The Crown Film Unit was an organisation within the British Government's Ministry of Information during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Formerly the GPO Film Unit

GPO Film Unit

The GPO Film Unit was a subdivision of the UK General Post Office. The unit was established in 1933, taking on responsibilities of the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit...

 it became the Crown Film Unit in 1940. Its remit was to make films for the general public in Britain and abroad. Its output included short information and documentary films, as well as longer drama-documentaries, as well as a few straight drama productions. The Crown Film Unit continued to produce films, as part of the Central Office of Information

Central Office of Information

The Central Office of Information is the UK government's marketing and communications agency. Its Chief Executive, currently Mark Lund, reports to the Minister for the Cabinet Office...

 (COI), until it was disbanded in 1952.

Notable Productions

Title	Year	Notes
Royal Scotland	1952	Oscar-nominated documentary
Mary's Birthday	1951	Animation by Lotte Reiniger Lotte Reiniger Charlotte "Lotte" Reiniger was a German silhouette animator and film director.- Early life :Lotte Reiniger was born in Berlin-Charlottenburg, German Empire, on June 2, 1899...
Out of True Out of True (film) Out of True is a 1951 British drama-documentary film, directed by Philip Leacock and starring Jane Hylton and Muriel Pavlow. Out of True was made by the Crown Film Unit with sponsorship from the Ministry of Health, and was promoted as a "fictional account of a nervous breakdown which conforms to...	1951	Directed by Philip Leacock Philip Leacock Philip David Charles Leacock was an English television and film director and producer. His brother was documentary filmmaker Richard Leacock.-Career:...
Daybreak in Udi	1949	Oscar-winning documentary
School in Cologne	1948	Directed by Graham Wallace, short film in the British Zone of Germany
Instruments of the Orchestra	1946	Scored by Benjamin Britten Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to... , later published as The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Op. 34, is a musical composition by Benjamin Britten in 1946 with a subtitle "Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell"...
A Defeated People A Defeated People A Defeated People is a 1946 British documentary short film made by the Crown Film Unit, directed by Humphrey Jennings and narrated by William Hartnell. The film depicts the shattered state of Germany, both physically and as a society, in the immediate aftermath of World War II...	1946	Directed by Humphrey Jennings Humphrey Jennings Frank Humphrey Sinkler Jennings was an English documentary filmmaker and one of the founders of the Mass Observation organization... , filmed in Occupied Germany
A Diary for Timothy A Diary for Timothy A Diary for Timothy is a British documentary film directed by Humphrey Jennings. It was produced by Basil Wright for the Crown Film Unit....	1945	Directed by Humphrey Jennings, written by E. M. Forster E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster OM, CH was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society... , featuring Michael Redgrave Michael Redgrave Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave, CBE was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author.-Youth and education:... , Dame Myra Hess Myra Hess Dame Myra Hess DBE was a British pianist.She was born in London as Julia Myra Hess, but was best known by her middle name. At the age of five she began to study the piano and two years later entered the Guildhall School of Music, where she graduated as winner of the Gold Medal...  and John Gielgud John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
Two Fathers Two Fathers (film) Two Fathers is a 1944 British wartime propaganda short film made by the Crown Film Unit, a division of the Ministry of Information, and directed by Anthony Asquith.-Plot:...	1944	Directed by Anthony Asquith Anthony Asquith Anthony Asquith was a leading English film director. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan on The Winslow Boy and The Browning Version , among other adaptations... , written by V. S. Pritchett V. S. Pritchett Sir Victor Sawdon Pritchett CH CBE , was a British writer and critic. He was particularly known for his short stories, collected in a number of volumes... , starring Bernard Miles Bernard Miles Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles, CBE was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1959, the first new theatre opened in the City of London since the 17th century....  and Paul Bonifas Paul Bonifas Paul Bonifas was a French actor, born in Paris.In the 1920s, while working for the French customs service, Bonifas took classes in acting at the Conservatoire de Paris in his spare time...
The Silent Village The Silent Village The Silent Village is a 1943 British propaganda short film in the form of a drama documentary, made by the Crown Film Unit and directed by Humphrey Jennings...	1943	Directed by Humphrey Jennings
Before the Raid	1943	Directed by Jirí Weiss, written by Laurie Lee Laurie Lee Laurence Edward Alan "Laurie" Lee, MBE was an English poet, novelist, and screenwriter, raised in the village of Slad, and went to Marling School, Gloucestershire. His most famous work was an autobiographical trilogy which consisted of Cider with Rosie , As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and...
Fires Were Started Fires Were Started Fires Were Started is a British film written and directed by Humphrey Jennings, filmed in documentary style showing the lives of firefighters through the Blitz in World War II...	1943	Directed by Humphrey Jennings
The True Story of Lilli Marlene Lili Marleen "Lili Marleen" is a German love song which became popular during World War II.Written in 1915 during World War I, the poem was published under the title "Das Lied eines jungen Soldaten auf der Wacht" in 1937, and was first recorded by Lale Andersen in 1939 under the...	1942	Directed by Humphrey Jennings, featuring Marius Goring Marius Goring Marius Goring CBE was an English stage and cinema actor. He is most often remembered for the four films he did with Powell & Pressburger, particularly as Conductor 71 in A Matter of Life and Death and as Julian Craster in The Red Shoes...  and Lucie Mannheim Lucie Mannheim Lucie Mannheim was a German singer and actress.Mannheim was born in Berlin–Köpenick where she studied drama and quickly became a popular figure appearing on stage in plays and musicals. Among other roles, she played Nora in Ibsen's A Doll's House, Marie in Büchner's Woyzeck, and Juliet in...
Coastal Command Coastal Command (film) Coastal Command is a 1942 British film made by the Crown Film Unit for the Ministry of Information. The movie, distributed by RKO, dramatised the work of RAF Coastal Command. It was made under the supervision of Ian Dalrymple, with the full cooperation of the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy...	1942	Directed by J.B. Holmes
Listen to Britain	1942	Directed by Humphrey Jennings, featuring Dame Myra Hess and Flanagan and Allen Flanagan and Allen Flanagan and Allen were a British singing and comedy double act popular during World War II. Its members were Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen...
Malta Malta Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...  G.C. George Cross The George Cross is the highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom, and also holds, or has held, that status in many of the other countries of the Commonwealth of Nations...	1942	Directed by Eugeniusz Cekalski and Derrick De Marney, narrated by Laurence Olivier Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
Target for Tonight Target for Tonight Target for Tonight is a 1941 British documentary film billed as being filmed by and acted by the Royal Air Force, all while under fire. It was directed by Harry Watt. The film revolves for the most part around one crew in a single Wellington aircraft...	1941	Directed by Harry Watt, winner of Special Award Certificate from AMPAS Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
The Heart of Britain	1941	Directed by Humphrey Jennings, narrated by Edward R. Murrow Edward R. Murrow Edward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
This Is England	1941	Directed by Humphrey Jennings
Musical Poster Number One	1940	Written and directed by Len Lye Len Lye Len Lye, born Leonard Charles Huia Lye , was a Christchurch, New Zealand-born artist known primarily for his experimental films and kinetic sculpture. His films are held in archives such as the New Zealand Film Archive, British Film Institute, Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and the Pacific...