Britain Can Take it

At the outbreak of the Second World War, all cinemas in Britain were closed. Ten days later, they were opened again as a valuable way of boosting morale and a principal source of recreation for the nation at war. Feature films were not just escapist entertainment; they provided instruction and information, and over the next six years, some 300 feature films and thousands of short films and news reels were produced in what is now seen as British cinema’s ‘finest hour’. “Britain Can Take It” charts this momentous period through the eyes of thirteen key films. Aldgate and Richards make use of key resources, from scripts and box-office returns to official Home Office documents and censorship archives, to bring these films to vivid life. In telling their stories, the authors also recreate the society, the politics and war-time conditions in which they appeared and flourished. This new edition of “Britain Can Take It” features a new chapter on Launder and Gilliat’s 1943 film on women factory workers, “Millions Like Us”. It will be welcomed back by film scholars and historians, students and film lovers as essential reading.

Author Biography

Anthony Aldgate is Professor of Film and History, The Open University. His many publications include the TCM British Film Guide to ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’ (forthcoming Tauris 2007) Jeffrey Richards is Professor of Cultural History, Lancaster University. Among his books are ‘The Unknown 1930s’ and the TCM British Film Guide to ‘A Night to Remember’ (both Tauris). Together they are joint authors of ‘Best of British: Cinema and Society 1930-1970 (Tauris).