''Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light'' is a 1941 British World War II

public information Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

/propaganda

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 ...

, directed by

Herbert Mason Samuel George Herbert Mason (1891 – 20 May 1960) was a British film director, producer, stage actor, army officer, presenter of some revues, stage manager, theatre director, stage director, choreographer, Production manager (theatre), produc ...

and produced by Edward Black for

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. The film had a number of well-known actors of the period, featuring British film and stage actors, Sydney Howard and

Wylie Watson Wylie Watson (6 February 1889 – 3 May 1966) (born John Wylie Robertson) was a British actor. Among his best-known roles were those of "Mr Memory", an amazing man who commits "50 new facts to his memory every day" in Alfred Hitchcock's film ' ...

. ''Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light'' was commissioned by the Ministry of Information and was designed to emphasise, in a humorous manner, the need for absolute adherence to wartime blackout regulations. A secondary consideration of the production was to present information in a way that would relieve the stress of civilians coping with nightly bombing raids in

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 ...

Plot

Mr. Proudfoot ( Sydney Howard ) is an attention-seeking bore who subjects his long-suffering wife (

Muriel George Muriel George (29 August 1883 – 22 October 1965) was an English singer and film actress. She appeared in 55 films between 1932 and 1955. She also appeared on the variety stage and sang on radio with her second husband Ernest Butcher for thir ...

) and exasperated acquaintances to endless tall tales about narrow escapes from bombs. He also teases the local blackout warden for his ridiculous pettiness when it comes to enforcing blackout restrictions. One night Mr. Proudfoot invites a friend (

) over for a late night game of billiards, but is careless about his blackout. After moving the blackout screen over to let in some air, the light showing from his home provides a target for a stray German bomber. The German crew had been struggling with inclement weather and were unable to get their bearings until they see the light below, which, after some calculations, indicates they are over London. Having unloaded a bomb over Mr. Proudfoot's district, and even hitting his house with calamitous results, the Luftwaffe bomber is shot down by

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 ...

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

fighters. Under interrogation, one of the German crew states that they were guided to their target by a light blazing from a property that allowed them to plot out an attack. Despite his injuries, Mr. Proudfoot appears at his local pub bandaged and bruised, but is still boasting to anyone who will listen about his latest brush with death.

Cast

* Sydney Howard as Mr. Proudfoot *

as Mrs. Proudfoot *

as Friend *

Irene Handl Irene Handl (27 December 1901 – 29 November 1987) was a British author and character actress who appeared in more than 100 British films. Life Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the younger of two daughters of an Austria-born father ...

as Councillor * Noel Dainton as Warden *

Aubrey Mallalieu Aubrey Mallalieu (8 June 1873 – 28 May 1948) was an English actor with a prolific career in supporting roles in films in the 1930s and 1940s. Mallalieu began life as George William Mallalieu, the son of William Mallalieu (c. 1845–1927), a ...

as Chairman *

Percy Walsh Percy Walsh (24 April 1888 in Luton, Bedfordshire – 19 January 1952 in London) was a British stage and film actor. His stage work included appearing in the London premieres of R.C.Sherriff's ''Journey's End'' (1928) and Agatha Christie's ''And ...

as Officer *

Albert Lieven Albert Lieven (born Albert Fritz Liévin; 22 June 1906 – 22 December 1971) was a German actor. Early life Lieven was born in Hohenstein, East Prussia (Olszynek, Poland). His father was the head physician of the Tuberculosis sanatorium Ho ...

as German *

Michael Wilding Michael Charles Gauntlet Wilding (23 July 1912 – 8 July 1979) was an English stage, television, and film actor. He is best known for a series of films he made with Anna Neagle; he also made two films with Alfred Hitchcock, '' Under Capric ...

as RAF Officer

Production

Filming for ''Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light'' took place in

Shepherd's Bush Studios BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

. The film includes a studio set scene of a

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

base and the interiors of aircraft cockpits, alongside authentic newsreel footage of an aerial

dogfight A dogfight, or dog fight, is an aerial battle between fighter aircraft conducted at close range. Dogfighting first occurred in Mexico in 1913, shortly after the invention of the airplane. Until at least 1992, it was a component in every majo ...

and a downed aircraft."Notes: 'Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light'."
''Media Collections Online'', University of Indiana. Retrieved: 28 December 2016.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Aldgate, Anthony and Jeffrey Richards. ''Britain Can Take It: The British Cinema in the Second World War.'' 2nd edition. London: I. B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 2007. .

External links

*
''Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light''
at

BFI 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 ...

Film & TV Database
Watch ''Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light'' at Media Collections Online, Indiana University Libraries

''Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light''
at Imperial War Museums {{DEFAULTSORT:Mister Proudfoot Shows a Light 1941 films British World War II propaganda shorts Public information films Films directed by Herbert Mason British black-and-white films Battle of Britain films British aviation films 1940s educational films 1940s war films 1940s English-language films British educational films