''Painted Boats'' (US titles ''The Girl on the Canal'' or ''The Girl of the Canal'') is a

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

British film directed by

Charles Crichton Charles Ainslie Crichton (6 August 1910 – 14 September 1999) was an English film director and film editor, editor. Born in Wallasey, Cheshire, he became best known for directing many comedies produced at Ealing Studios and had a 40-ye ...

and released by

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever s ...

in 1945. ''Painted Boats'', one of the lesser-known Ealing films of the period, is brief (63 minutes long), uses a little-known cast and has a slight storyline. It is however considered significant by waterways enthusiasts as a fictionalised documentary, providing a rare extensive filmic depiction of a long-gone way of life on England's working canal system in the 1940s. The narration was by Louis MacNeice, including some verse specially written to suit the onscreen action, most notably the sequence in which the narrow boat is being 'legged' through one of the tunnels. Much background information on canals and suggestions for suitable filming locations were provided by the writer

L. T. C. Rolt Lionel Thomas Caswall Rolt (usually abbreviated to Tom Rolt or L. T. C. Rolt) (11 February 1910 – 9 May 1974) was a prolific English writer and the biographer of major civil engineering figures including Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Thomas Te ...

, who also provided the title, and who records in his autobiography that he was disappointed to find that his name had not been included in the film's credits.

Synopsis

''Painted Boats'' focuses on two families living and working on cargo-carrying canal boats: the "traditional" Smiths on their horse-drawn boat and the "modern" Stoners on their motorised vessel. Despite some differences of opinion (Mr. Smith disapproves of motorised boats as he claims they churn up mud and damage canal banks) relations between the families are generally harmonious. The main plot strand deals with the tentative attraction between Mary Smith and Ted Stoner, despite their differing viewpoints; Mary appreciates the gentle rhythm of traditional canal life, whereas Ted's ambition is to get off the canals and into mainstream life at the earliest opportunity.

World War II 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 opposing ...

intrudes when Ted is called up for military service, leaving the future for the pair uncertain.

Main cast

Jenny Laird Phyllis Edith Mary Blythe (13 February 1912 – 31 October 2001), known professionally as Jenny Laird, was a British stage, film and television actress. Early life and education Born in Manchester, Laird and her parents moved to the south, a ...

as Mary Sophia Smith *

Bill Blewitt Bill Blewitt was a Cornish postman 'discovered' by film-maker Harry Watt and cast in his 1936 film '' The Saving of Bill Blewitt''. The documentary was about the Post Office Savings Bank and featured Blewitt and the villagers of Mousehole in C ...

as Pa Smith *

May Hallatt May Hallatt (born Marie Effie Hullatt; 1 May 1876 – 20 May 1969) was an English actress, born in Scarborough. Baptised at St Michael on the Mount, Lincoln, on 13 Jan 1884 she was the daughter of William Henry Hallatt, actor, and Carrie Sydney ...

as Ma (Sophia Angela) Smith * Robert Griffiths as Ted Stoner *

Madoline Thomas Madoline Thomas (born Madoline Mary Price; 2 January 1890 – 30 December 1989) was a Welsh character actress whose career, beginning in midlife, encompassed stage, film and television roles. Early life Madoline Mary Price was born in Abergave ...

as Mrs. Stoner *

Grace Arnold Grace Arnold (19 September 1894 – 26 February 1979) was an English actress. Selected filmography * ''Guilt'' (1931) * '' Men Without Honour'' (1939) - Mrs. Hardy * ''Crimes at the Dark House'' (1940) - Maid (uncredited) * ''Spare a Copper'' ...

as Ted's sister *

Harry Fowler Henry James Fowler, MBE (10 December 1926 – 4 January 2012) was an English character actor in film and television. Over a career lasting more than six decades, he made nearly 200 appearances on screen. Personal life Fowler was born in Lambe ...

as Alf Stoner *

Megs Jenkins Muguette Mary "Megs" Jenkins (21 April 1917 – 5 October 1998) was an English character actress who appeared in British films and television programmes. Life and career Jenkins was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, the daughter of a construction ...

as Barmaid * John Owers as Bill * James McKechnie as Commentator (voice only)

Location filming

Location filming took place on the 20-mile stretch of the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...

between

Stoke Bruerne Stoke Bruerne is a small village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England about north of Milton Keynes and south of Northampton. The civil parish population at the 2011 Census was 373. History Stoke Brue ...

and

Braunston Braunston is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, next to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1,759. Braunston is situated just off the A45 main road and lies between the to ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, including the Blisworth Tunnel – at 1.75 miles (2.82 km) in length, the third-longest canal tunnel in Britain. Insert shots feature the industrial landscapes of Stoke-on-Trent and the Black Country in Staffordshire, the famous

Anderton Boat Lift The Anderton Boat Lift is a two caisson lift lock near the village of Anderton, Cheshire, in North West England. It provides a vertical link between two navigable waterways: the River Weaver and the Trent and Mersey Canal. The structure is de ...

in Cheshire, the

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (; cy, Traphont Ddŵr Pontcysyllte) is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Llangollen Canal across the River Dee in the Vale of Llangollen in northeast Wales. The 18-arched stone and cast iron structure is for use ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and the

Limehouse Cut The Limehouse Cut is a largely straight, broad canal in the East End of London which links the lower reaches of the Lee Navigation to the River Thames. Opening on 17 September 1770, and widened for two-way traffic by 1777, it is the oldest can ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. A preserved section of the horse-drawn boat ''Sunny Valley'' as featured in the film is on display at Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum.

Release

The film premiered on 24 September 1945 at the Tivoli Cinema on the

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

in London, as the second feature in a

double bill The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

with the film now known as ''

And Then There Were None ''And Then There Were None'' is a mystery novel by the English writer Agatha Christie, described by her as the most difficult of her books to write. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939, as ...

''.The Times, 24 September 1945, page 6: ''Picture Theatres - Tivoli''
accessed 2015-04-27

Reception

The reviewer for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' found that the film, "absorbs into itself some of the quiet loveliness of the English countryside in war-time. The voyage the boats make on the canals are absorbing to watch in the cinema."The Times, 1 October 1945, page 6: ''New Films in London''
accessed 2015-04-27

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Painted Boats 1945 films 1945 drama films Ealing Studios films Films directed by Charles Crichton British black-and-white films British World War II films Films set in England Canals in fiction British drama films 1940s English-language films 1940s British films