''Christmas Under Fire'' is a 1941 British short

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

directed by Harry Watt for the

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

of the Ministry of Information. It was conceived as propaganda primarily for an American audience, to raise support for the Allied cause during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Produced in the context of German bombings of British cities, it depicts the resilience of British civilians despite the hardships they suffered during Christmas 1940, by showing the continuation of

Christmas tradition Christmas traditions include a variety of customs, religious practices, rituals, and folklore associated with the celebration of Christmas. Many of these traditions vary by country or region, while others are practiced in a virtually identical m ...

s in the face of the disruptions caused by war. The film is a sequel to '' London Can Take It!'', with the same narrator,

Quentin Reynolds Quentin James Reynolds (April 11, 1902 – March 17, 1965) was an American journalist and World War II war correspondent. He also played American football for one season in the National Football League (NFL) with the Brooklyn Lions. Early life ...

. It was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Best Documentary Short, which was won by '' Churchill's Island''.

Synopsis

The film shows Christmas 1940, in the middle of

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

. Christmas traditions are depicted in juxtaposition with a wartime backdrop: Christmas trees are dug up for

air raid shelters Air raid shelters are structures for the protection of non-combatants as well as combatants against enemy attacks from the air. They are similar to bunkers in many regards, although they are not designed to defend against ground attack (but many ...

; housewives buy food for the Christmas dinner; theatres stage

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

productions; schoolchildren produce handmade Christmas cards. People are shown celebrating Christmas while sheltering in the London Underground, accompanied by a carol sung by the choir of

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

Production

''Christmas Under Fire'' was produced by the

of the Ministry of Information, commissioned as a sequel to '' London Can Take It''. It was designed primarily for distribution in America and, in order to increase the film's appeal to an American audience,

from the magazine ''

Collier's Weekly ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Colli ...

'' was chosen as the film's narrator; Reynolds had previously written and narrated two other British propaganda films, ''London Can Take It'' and ''London's Reply to Germany's False Claims''. The film was produced in the context of The Blitz, the series of German bombing raids on British cities that began in September 1940. A central message of the film is that "life goes on", with Christmas traditions continuing despite disruption caused by bombing. In order to encourage the support of the American population, the film was designed to shake the complacency of neutral America, while depicting the resilience, determination and defiance of British civilians. One

window cleaner Window cleaning, or window washing, is the exterior cleaning of architectural glass used for structural, lighting, or decorative purposes. It can be done manually, using a variety of tools for cleaning and access. Technology is also employed and ...

, for example, is shown putting up a poster stating: "Business As Usual: if you've got no windows, we'll clean your chimneys".

Release and reception

As well as being released in Britain, the film was distributed in America by

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, whose income from distributing the film was donated to the Spitfire Fund, which was used to help

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

construction of

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

aircraft. ''Christmas Under Fire'' was nominated for an

for Best Documentary Short, losing to the Stuart Legg film '' Churchill's Island'', another work about the wartime defence of Britain.

DVD release

The film is included on volume 3 of the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

GPO Film Unit DVD collection, ''If War Should Come''. A super 8 release also exists.

References

External links

* *, from

BFI National Archive The BFI National Archive is a department of the British Film Institute, and one of the largest film archives in the world. It was founded as the National Film Library in 1935; its first curator was Ernest Lindgren. In 1955, its name became the N ...