''Listen to Britain'' is a 1942 British
propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
short film
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
by
Humphrey Jennings
Frank Humphrey Sinkler Jennings (19 August 1907 – 24 September 1950) was an English documentary filmmaker and one of the founders of the Mass Observation organisation. Jennings was described by film critic and director Lindsay Anderson in 195 ...
and
Stewart McAllister
Stewart McAllister (27 December 1914 – 27 November 1962) was a British documentary film editor who collaborated closely with Humphrey Jennings during the Second World War to produce films for the Crown Film Unit of the Ministry of Inform ...
. The film was produced during World War II by 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 ...
, an organisation within the British Government's
Ministry of Information to support the Allied war effort. The film was nominated for the inaugural
Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
in 1943, but lost against four other Allied propaganda films. It is noted for its
nonlinear
In mathematics and science, a nonlinear system is a system in which the change of the output is not proportional to the change of the input. Nonlinear problems are of interest to engineers, biologists, physicists, mathematicians, and many other ...
structure and its use of sound.
American introduction, British fears and critical reception
For the American release, ''Listen to Britain'' opens with a foreword spoken by
Leonard Brockington
Leonard Walter Brockington (6 April 1888 – 15 September 1966) was a Canadian lawyer, civil servant, public figure, and the first head of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
Born in Cardiff, Wales, one of seven children, Brockin ...
added by a "nervous civil servant"
[Leach, 1998, p.154] as there were fears that Americans might be confused by the ambiguity of the film's message.
The forewords begins with the famous ''Listening to Britain'' poem:
Before the introduction was added, Edgar Anstey in ''
The Spectator
''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world.
It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...
'' thought the film would be a complete disaster.
[Walford] Writing in the ''
Documentary News Letter
''Documentary News Letter'' was a magazine about documentary film founded by filmmaker John Grierson. The publication was developed as the wartime successor to ''World Film News'', which ceased publication in 1938, and sought to promote a "docum ...
'', Anstey complained:
However, Anstey admitted that ''Listen To Britain'' "had enormous influence overseas"
[Leach, 1998, p.163] and the film went down very well with audiences.
Helen de Mouilpied (later the wife of
Denis Forman
Sir John Denis Forman (13 October 1917 – 24 February 2013) was a Scottish executive in the British television industry long associated with the ITV contractor Granada, and with various charitable and governmental bodies in the arts.
Career
Fo ...
), the deputy head of non-theatrical distribution for the Ministry of Information, recalled:
then working as the Films Officer in the South West and later North-West of the country, claimed he always tried to show the film as the:
The success of ''Listen To Britain'' in influencing British public opinion vindicates Jennings and shows "boundary lines in the debate over social utility and aesthetic pleasure are not as distinct as they may seem."
Poetry, propaganda, myth and ambiguity
''Listen to Britain'' may be considered as artistic or poetic but the film is based on ambiguity and doubt.
Mass-Observation
Mass-Observation is a United Kingdom social research project; originally the name of an organisation which ran from 1937 to the mid-1960s, and was revived in 1981 at the University of Sussex.
Mass-Observation originally aimed to record everyday ...
, co-founded by Humphrey Jennings in 1937, found in the war's early years that the public considered it "un-British to shove propaganda down your throat", so Jennings realised that he would have to take a different approach to succeed. Jennings therefore chose to hide the propaganda with ambiguity. The film is therefore part of what Stuart Legg called the 'Poetic Line',
[Leach, 1998, p.155] in spite of Anstey and Anderson's beliefs that poetry and propaganda were incompatible,
and the use of poetry in relation to the constraints imposed by the audience and motivations of Jennings and the
Ministry of Information in making the film is central to understanding the film as a work of propaganda.
"Poetry and propaganda come together in the myth of the people's war."
[Leach, 1998, p.168]
In ''Listen to Britain'', Jennings is selling a myth of national unity; that in spite of pre-war differences all classes were united in war socialism but it's a bottom up view that highlights individuality, the "unity within difference".
Having learnt through Mass Observation that the British people were uncomfortable with detecting propaganda, Jennings used a poetic style to mask it. The use of sound was vital in this, allowing the montage of shots to imply hidden meaning, such as the sound of an unseen aircraft on a seemingly peaceful day.
Edgar Anstey
Edgar Anstey (16 February 1907 in Watford, Hertfordshire, England – 26 September 1987 in London, England), was a leading British documentary film-maker.
Anstey was educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys and Birkbeck College. He spent ...
feared the "beauty" would detract from the message
and when the film was released in America, an introduction was added because the art had made the message ambiguous. Only at the end was the film's ambiguity dropped as
Rule, Britannia!
"Rule, Britannia!" is a British patriotic song, originating from the 1740 poem "Rule, Britannia" by James Thomson and set to music by Thomas Arne in the same year. It is most strongly associated with the Royal Navy, but is also used by the ...
plays out over a sequence that at last implies 'totalised' unity. "Propaganda finally wins out over poetry".
A 'voice of God' narrator is absent but Jennings uses the vastly different sounds from people of different classes at home or in the work place as the voice of the people. These sounds, and especially the songs, help unite the viewer. Jennings conceals his own voice behind an impersonal style so the viewer can listen to the sounds of Britain. Jennings also goes further, using creative treatment and reconstruction to mislead the audience who may believe they are watching
vérité
Kelsey Regina Byrne (born May 6, 1990), known professionally as Vérité (stylized as VÉRITÉ), is an American singer and songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York City. Her first single "Strange Enough" was self-released in July 2014, reaching n ...
