a sense of national pride which was shared by the entire country, whether on the Home Front or in the Armed Forces. The theme of Britain fighting as one in the common cause was the main thrust of the story. It showed how the captain, officers and men of a destroyer behaved as ‘a happy efficient unit’ in peace time and at war. After their ship has been sunk at the Battle of Crete, we are taken through a series of individual flashbacks as they hang on to a Carley float with only their collective spirit keeping them alive. Noel Coward played Captain ‘D’ with almost tongue-in cheek understatement, encapsulating middle-class attitudes, which, although not always understood by Americans, nor for that matter by British working classes, demanded respect as a representation of Britain’s backbone. At the other end of the social scale, the ratings were shown to be tough, loyal, witty and possessing the essential characteristics that would qualify them as ‘the salt of the earth’.
Apart from Noel Coward, the cast included many virtually unknown actors who went on to become major screen stars, notably Richard Attenborough, John Mills, and the superb Celia Johnson. The film also gave David Lean his first opportunity to direct some of the scenes. He worked as Coward’s associate, after spending more than ten years in the dark of the cutting room as a film editor. In Which We Serve had an enormously favourable propaganda impact and was chosen by the United States National Board of Review of Motion Pictures as ‘the outstanding film of 1942’.
Coward’s memorable speech when addressing his crew may now seem almost laughable in view of what was to come, but when he said: “then we'll send Hitler a telegram saying ‘the Torrin’s ready, you can start your war’…” it captured the mood of the nation.
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