GPO Film Unit - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The GPO Film Unit was a subdivision of the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

General Post Office. The unit was established in 1933, taking on responsibilities of the Empire Marketing Board

Empire Marketing Board

The Empire Marketing Board was formed in May 1926 by the Colonial Secretary Leo Amery to promote inter-Empire trade and to persuade consumers to 'Buy Empire'...

Film Unit. Headed by John Grierson

John Grierson

John Grierson was a pioneering Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. According to popular myth, in 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" to describe a non-fiction film.-Early life:Grierson was born in Deanston, near Doune, Scotland...

, it was set up to produce sponsored documentary films mainly related to the activities of the GPO.

Among the films it produced were Harry Watt

Harry Watt (director)

Harry Watt was a Scottish documentary and feature film director, who began his career working for John Grierson and Robert Flaherty. His 1959 film The Siege of Pinchgut was entered into the 9th Berlin International Film Festival...

's and Basil Wright

Basil Wright

Basil Wright, , was a documentary filmmaker, film historian, film critic and teacher.-Biography:...

's Night Mail
Night Mail
Night Mail is a 1936 documentary film about a London, Midland and Scottish Railway mail train from London to Scotland, produced by the GPO Film Unit. A poem by English poet W. H. Auden was written for it, used in the closing few minutes, as was music by Benjamin Britten...

(1936), featuring music 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...

and poetry by W. H. Auden

W. H. Auden

Wystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also...

, which is the best known. Directors who worked for the unit included Humphrey Jennings

Humphrey Jennings

Frank Humphrey Sinkler Jennings was an English documentary filmmaker and one of the founders of the Mass Observation organization...

, Alberto Cavalcanti

Alberto Cavalcanti

Alberto de Almeida Cavalcanti was a Brazilian-born film director and producer.-Early life:Cavalcanti was born in Rio de Janeiro, the son of a prominent mathematician. He was a precociously intelligent child, and by the age of 15 was studying law at university. Following an argument with a...

, Paul Rotha

Paul Rotha

Paul Rotha was a British documentary film-maker, film historian and critic. He was educated at Highgate School....

, Harry Watt

Harry Watt (director)

, Basil Wright

Basil Wright

Basil Wright, , was a documentary filmmaker, film historian, film critic and teacher.-Biography:...

and a young Norman McLaren

Norman McLaren

Norman McLaren, CC, CQ was a Scottish-born Canadian animator and film director known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada...

. Poet and memoirist 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...

also worked as a scriptwriter in the unit from 1939-1940.

In 1940 the GPO Film Unit became the Crown Film Unit

Crown Film Unit

The Crown Film Unit was an organisation within the British Government's Ministry of Information during World War II. Formerly the GPO Film Unit it became the Crown Film Unit in 1940. Its remit was to make films for the general public in Britain and abroad...

, under the control of the Ministry of Information.

In Autumn 2008 the British Film Institute

British Film Institute

The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...

issued a first collection of selected films from the Unit. Titled Addressing The Nation, it comprises fifteen titles from the years 1933 to 1935, including Song of Ceylon
Song of Ceylon
The Song of Ceylon is a 1934 British documentary film directed by Basil Wright and produced by John Grierson for the Ceylon Tea Propaganda Board....

. A second volume, We Live In Two Worlds was released in February 2009, with 22 films covering the period 1936 to 1938, and includes Night Mail
Night Mail
Night Mail is a 1936 documentary film about a London, Midland and Scottish Railway mail train from London to Scotland, produced by the GPO Film Unit. A poem by English poet W. H. Auden was written for it, used in the closing few minutes, as was music by Benjamin Britten...

. A third (and final) volume, If War Should Come, appeared in July 2009 and includes London Can Take It!
London Can Take It!
London Can Take It! is a short documentary film produced by the GPO Film Unit for the Ministry of Information covering less than eighteen hours of the German blitz on London and its people...

