Men, War and Film (Paperback)

Steve Hawley

ISBN 10: 1835951074 / ISBN 13: 9781835951071

Published by Intellect, Bristol, 2025

About this Item

Paperback. A reclamation of a largely unknown genre of British wartime filmmaking. The Calling Blighty series of films produced by the Combined Kinematograph Service around the end of World War II were one-reel films in which soldiers of the "Forgotten Army" gave short spoken messages to the camera as a means of connecting the front line and the home front. Shown in local cinemas, these were the first films in which men spoke openly in their regional accents, and they hold profound meaning for remembrance, documentary representation, and the ecology of film in wartime. Of the four hundred films made on the Far Eastern Front, only sixty-four survive. Until now, however, these films have barely been researched, despite being a valuable source of social history. This book expands the history of Calling Blighty, placing it in a broader context for contemporary audiences. The story and analysis of the Calling Blighty series of films made by the Combined Kinematograph Service in Burma and India between 1943 and 1946. These are remarkable and moving documents, a one-way Skype of their day, where men and a very few women sent spoken messages home to be shown to families and sweethearts in local cinemas. 42 illus. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781835951071

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Men, War and Film (Paperback)
• Publisher: Intellect, Bristol
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1835951074
• ISBN 13: 9781835951071
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

A reclamation of a largely unknown genre of British wartime filmmaking.

The Calling Blighty series of films produced by the Combined Kinematograph Service around the end of World War II were one-reel films in which soldiers of the “Forgotten Army” gave short spoken messages to the camera as a means of connecting the front line and the home front. Shown in local cinemas, these were the first films in which men spoke openly in their regional accents, and they hold profound meaning for remembrance, documentary representation, and the ecology of film in wartime. Of the four hundred films made on the Far Eastern Front, only sixty-four survive. Until now, however, these films have barely been researched, despite being a valuable source of social history. This book expands the history of Calling Blighty, placing it in a broader context for contemporary audiences. 

About the Author

Steve Hawley is an artist and professor emeritus at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.