War Front

This engaging snapshot of Britain's busy home front features Bomber Command, the Home Guard and aviation factories. These subjects are enlivened by their framing: a story about photojournalists covering them for an illustrated magazine. Aside from its function as an informative morale-raiser, the film's implicit message is that a picture is worth a thousand words. And a moving picture's worth a million.

WWII saw a massive expansion in moving image communications: War Front was one of some 1,900 films commissioned by the British state during those six years. Of the film units considered part of the 'Documentary Movement', Strand Films, under its ambitious producer Donald Taylor, was often noted as having greater affinities for commercial cinema than more purist wings of the 'Movement': War Front was helmed by talented Strand regular John Eldridge, who later crossed the 'great divide' to become a feature film director himself. He delivers a solid and satisfying blend of forms: documentary, newsreel and fiction featurette. Bruce Belfrage as the editor is an astute piece of casting. Belfrage was a well-known BBC radio newsreader as well as sometime actor: the resonance of his voice with the subject of newsgathering will surely have worked well for 1941 viewers. Look out for a young Bernard Miles in a smaller role.