''Uncensored'' is a 1942 British

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Anthony Asquith Anthony William Landon Asquith (; 9 November 1902 – 20 February 1968) was an English film director. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan on ''The Winslow Boy'' (1948) and '' The Browning Version'' (1951), among oth ...

starring

Eric Portman Eric Harold Portman (13 July 1901 – 7 December 1969) was an English stage and film actor. He is probably best remembered for his roles in several films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the 1940s. Early life Born in Halifax, ...

Phyllis Calvert Phyllis Hannah Murray-Hill (née Bickle; 18 February 1915 – 8 October 2002), known professionally as Phyllis Calvert, was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1 ...

and Griffith Jones. The film was produced at

Gainsborough Pictures Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, north London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The com ...

by Edward Black, with cinematography from

Arthur Crabtree Arthur Crabtree (29 October 1900 in Shipley, Yorkshire, England – 15 March 1975 in Worthing, Sussex, England) was a British cinematographer and film director. He directed films with comedians such as Will Hay, the Crazy Gang and Arthu ...

and screenplay by

Rodney Ackland Rodney Ackland (18 May 1908 in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex – 6 December 1991 in Richmond upon Thames, Surrey) was an English playwright, actor, theatre director and screenwriter. Born as Norman Ackland Bernstein in Southend, Essex, to a Jewish fat ...

, Wolfgang Wilhelm and

Terence Rattigan Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan (10 June 191130 November 1977) was a British dramatist and screenwriter. He was one of England's most popular mid-20th-century dramatists. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background.Geoffrey Wan ...

based on the 1937 novel of the same title by

Oscar Millard Oscar Millard (March 1, 1908 – December 7, 1990) was an English writer who published two books set in Belgium before finding success in Hollywood as a screenwriter. Author In 1936 Millard published a biography of Adolphe Max, who had been ...

. The film was shot at the company's Lime Grove Studios in Shepherd's Bush, with sets designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Alex Vetchinsky Alex Vetchinsky ( Alec Hyman Vetchinsky; 9 November 1904 - 4 March 1980) was a BAFTA nominated British film art director and production designer. He worked on more than a hundred productions during a career that lasted between 1928 and 1974. Vetc ...

. ''Uncensored'' is set in occupied

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and shares the propagandistic tone of many British films of its era. While its reception was mainly positive, it was criticised in some quarters for its unrealistic portrayal of the occupying German forces as bungling, incompetent and easily outwitted buffoons. On its original UK release ''Uncensored'' ran for 108 minutes; for overseas distribution however it was trimmed to 83 minutes and the cut version subsequently became more widely circulated.

Plot

Before the Nazi occupation of Belgium, Brussels nightclub owner André Delange (Portman) used to publish an anti-Nazi newspaper called ''

La Libre Belgique ''La Libre Belgique'' (; literally ''The Free Belgium''), currently sold under the name ''La Libre'', is a major daily newspaper in Belgium. Together with ''Le Soir'', it is one of the country's major French language newspapers and is popular in ...

'' (''Free Belgium'') which was distributed secretly. In the aftermath of the German occupation, his underground colleagues in the Belgian resistance suggest reviving the newspaper, to which Delange agrees. With the help of his chief assistant Julie Lanvin (Calvert) and a small band of helpers, ''La Libre Belgique'' once more begins to circulate. When the Germans find out of its existence, they offer a reward to anyone who is prepared to identify those responsible for its publication. Delange's business partner Charles Neels (

Peter Glenville Peter Glenville (born Peter Patrick Brabazon Browne; 28 October 19133 June 1996) was an English film and stage actor and director. Biography Born in Hampstead, London, into a theatrical family, Glenville was the son of Shaun Glenville (born J ...

), disgruntled with their business relationship and jealous of Delange's relationship with the attractive Julie, betrays the whereabouts of the newspaper's makeshift office. The premises are raided and those present in the building arrested, but Delange and Julie manage to avoid capture. The Germans announce to the populace that ''La Libre Belgique'' is no more and its perpetrators are in custody; however Delange and Julie succeed in printing and distributing another edition, making the Germans look foolish and leading them to assume that the information given to them by their informant was false. They release those arrested, who they now believe not to be the people they were looking for, and vow to continue searching for the real culprits. Meanwhile the group led by Delange comes together again, and their work continues.

Cast

as André Delange *

as Julie Lanvin * Griffith Jones as Father de Gruyte *

Raymond Lovell Raymond Lovell (13 April 1900 – 1 October 1953) was a Canadian-born actor who performed in British films. He mainly played supporting roles, often somewhat pompous characters. Lovell initially trained as a physician at Cambridge University, ...

as von Koerner *

as Charles Neels *

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 Frau von Koerner *

Felix Aylmer Sir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones, OBE (21 February 1889 – 2 September 1979) was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television. Aylmer made appearances in films with comedians such as Will Hay and George Formby. Earl ...

as Col. von Hohenstein *

Eliot Makeham Harold Elliott Makeham (22 December 1882 – 8 February 1956) was an English film and television actor. Career Makeham was born in London, England. Between 1931 and 1956, Makeham appeared, primarily in character roles, in 115 films and in 1 ...

as Abbé de Moor * John Slater as Théophile *

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 Louis Backer * Frederick Culley as Victor Lanvin *

Carl Jaffe Carl Jaffe (21 March 1902 – 12 April 1974) was a German actor. Jaffe trained on the stage in his native Hamburg, Kassel and Wiesbaden before moving to Berlin, where his career began to develop. In 1933 Jaffe changed his stage name to Fran ...

as Kohlmeier *

Walter Hudd Walter Hudd (20 February 1897 – 20 January 1963) was a British actor and director. Stage career Hudd made his stage debut in ''The Manxman'' in 1919, and later toured as part of the Fred Terry Company; first attracting serious attention play ...

as van Heemskirk * J.H. Roberts as Father Corot * Peter Godfrey as Lou * Ben Williams as Arthur Backer

References

Bibliography

* Ryall, Tom. ''Anthony Asquith''. Oxford University Press, 2013.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Uncensored 1942 films 1940s war films British war films Gainsborough Pictures films British black-and-white films World War II films made in wartime Films based on British novels Films shot at Lime Grove Studios Films set in Belgium Films directed by Anthony Asquith Belgium in fiction Films about the Belgian Resistance Films with screenplays by Terence Rattigan 1940s English-language films 1940s British films