"I am speaking to you from the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street.
This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a final note stating that unless we heard from them by 11.00 a.m. that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us.
I have to tell you that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at war with Germany…”[1]
This is the news that Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain gave the people of Britain at 11:15 on September 3rd 1939, broadcasting live, and heard through their wireless sets. The radio was vital in communicating advice and warnings to the millions of people who were now part of a nation at war, but to get a real insight into what ‘their boys’ were actually doing, they would flock, in their millions, to cinemas around the country, to watch a plethora of new ‘wartime films’ – thus ushering in a ‘golden age’ for British cinema.
Attendance at the cinema had been steadily rising throughout the 1930’s and by 1939 the cinema was easily the most important form of mass entertainment with 990 million tickets being sold annually.[2] There were also 3 new cinemas being opened each week, admission cost only a few pence, and provided probably the cheapest form of mass entertainment in most towns and cities."[3]
Initially however, this wouldn’t have seemed at all probable, as after Chamberlain’s declaration of war, there was an announcement that ‘during the initial stages of war all theatres, music halls, cinemas and other places of entertainment shall be closed throughout the country.’[4] Luckily for the British film industry, this only lasted two weeks, and the cinemas ‘were to stay open even when the Blitz did come.’[5]
Amongst the short propaganda films, there emerged several feature length films, equally propaganda-like, which have come to be regarded as classics of the period, portraying a particular vision of Britain, and the character of her people. In 1942 director David Lean embarked on the first of his collaborations with Noel Coward, (and his first attempt at directing a feature) on the film ‘In Which We Serve’. The film is based on the ‘actual service record of a British destroyer recounted to Coward by Lord Mountbatten’[6], and tells the story of H.M.S Torrin, from its creation in the shipyard to its eventual destruction by the Luftwaffe. The fate of the crew stranded at sea, clinging onto a dingy, is interwoven with flashback sequences of the wives and families back at home and of life on the ship.
The film can be used as an example of how the British character was portrayed during films of the war period, by viewing the boat as a microcosm of British society, and the crew as the people of the nation. One of the main purposes of British war films was to show the diversity and unity of the people, and this is exactly what Lean and Coward do in their film. On board the ship we can see representatives of all the classes to be found In Britain at the time – and most importantly they are all working together for a common goal, they have put any differences or prejudices they may have had about one another behind them and are united in their aims, their desire to rid the world of Nazism. This was what the people on the home front needed to see; to be reminded what they were fighting for, why their lives were being turned upside down, and that all the people of Britain were going through this together, rich or poor.
This notion of diversity and unity, ties in with another key aim of the British wartime film, which was to convey a sense of identity and heritage. The film, naturally, has strongly patriotic overtones, and the viewer is left in no doubt as to the nationality of the seamen. As well as any other characteristics that may stand out about individual characters, whether it be the indifference of Captain Kinross (Noel Coward), the joviality of Ordinary Seaman Shorty Blake (John Mills), the awkward, emotionally inept Chief Petty Officer Walter Hardyor (Bernard Miles) or the cowardly young sailor who leaves his post during the heat of battle (Richard Attenborough), they are all undeniably and quintessentially British characters, and English at that.
Heritage can be defined as something such as a way of life or traditional culture that passes from one generation to the next in a social group[7], and in this sense it can be applied to films such as ‘In Which We Serve’, where the viewers are being reminded of their collective history, and why it is worth preserving. George Orwell wrote during the war that the British were a people able to unite in the face of such a war, in a way that almost no other nation at that time could. There was a thread of patriotism running through the country that could pull people together despite their usual differences and allow them to forgo their usual misgivings about the other classes.[8] This is often shown in war films via the technique of sequences of montage showing churches, cathedrals, high streets and other places of national interest, places that have been blitzed but are still (often barely) standing, defiantly, like the people themselves.
This all added up to a level of social cohesion and solidarity that is rarely seen other than at times of great upheaval. This can be seen in ‘In Which We Serve’ during the Christmas dinner speeches made by various family members and people of all classes, but most clearly by Alix Kinross’ (Celia Johnson). She warns of how it really is being married to a sailor, that you come second to the ship at all times. Yet you get the impression that she would have it no other way, that she knows King and Country come first, and the crew are a type of family just as close and strong as any biological one. All express such sentiments; there are no dissenting voices to be heard. Whether this is wholly realistic was probably not of any concern to Lean or Coward, as this was the sort of thing people needed to see; basically themselves represented on screen as a cohesive group, getting on with the job in hand with traditional British cheer.
The behaviour and values of the characters in the film also portray a very particular image of ‘Britishness’ and the characteristics of British people. The strong sense of camaraderie, a ‘never say die’ attitude pervades the whole feature. Whether it be the men clinging to the dingy being shot at from above, or the women left behind on the Home Front, carrying on with their daily lives despite the growing severity of the Blitz bombings. At one point in the home shared by the women of both Hardy and Blake’s families, the bombs start falling, but rather than go to the bomb shelter, the pregnant Freda (Kay Walsh) sits under the stairs and carries on with her knitting, an action which ultimately saves her life when those around her lose theirs. Another noticeable feature of this and in fact almost all wartime films is the loyalty of wives and girlfriends of those away fighting. After all, it wouldn’t do the troops morale any good to see that whilst they were away the woman were having sordid affairs, even if it was just in a fictional film. For the British character, if the films are to be believed at least, it was essential that outward respectability be maintained at all times.
Interestingly the social hierarchy is still maintained, with the upper classes occupying the higher ranks, but this does not cause any conflict for the characters in the film, they all know their place. Like a recent army recruitment campaign put it, ‘who’d want to be a cog in a machine? It depends on the machine…’ When it comes to something as serious as war it would have seem ignoble and unpatriotic to make a fuss about such things as a ‘classist’ infrastructure within the armed forces.
