''The Next of Kin'', also known as ''Next of Kin'', is a 1942

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 opposin ...

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 ...

film produced 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 ...

. The film was originally commissioned by the

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as a training film to promote the government message that " Careless talk costs lives". After being taken on by Ealing Studios, the project was expanded and given a successful commercial release. After the war and up until at least the mid 1960s, services in British Commonwealth countries continued to use ''The Next of Kin'' as part of security training. The film's title is derived from the phrase "the next of kin have been informed" as used by radio announcers when reporting on the loss of personnel in action.

Plot

In preparing for a secret raid on a German-held French coastal village, a British security officer is chosen to monitor activities in England among army personnel of the 95th Infantry as well as civilians with whom they mingle. At the same time, German intelligence send Agents 23 and 16 to England to obtain information from sources including conversations overheard in pubs, railway stations, shops and other public places. Agent 16 is caught, but 23 reaches his contact, Mr Barratt, a bookseller at Westport, who assigns him the job of infiltrating an ordnance depot. After he helps an ATS driver with a punctured tyre, she invites him to a dance. There, he learns the unit has top priority for special equipment. Agent 23 makes it his task to find out why. In the meantime, Barratt forces his employee, Dutch refugee Beppie Leemans, to discover the activities of the 95th. She informs him that the 95th Unit is expecting to receive aerial photographs. Barratt sends Agent 23 to London to obtain the photographs. When Leemans realises the seriousness of what she has done, she stabs Barratt to death, but 23 returns unexpectedly and knocks her out. He then turns on the gas and makes it look like a

murder–suicide A murder-suicide is an act in which an individual kills one or more persons either before or while killing themselves. The combination of murder and suicide can take various forms: * Murder linked with suicide of a person with a homicidal idea ...

. An agent manages to steal the briefcase containing an aerial negative, carelessly left unattended at a cafe by a wing commander. The officer believes his briefcase was taken by mistake and is relieved when it is returned to the cafe (after a photograph is developed). The photograph is smuggled to German intelligence and used to identify the 95th's objective. As a result, the Germans mobilize to ambush the 95th's commando raid on the French coast. The raid is carried out and deemed successful, albeit with heavy losses. The film concludes back in England, as we observe two careless talkers on a train, as they are monitored by Agent 23, who is seen taking notes.

Cast

Mervyn Johns Mervyn Johns (born David Mervyn John; 18 February 18996 September 1992) was a Welsh stage, film and television character actor who became a star of British films during the Second World War. Johns was known for his "mostly mild-mannered, lugubri ...

as No 23, Mr "Arthur Davis" *

John Chandos Sir John Chandos, Viscount of Saint-Sauveur in the Cotentin, Constable of Aquitaine, Seneschal of Poitou, (c. 1320 – 31 December 1369) was a medieval English knight who hailed from Radbourne Hall, Derbyshire. Chandos was a close friend of ...

as No 16 *

Nova Pilbeam Nova Margery Pilbeam (15 November 1919 – 17 July 2015) was an English film and stage actress. She played leading roles in two Alfred Hitchcock films of the 1930s, and made her last film in 1948. Early life Pilbeam was born in Wimbledon, Sur ...

as Beppie Leemans *

Reginald Tate Reginald Tate (13 December 1896 – 23 August 1955) was an English actor, veteran of many roles on stage, in films and on television. He is remembered best as the first actor to play the television science-fiction character Professor Ber ...

as Major Richards * Stephen Murray as Mr Barratt *

Jack Hawkins John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mil ...

as Brigade Major Harcourt (billed as 2nd Lt. Jack Hawkins) *

Geoffrey Hibbert Geoffrey Hibbert (2 June 1922 – 3 February 1969) was an English stage, film and television actor. Biography He made his screen debut with the lead role in John Baxter's '' The Common Touch'' (1941) and appeared in two other Baxter films, ''L ...

as Private John *

Philip Friend Philip Wyndham Friend (20 February 1915 in Horsham, Sussex – 1 September 1987 in Chiddingfold, Surrey) was a British film and television actor. Career Britain Friend went to Bradfield College where he became interested in acting. He began ...

as Lieutenant Cummins *

Phyllis Stanley Phyllis Stanley (30 October 1914 – 12 March 1992) was a British actress. Personal life During World War II, she shared a flat in West End of London with the Scottish heiress Jane Corby. Partial filmography * ''Leave It to Blanche'' (1934) ...

as Miss Clare *

Mary Clare Mary Clare Absalom (17 July 1892 – 29 August 1970) was a British actress of stage, film and television. Biography Daughter of George Alfred Absalom, Clare was educated at Wood Green secondary school, first worked in an office but a loan ...

as Mrs. Webster *

Basil Sydney Basil Sydney (23 April 1894 – 10 January 1968) was an English stage and screen actor. Career Sydney made his name in 1915 in the London stage hit ''Romance'' by Edward Sheldon, with Broadway star Doris Keane, and he costarred with Keane in t ...

as a naval captain *

Joss Ambler Joss Ambler (23 June 1900 – 1959) was an Australian-born British film and television actor. He usually played somewhat pompous and irascible figures of authority, particularly in comedy films. He was an effective foil to George Formby in both ...

as Mr Vemon *

Brefni O'Rorke Brefni O'Rorke (26 June 1889 – 11 November 1946) was an Irish actor, both on the stage and in movies. Early life O'Rorke was born as William Francis Breffni O'Rorke at 2 Esplande Villas in Dollymount, Clontarf, Dublin on 26 June 1889, and bap ...

as Brigadier * Alexander Field as Private Durnford *

David Hutcheson David Hutcheson (14 June 1905 – 18 February 1976) was a British character actor. He made his film debut in ''Fast and Loose'' in 1930 and played his only lead role in 1934's '' Romance in Rhythm''. He went on to specialise in hooray henrys, sil ...

as an intelligence officer *

Torin Thatcher Torin Herbert Erskine Thatcher (15 January 1905 – 4 March 1981) was a British actor who was noted for his flashy portrayals of screen villains. Personal life Thatcher was born in Bombay, British India, to British parents, Torin James Blair T ...

as a German general *

Thora Hird Dame Thora Hird (28 May 1911 – 15 March 2003) was an English actress and comedian, presenter and writer. In a career spanning over 70 years, she appeared in more than 100 film and television roles, becoming a household name and a Briti ...

as an ATS driver with a puncture

Release and alternative American version

The film opened at the Pavilion Cinema in London on 15 May 1942. The version shown then ran one hour and 42 minutes. The film opened at the Rialto Theater in New York City almost a year later, on 5 May 1943. On the advice of film mogul David O. Selznick, who believed that American audiences might get the impression that Britain was overrun with spies,Murphy, Robert. ''British Cinema and the Second World War.'' London: Continuum, 2000. p. 132.
/ref> the director,

Thorold Dickinson Thorold Barron Dickinson (16 November 1903 – 14 April 1984) was a British film director, screenwriter, film editor, film producer, and Britain's first university professor of film. Dickinson's work received much praise, with fellow directo ...

, made drastic cuts to the running time, but also added two short extracts from a speech by

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation � ...

as a framing device. This new version of the film ran for about 75 minutes. It is the version released on DVD in the United States by Alpha Video.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Next Of Kin, The 1942 films British World War II propaganda films British spy films Ealing Studios films Films directed by Thorold Dickinson Films scored by William Walton 1940s spy films British black-and-white films 1940s war films 1940s English-language films