GPO Film Unit
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The GPO Film Unit was a subdivision of the UK General Post Office. The unit was established in 1933, based on the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit and was headed by John Grierson, and was set up to produce sponsored documentary films on a variety of subjects.
Among the films it produced Harry Watt's and Basil Wright's Night Mail (1936), featuring music by Benjamin Britten and poetry by W. H. Auden is the most famous. Directors who worked for the unit included Humphrey Jennings, Alberto Cavalcanti, Paul Rotha, Harry Watt and Basil Wright. Laurie Lee also worked as a scriptwriter in the unit from 1939-1940.
In 1940 the GPO Film Unit became the Crown Film Unit, under the control of the Ministry of Information.
Contents |
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Air Communique | Ralph Elton | |
| Britain at Bay | Written by J. B. Priestley | ||
| The Front Line | Harry Watt | ||
| London Can Take It! | Humphrey Jennings & Harry Watt | Oscar-nominated for Best Short Subject 1941 | |
| Spring Offensive | Humphrey Jennings | ||
| War and Order | Charles Hasse | ||
| 1939 | The City | Ralph Elton | |
| The First Days | Pat Jackson, Humphrey Jennings & Harry Watt | ||
| Forty Million People | John Monck | Narrated by Ralph Richardson | |
| The Islanders | Maurice Harvey | ||
| Love on the Wing | Norman McLaren | Animation | |
| Men of the Alps | Alberto Cavalcanti | ||
| A Midsummer Day's Work | Alberto Cavalcanti | ||
| Spare Time | Humphrey Jennings | ||
| Squadron 992 | Harry Watt | ||
| 1938 | Four Barriers | Alberto Cavalcanti | |
| Mony a Pickle | Norman McLaren & Richard Massingham | Animation | |
| North or Northwest | Len Lye | Comedy | |
| North Sea | Harry Watt | ||
| 1937 | Book Bargain | Norman McLaren | |
| Job in a Million | Evelyn Cherry | ||
| The Line to Tschierva Hut | Alberto Cavalcanti | ||
| News for the Navy | Norman McLaren | ||
| The Saving of Bill Blewitt | Harry Watt | Drama, starring Bill Blewitt as himself | |
| Trade Tattoo | Len Lye | Animation | |
| We Live in Two Worlds | Alberto Cavalcanti | Written by J. B. Priestley | |
| 1936 | Message from Geneva | Alberto Cavalcanti | |
| Night Mail | Harry Watt & Basil Wright | Written by W. H. Auden. Music by Benjamin Britten | |
| Rainbow Dance | Len Lye | Animation | |
| 1935 | Air Post | Geoffrey Clark | |
| Coal Face | Alberto Cavalcanti | Written by W. H. Auden | |
| A Colour Box | Len Lye | Animation | |
| The King's Stamp | William Coldstream | With Barnett Freedman | |
| 1934 | Pett and Pott: A Fairy Story of the Suburbs | Alberto Cavalcanti | Comedy, starring J. M. Reeves, Marjorie Fone and June Godfrey |
| Locomotives | Humphrey Jennings | ||
| Song of Ceylon | Basil Wright | ||
| The Story of the Wheel | Humphrey Jennings | ||
[edit] References
[edit] External links
[edit] See also
- Edgar Anstey
- Alberto Cavalcanti
- John Grierson
- Humphrey Jennings
- Stuart Legg
- Len Lye
- Norman Mclaren
- Lotte Reiniger
- Harry Watt
- Basil Wright
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