Filmography

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1940	Air Communique	Ralph Elton
	Britain at Bay		Written by J. B. Priestley J. B. Priestley John Boynton Priestley, OM , known as J. B. Priestley, was an English novelist, playwright and broadcaster. He published 26 novels, notably The Good Companions , as well as numerous dramas such as An Inspector Calls...
	The Front Line	Harry Watt Harry Watt (director) Harry Watt was a Scottish documentary and feature film director, who began his career working for John Grierson and Robert Flaherty. His 1959 film The Siege of Pinchgut was entered into the 9th Berlin International Film Festival...
	London Can Take It!	Humphrey Jennings Humphrey Jennings Frank Humphrey Sinkler Jennings was an English documentary filmmaker and one of the founders of the Mass Observation organization... & Harry Watt	Oscar-nominated for Best Short Subject 1941
	Spring Offensive	Humphrey Jennings
	War and Order	Charles Hasse
1939	The City	Ralph Elton	Subtitle: "A Film Talk by Sir Charles Bressey Charles Bressey Sir Charles Herbert Bressey CB, CBE was a civil engineer and surveyor who specialised in road design. Bressey was Chief Engineer for Roads at the Ministry of Transport from 1921 to 1938... "
	The First Days	Pat Jackson, Humphrey Jennings & Harry Watt
	Forty Million People	John Monck	Narrated by Ralph Richardson Ralph Richardson Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
	The Islanders	Maurice Harvey
	Love on the Wing	Norman McLaren Norman McLaren Norman McLaren, CC, CQ was a Scottish-born Canadian animator and film director known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada...	Animation
	Men of the Alps	Alberto Cavalcanti Alberto Cavalcanti Alberto de Almeida Cavalcanti was a Brazilian-born film director and producer.-Early life:Cavalcanti was born in Rio de Janeiro, the son of a prominent mathematician. He was a precociously intelligent child, and by the age of 15 was studying law at university. Following an argument with a...
	A Midsummer Day's Work	Alberto Cavalcanti
	Spare Time	Humphrey Jennings
	Squadron 992	Harry Watt
1938	Four Barriers	Alberto Cavalcanti
	Mony a Pickle	Norman McLaren & Richard Massingham Richard Massingham Richard Massingham was a British actor who is principally noted for starring in public information films made in the 1940s and early 1950s.-Life:...	Animation
	N or NW	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...	Comedy
	North Sea	Harry Watt
1937	Book Bargain	Norman McLaren
	Job in a Million	Evelyn Cherry
	The Line to Tschierva Hut Tschierva Hut The Tschierva Hut is a mountain hut located in the Swiss canton of Graubünden at the foot of Piz Bernina, Piz Tschierva and Piz Morteratsch at the end of Val Roseg. The hut lies at 2,584 metres above sea level near the Tschierva Glacier and can be accessed from Pontresina via a trail...	Alberto Cavalcanti
	News for the Navy	Norman McLaren
	The Saving of Bill Blewitt	Harry Watt	Drama, starring Bill Blewitt as himself
	Trade Tattoo	Len Lye	Animation
	We Live in Two Worlds	Alberto Cavalcanti	Written by J. B. Priestley
1936	Message from Geneva	Alberto Cavalcanti
	Night Mail Night Mail Night Mail is a 1936 documentary film about a London, Midland and Scottish Railway mail train from London to Scotland, produced by the GPO Film Unit. A poem by English poet W. H. Auden was written for it, used in the closing few minutes, as was music by Benjamin Britten...	Harry Watt & Basil Wright Basil Wright Basil Wright, , was a documentary filmmaker, film historian, film critic and teacher.-Biography:...	Written by W. H. Auden W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also... . Music 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...
	Rainbow Dance	Len Lye	Animation
1935	Air Post	Geoffrey Clark
	Coal Face	Alberto Cavalcanti	Written by W. H. Auden
	A Colour Box	Len Lye	Animation
	The King's Stamp	William Coldstream William Coldstream Sir William Menzies Coldstream was a British realist painter and a long standing art teacher.-Biography:...	With Barnett Freedman Barnett Freedman Barnett Freedman CBE was a British artist, commercial designer, book illustrator, typographer, and lithographer.Freedman, the son of East-End Russian-Jewish immigrants, was self-educated during four years in hospitals, between the ages of nine and thirteen, because of asthma that was to trouble...
1934	Pett and Pott: A Fairy Story of the Suburbs	Alberto Cavalcanti	Comedy, starring J. M. Reeves, Marjorie Fone and June Godfrey
	Locomotives	Humphrey Jennings
	Song of Ceylon	Basil Wright
	The Story of the Wheel	Humphrey Jennings

External links

GPO Film Unit at the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...

's Screenonline
Screenonline
Screenonline is a Web site devoted to the history of British film and television, and to social history as revealed by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lottery New Opportunities Fund.Reviews...