''The Big Blockade'' was a 1942 British

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

war

propaganda film A propaganda film is a film that involves some form of propaganda. Propaganda films spread and promote certain ideas that are usually religious, political, or cultural in nature. A propaganda film is made with the intent that the viewer will ad ...

in the style of dramatised documentary. It was

directed Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), a ...

Charles Frend Charles Herbert Frend (21 November 1909, Pulborough, Sussex – 8 January 1977, London) was an English film director and editor, best known for his films produced at Ealing Studios. He began directing in the early 1940s and is known for suc ...

and starred Will Hay, Leslie Banks, Michael Redgrave and John Mills. It was produced by

Michael Balcon Sir Michael Elias Balcon (19 May 1896 – 17 October 1977) was an English film producer known for his leadership of Ealing Studios in west London from 1938 to 1956. Under his direction, the studio became one of the most important British film ...

for

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

, in collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Warfare. At one stage, the film was known as ''Siege''.

Plot

This was a propaganda film in which the British strategy of the economic blockade of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

was illustrated through a series of scenes and sketches, combined with documentary footage. Although released in 1942 it was largely made in 1941 so part of the story is complaint of America's non-involvement.

Main cast

* Leslie Banks as Taylor, Civil Service * Michael Redgrave as a Russian on the train * Will Hay as Skipper, Merchant Navy * Bernard Miles as Mate, Royal Navy * Michael Rennie as George, Royal Air Force * John Mills as Tom, Royal Air Force * Frank Cellier as Schneider * Robert Morley as the senior Nazi Official, von Geiselbrecht * Alfred Drayton as Direktor *

Marius Goring Marius Re Goring (23 May 191230 September 1998) was an English stage and screen actor. He is best remembered for the four films he made with Powell and Pressburger, Powell & Pressburger, particularly as Conductor 71 in ''A Matter of Life and D ...

as German propaganda officer *

Austin Trevor Claude Austin Trevor Schilsky (7 October 1897 – 22 January 1978) was an Irish actor who had a long career in film and television. He played the parson in John Galsworthy's ''Escape (play), Escape'' at the world premiere in London's West ...

as U-boat Captain * Morland Graham as Civil Servant *

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

as Gunter * John Stuart as Naval officer *

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 Stoltenhoff * Michael Wilding as Captain * George Woodbridge as Quisling * Quentin Reynolds as American journalist * Elliott Mason as German stationmistress * Peter De Greef as RAF airman The film's commentary is made by the journalist and former Liberal MP Frank Owen.

Release

The film premiered at the London Pavilion on 19 January 1942, and the premiere was attended by a group of members of Parliament interested in economic warfare. The film was not well received by ''The Times'', whose critic in 1942 found that "this particular hotch-potch is, as propaganda, woefully unconvincing. It is splendid to give audiences a glimpse of the devoted work done by the Services ��but actors got up as comic Nazi business men distort the lessons the more serious parts of the film are trying to drive home", and modern film reviewers are not very much kinder to it.Dr Keith M. Johnston: ''The Great Ealing Film Challenge 65: The Big Blockade (1942)''
Retrieved 27 February 2014

References

External links

''The Big Blockade''
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

*
Dr Keith M. Johnston: ''The Great Ealing Film Challenge 65: The Big Blockade (1942)''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Blockade, The 1942 films 1940s war comedy-drama films British war comedy-drama films British World War II propaganda films British black-and-white films British seafaring films Films set in England Films set in Denmark Films set in Germany Films set in Hungary Films set in London Films set in Norway Ealing Studios films Films produced by Michael Balcon Films directed by Charles Frend Films scored by Richard Addinsell 1942 war films 1942 drama films British World War II films 1940s English-language films English-language war comedy-drama films