London Scrapbook

Basil Radford and Bessie Love take a wry look at how London has changed since the Blitz.

This delightfully unexpected piece of Blitz post-modernism sees quintessential Englishman Basil Radford and visiting American actress Bessie Love team up to make a documentary about wartime life in London. Screening their silent footage to a bemused would-be distributor, they anticipate the DVD commentary by several decades by offering a funny, fascinating accompaniment, describing in vivid detail how rationing and shortages have affected even the most banal day-to-day activities during WWII.

But amid the joshing there are some evocative images of London landmarks either swathed in barbed wire or recently bombed, plus the strangely surreal sight of vegetables being grown within sight of the Albert Memorial. 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.