In the years after the First World War the British government had to adapt its communication policy to connect with the new mass electorate. This book examines the government's own Film Units and their slow development of the Public Information Film. By reviewing the entire film catalogue produced by the Empire Marketing Board, the General Post Office and Crown Film Units, particular themes are identified which not only reflect the demands of the Units' sponsors but also the anxieties and concerns of the 1930s and 1940s. The impact of the films is explored through the contemporary reaction of the audiences to them. By the time the Crown Film Unit was closed in 1952 a style of Public information film had been developed and continued into the 1970s.
By:
Alan Harding
Imprint: Manchester University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 216mm,
Width: 138mm,
ISBN: 9781526154781
ISBN 10: 1526154781
Pages: 344
Publication Date: 22 October 2024
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction 1 A shaky start – the British Government and film 1900–30 2 The Empire Marketing Board Film Unit: Tallents, Grierson, documentaries and the revival of Government interest, 1930–33 3 The General Post Office Film Unit in peacetime 1933–37 4 Rumours of War and the creation of the Crown Film Unit, 1938–40 5 The Crown Film Unit’s wartime productions, 1940–45 6 The Crown Film Unit’s post-war productions, 1946–52 7 Non-theatrical exhibition and audiences 8 Commercial and theatrical exhibition 9 The end of Government film making, 1951–52 10 Legacy Index -- .
Alan J. Harding is a former Programme Director at the University of Southampton and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
