Bovril & Sherry

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.