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.

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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

The Calling Blighty series of films produced by the Combined Kinematograph Service produced towards the end of the Second World War were one-reel films in which soldiers gave short spoken messages to the camera as a means of connecting the front line and the home front. These are the first ever films where men speak openly in their regional accents, and they have profound meaning for remembrance, documentary representation and the ecology of film in wartime.

Of the 400 films (or ‘issues’) made, 64 survive. Each of those contained around 25 individual messages. Men – and a very few women - from a particular city, town or region were grouped together for the films to make regional screenings back in UK cinemas and town halls possible. Personnel from all three services are featured, but the men are predominantly from the army units. Screenings took place at a cinema in the subjects’ local area and were usually organised by the regional Army Welfare Committee. The names and addresses of those to be invited to the screenings were sent to the UK along with the films.

Until now, these films have barely been researched, and yet are a valuable source of social history as well as representing a different mode from the mainstream of British wartime documentary. This book expands the history of Calling Blighty and places it in a broader context, both past and present. New research reveals the origins of the film series and draws comparisons with written and oral contemporary sources.

Steve Hawley is an artist/filmmaker whose work has been screened worldwide, and has collaborated closely with the North West Film Archive UK. He is emeritus professor at the Manchester Metropolitan University UK.

Using memoirs and diaries, Steve Hawley has researched the roles in the Burma campaign of participants in the surviving films, and traced over 160 of the families of the men – and two men still alive – and recreated these wartime screenings.

Hawley’s book is part description of the films, part reclamation of a largely unknown genre of wartime filmmaking, partly an account of the Burma campaign, and partly a discussion of war and memory. Engagingly and warmly written.

It will be of interest to scholars and researchers in the areas of war studies, especially those specializing in the social rather than military history of warfare, and historians of British wartime cinema and documentary. Also useful for an undergraduate audience, in history, media/film studies.

Potential for readers with an interest in the Second World War, particularly the war in Burma, and those with an interest in family history of the period.

About the Author

Steve Hawley is professor and associate dean for research at the Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University.

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