Lady Be Kind

A resentful landlady changes her ways in this light-hearted tribute to civilian workers 'doing their bit' for the war effort.

A misplaced letter leads to a change of heart in this amusing tale of a billeted munitions worker and his reluctant landlady. As the film reveals, it was not only women and children evacuated from towns and cities under threat of bombing who relied on the goodwill of strangers for happy lodgings. Able-bodied men - often too old or unsuited to active service - were required to do war work in factories away from home and were boarded with local households who had little say in the matter.

The landlady is played Muriel George - a character actor, music hall performer and singer - who regularly appeared in similar roles throughout her career. This government film is a public record, preserved and presented by the BFI National Archive on behalf of The National Archives, home to more than 1,000 years of British history.