Media & The Arts
Ever watched a war film made in the 1940’s or 50’s and asked, did this really happen or is it a fictional action story made to entertain?
Every one of these classic British war films had a vital purpose in telling the narrative of the conflict; providing honesty, advice and consolation, these films helped a nation through the uncertain years before the outbreak of the war; supporting them in the darkest days of the blitz when invasion and defeat by Nazi Germany was a real possibility; celebrating their victories and consoling them through the trauma of surviving an unwanted war, leaving their once prosperous country bankrupt and in ruins.
British war films are the unsung heroes of the world conflict. How many people know of the British Army Film and Photographic Unit? Who acknowledges the unit that captured live footage of the war for the world, with the highest casualty rates of any regiment at the time?
Your Sunday afternoon war film has much more to it than you may have thought. Bovril & Sherry: The Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat of British War Films highlights the deep feelings and purpose held by the film makers who made them and the bold, insightful thinking of the Ministry of Information who green lit these productions.
Here's what readers have to say about this book....
Another good read from Andy Wilkinson. He is such a talented and entertaining writer. I just finished “Bovril & Sherry” the blood, toil, tears and sweat of British war films. If you are a Baby Boomer like me, you will actually remember when some of the war movies first hit the theaters in the late 1950s and early 1960s: The Bridge on the River Kwai, Dunkirk, Sink the Bismarck!, Judgement at Nuremberg, The Longest Day, The Great Escape, Battle of the Bulge, and (of course) The Battle of Britain. They were monumental at the time. Andy connects history, his own and ours, to each of the movies in such an interesting way. Every reader will connect in some way. I’m happy to add it to my collection of Andy’s works.
For film fans and/or anyone interested in the workings of the British Film Industry a new book by the multi-talented Andy Wilkinson is always very welcome. The author looks closely at a wide range of war films mostly made by British production companies like London Films, Two Cities and Ealing Studios, often with a helping hand from the Ministry of Information or the Crown Film Unit. It was good to see in context the hopes and aspirations of film directors as legendary as Alfred Hitchcock and David Lean as they helped win the hearts, minds and souls of an exhausted, worn out Britain, and kept the fight going during its darkest hours. An essential book for film buffs everywhere, written with the author's usual clarity and easy-to-read style.
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