Festival of Film

Also published on my History Usherette blogspot - see foot of post for link

Before the opening credits of ‘The Magic Box’ (1951), the Festival of Britain logo flashes onto the screen. The film was shown at the Festival, before it went on general release. We can therefore assume that it was meant to fit in with the ethos of the Festival – a celebration of British achievement. It certainly showcases the best of contemporary acting talent, with a long list of stars performing in tiny cameo roles. Some parts are so tiny, it is literally a case of blink and you will miss them.  I certainly missed seeing Googie Withers, Sheila Sim and Marius Goring. Others have slightly more prominent five-minute pieces, giving us a taste of the kind of role that they were famous for. Margaret Rutherford as a bossy yet coquettish dame, Laurence Olivier as an incredulous policeman, Joyce Grenfell as a fussy spinster and Eric Portman as an angry businessman.  I could go on. It is a veritable pageant of drama skills. 

The talent is a literal celebration of British film-making. But the storyline also looks at the life of film pioneer William Friese-Greene (played by Robert Donat).  Fitting in with the Festival’s celebration of British science, it seems to say – ‘Look! It was us that invented film! But we are so modest with our achievements while other nationalities blow their own trumpets so loudly that they drown us out!’

Having watched the film myself, I wasn’t impressed with the character of Friese-Greene. He is portrayed as a very selfish man, who puts his inventing before his wives and his children. His first wife dies of ill health – the film suggests that this was exacerbated by the debts that her husband ran up by eschewing proper work. He marries again and his six sons are all shown as suffering from his single minded attitude. In the end, three of them join World War One as under age soldiers in order to stop becoming a financial burden on their parents. This second marriage ends when his wife can take no more.  He apparently destroyed the opportunity to become a rich society photographer because of his obsession with developing a moving picture.  I was flabbergasted at this – surely he could have invented at evenings and weekends?  This is how the rest of us have to follow our dreams!

I wonder if the 1951 audience took a different  attitude?  Were they meant to view him with sympathy as a man who gave up everything and got no recognition for his ground breaking work?  This would sit more comfortably with the Festival ethos. Does ‘The Magic Box’ depict a long gone set of values, when it was understandable to put genius before family? When a man could get away more easily with neglecting his sons? A fascinating question of 1950s morals and mores. 

http://historyusherette.blogspot.co.uk/

amazon.co.uk/Sarah-Miller-Walters/e/B00DZPX09U

About Britain - A Festival Series

Although the epicentre of the festival was the South Bank, it did concern itself with the promotion of the British Isles as a whole. The festival office published a series of 13 hardbacked books called ‘About Britain’.  Each guidebook took a particular region and was

“Planned to give you the fundamental facts about its scenery, its monuments, its buildings, its natural history, its people and their work and characteristics.”

They featured photographs, illustrations by popular artists, tours and a gazetteer. Clearly much thought went into these books, and they encouraged British people to appreciate their land and to explore it.

 I have a copy of the Wessex book, which was written by Geoffrey Grigson. It’s a beautiful portrait of one of my favourite parts of the world, made at a most fascinating point in time.  The 1950s are significant to this country for the founding of the first National Park in the Peak District. This was also a time of growth for the green belt movement.  Within Grigson’s text we are shown the reasons why this was happening. It shows that there was concern even then that Hampshire was rapidly becoming another of the Home Counties, and therefore an extension of the London conurbation. Grigson wrote of “…that uneasy Hampshire feeling that London is only just out of sight beyond the chalk hills.”  Also, of Bournemouth, he writes that “…it has increased like water spreading from a spilt bucket…”

 This book delivers an aura reminiscent of the work of Grigson’s contemporary, John Betjeman, who famously railed against modern ribbon developments of mock Tudor bungalows.

1950s Britain needed homes. But it also needed to preserve its landscape.  This festival inspired book shows the early attempts to draw attention to our now never ending housing conflict. 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sarah-Miller-Walters/e/B00DZPX09U