Coward, as in many of his films personifies the ‘stiff upper lip’ attitude of the upper classes. Whilst they float at sea watching their beloved ship finally sinking, along with many of their friends and comrades, Coward points out the dead are better off, because they lie at the bottom of the ocean in such good company (meaning the Torrin). The film also has strong religious overtones throughout. Themes of self-sacrifice and a clear idea of right and wrong are evident. The religious values referred to are distinctly British, W.A.S.P ones, Captain Kinross makes numerous prayers and references to God and at the films finale, we hear a voice saying "God bless our ships and all who sail on them." There wouldn’t have been any question as to which or whose notion of ‘God’ the film was referring – at this point in history people still went to church in large numbers, and even those who didn’t rarely questioned such things, Britain was still considered a ‘Christian’ nation. Throughout ‘In Which We Serve’ (and many of the other films made during World War II) there are three key factors which keep recurring and which relate directly to the portrayal of ‘British character ‘; a sense of belonging, an attitude of contributing and a spirit of enduring.
Three years after their collaboration on the film ‘In Which We Serve’ (and several others) Lean and Coward came together again to make a film that would become a landmark of British Cinema, and one of the most popular and successful British films of all time, both home and abroad. Whereas their first film together could be seen as a microcosm of British society as a whole, ‘Brief Encounter’ (1945) deals explicitly with the middle classes, but provides a more in depth analysis of its characters and the society within which they must exist, and which dictates their actions. French critic André Bazin wrote,
“…yet can we imagine a more realistic portrayal of English manners and psychology.”[9]
It is the story of Laura (Celia Johnson) a ‘happily married woman’, (or at least she was…) and her extra-marital ‘affair’ with a married man she meets at the train station. The uniqueness of the film is that, whilst it is meant to be a romantic drama, the romance is not fulfilled – they never consummate their affair, and it ends after only half a dozen meetings, after which Alex (Trevor Howard) emigrates to South Africa.
The overwhelming force working against their affair, which they ultimately cannot overcome is their own sense of right and wrong, their impeccably British morals. These feelings outweigh all else; personal happiness, pleasure and emotional wellbeing, both physical and mental. Laura says at one point “self-respect and decency are what really matter…”
After their second meeting, where they innocently have lunch and go to the cinema, Laura returns home to the news that her son has had a slight accident. She is immediately racked with guilt, and feels that God is punishing her for her promiscuity. Again, as in ‘In Which We Serve’ religious overtones are present throughout, and unquestioned. Whilst riding the train Laura becomes nervous and ashamed when she feels that a priest, sitting opposite has somehow read her mind.
Yet amongst Laura’s shyness and idiosyncrasies there lies the heart of a romantic. She goes to the cinema every week, and loves the ideas of romance that are portrayed there in films like ‘Flames of Passion’. On yet another train journey home, the frequency of which in the film serves to highlight the mundanity of Laura’s life, she imagines all the romantic places her and Alex could go. She envisages them at the opera, in Paris in Venice, notions of the ‘romantic’ fed to her by cinema, but she likes these films precisely because they are fantastical – now these things are even a remote possibility she plunged into feelings of guilt and despair. The reality of her, a middle class woman having a wild romance is too ‘violent’ as she puts it at the films beginning. Outward respectability being maintained was of paramount importance. The two lead characters implore each other, ‘we must be sensible’.
As well as the characteristics of the main characters, the other people in the film can show us other aspects of the ‘British character’ that were often portrayed in films of this period. Almost everyone, except a few of the working class men, is overwhelmingly polite. Laura won’t even allow herself to think about wishing her acquaintance was dead. References to the weather are made frequently throughout, and the films two main themes apart from unfilled romance sometimes seem to be tea and trains, two classics obsessions of the British. The portrayal of working class characteristics in the film is interesting, for a start they are shown as far less sexually repressed, with the station master carrying on quite openly with the tealady. They are portrayed as less refined, which may have been why the films initially popularity was not with the working classes, but the “middle aged, middle class…because it satisfied their own fantasies…of forbidden love affairs.”[10]
Perhaps ultimately the film is best summed by using one of the final scenes as an illustration. When we are shown the opening scene for the second time, this time from Alex & Laura’s viewpoint, we are now fully aware of the emotional resonance, since this is quite probably the last time they will ever see each other. Yet when their final minutes together are interrupted by an acquaintance of Laura’s, neither of them is capable of doing anything, they are literally incapacitated by their politeness and regard for doing the right thing, and maintaining a sense of outward respectability and normality. As the whistle blows for Alex’s train which will part them once for all, he does something which conveys the very essence of ‘Englishness’ as portrayed in British wartime films, he simply places his hand on her shoulder, allowing it to linger only a few seconds, politely says goodbye, and leaves. This reservation in the face of such an emotionally devastating blow dealt to them by fate was the right thing to do, and at the end of the day, their moral values are strong enough to stand this final test.
[1] http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/british_declaration_of_war.htm
[2] Richards, J ‘Dream Palace’ 1984
[3] http://www.newi.ac.uk/rdover/medcult/thirties.htm
[4] Murphy, R ‘Realism & Tinsel’ 1989
[5] Ibid
[6] Silver & Ursini ‘David Lean’ 1974
[7] Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation.
[8] Orwell, G ‘The Lion & the Unicorn’ 1940
[9] [9] Murphy, R ‘Realism & Tinsel’ 1989 pg. 111
[10] Murphy, R ‘Realism & Tinsel’ 1989 (pg. 112)
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