. Leaving in the serendipitous stumbling child
and Jennings' obsessive technique, pointed out by
Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design ...
,
of getting the actors to scratch their noses, adds to this sense. This non-perfected style contrasts markedly with more traditional, overt propaganda. While Jennings ignores many genuine problems, such as showing un-bombed homes or menus not ration cards, the use of sound without narration allowed Jennings to mask the propaganda as the meanings were not imposed on the viewer. This allowed the audience to make up their own mind from the images and the music alone, and this apparent freedom, along with the many, diverse voices, helps conceal the true nature of the message
[Leach, 1998, p.164] as Geoffrey Nowell Smith explains.
[Leach, 1998, p.166]
Jennings makes the tensions in the myth's construction central to the film.
Britton believes the myth was created to benefit the elite's Imperial war, while Leach
believes aspirations for future social change were integral to the war unity ideology. Jennings highlights class distinctions and hints at the tension between the forces for and resistant to social change. Accepting the myth's fragility, the scene with the
music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
double act
Flanagan and Allen
Flanagan and Allen were a British singing and comedy double act most active during the 1930s and 1940s. Its members were Bud Flanagan (1896 – 1968, born Chaim Weintrop) and Chesney Allen (1894–1982). They were first paired in a Florrie For ...
performing to a working class audience cuts straight to the
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
enjoying the music of
Myra Hess
Dame Julia Myra Hess, (25 February 1890 – 25 November 1965) was an English pianist best known for her performances of the works of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann.
Career Early life
Julia Myra Hess was born on 25 February 1890 to a Jew ...
at one of the (London)
National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...
's lunch-time classical music concerts. Whether the classes are united with the Queen among her people or rich and poor are permanently divided is up to the viewer.
Likewise gender; women are shown firmly within the family unit despite a sub-textual admission of future liberation aspirations. This ambiguity masks and therefore strengthens the propaganda.
In ''
Mein Kampf
(; ''My Struggle'' or ''My Battle'') is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germ ...
'',
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
talks of the success of British propaganda in World War I believing people's ignorance meant simple repetition and an appeal to feelings over reason would suffice. In contrast, Jennings' "calm voice of reason appeals to the mind rather than emotion". In ''
Triumph of the Will
''Triumph of the Will'' (german: Triumph des Willens) is a 1935 German Nazi propaganda film directed, produced, edited and co-written by Leni Riefenstahl. Adolf Hitler commissioned the film and served as an unofficial executive producer; his na ...
'', for example,
Leni Riefenstahl
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, photographer and actress known for her role in producing Nazi propaganda.
A talented swimmer and an artist, Riefenstahl also became in ...
works with the myth and ignores the reality, while Jennings acknowledges their differences.
A. J. P. Taylor
Alan John Percivale Taylor (25 March 1906 – 7 September 1990) was a British historian who specialised in 19th- and 20th-century European diplomacy. Both a journalist and a broadcaster, he became well known to millions through his televis ...
believes Britain's war socialism represented genuine unity, allowing Jennings to admit these tensions given the public's distaste for overt propaganda.
[Taylor, 1965] Thus for Jennings the poetry and propaganda "enrich and unsettle each other".
This subtle reflection upon the myth "genuinely was propaganda as art, an extraordinary feat which ''Triumph of the Will'' doesn't come near, thankfully".
Occurrences in other works
In 2012, the London-based band
Public Service Broadcasting
Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
released ''Waltz for George''
which uses images taken from several Ministry of Information war films, though mostly from ''Listen to Britain'', to accompany the radio report on the soldiers returning from Dunkirk. The same year, they also released ''London Can Take It''
with both audio and video taken exclusively from
Jenning's 1940 propaganda documentary of the same name.
References
Bibliography
* Aldgate, A. and Richards, J., (2007)
''Britain Can Take It: British Cinema in the Second World War'' I.B. Tauris, London
* Harrison, T., (1982), 'Films and the Home Front – The Evaluation of their effectiveness by Mass Observation' in Pronay, N., and Spring, D.W., (eds) ''Propaganda, Politics and Film, 1918–45'', Macmillan, London.
* Hitler, A., (1924)
reproduced in 'War Propaganda', in Marwick, A., and Simpson, W. (eds) (2000) ''Primary Sources 2: Interwar and World War II'', The Open University Press, Milton Keynes.
* Kula, S., (1985)
'Theatres of War:Propaganda 1918–45' ''Archivaria 20''* Leach, J., (1998
'The Poetics of Propaganda Humphrey Jennings and 'Listen to Britain'in Grant, B.K., and Sloniowski, J., (eds), ''Documenting the Documentary'', Wayne State University Press, Detroit.
* Leach, T., British Film Resource
Humphrey Jennings and Third Cinema.* Manvell, R., (1976), ''Films and the Second World War'', Dell, New York
* Taylor, A.J.P., (1965), ''English History 1914–1945'', Oxford University Press, Oxford.
* Walford, M.
Listen to Britain (1942): Dir. Humphrey JenningsWarwick University Blog
External links
*
*
*
Comprehensive webpageat 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 to encourage film production, ...
*
*
*
''The Man Who Listened To Britain'', a documentary about Humprey Jennings and the making of the film, is
{{DEFAULTSORT:Listen To Britain
1942 films
Battle of Britain films
British short documentary films
British World War II propaganda shorts
Crown Film Unit films
Films directed by Humphrey Jennings
1940s short documentary films
Films produced by Ian Dalrymple
1942 documentary films