''Britain at Bay'' (aka ''Britain on Guard'' in other countries) is a 1940 British

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 ...

directed by Harry Watt and produced by the General Post Office

GPO Film Unit The GPO Film Unit was a subdivision of the UK General Post Office. The unit was established in 1933, taking on responsibilities of the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit. Headed by John Grierson, it was set up to produce sponsored documentary film ...

of the British Ministry of Information and distributed by the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

. The film was written and narrated by noted author and political commentator J. B. Priestley.

Synopsis

In 1940, a peaceful and democratic Great Britain stood in vast contrast to the evil 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 ...

, whose territorial ambitions have resulted in the invasions of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Norway and Belgium. France was the next to fall, leaving Britain, seemingly alone and "at bay" with only the English Channel holding back German forces. Although facing great odds, Britain has withstood the threat of invasion before when Napoleon had also taken over a large expanse of Europe and had his armies poised to attack. Volunteers in the

Local Defence Volunteers The Home Guard (initially Local Defence Volunteers or LDV) was an unpaid armed citizen militia supporting the 'Home Forces' of the British Army during the Second World War. Operational from 1940 to 1944, the Home Guard comprised more than 1.5 ...

or "Home Guard", workers in war factories and other essential jobs, as well as others who sign up for military service in the army, navy and air force, prepare for war. The determination and resolve of all the inhabitants of the British Isles help turn Britain into an "impregnable citadel of free people." From Australia, New Zealand and Canada, other forces are being mobilized to come to Britain's aid.

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

defiantly proclaims, "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills ..."

Cast

as himself

Production

''Britain at Bay'' was produced with the purpose of raising morale. The film is an example of

compilation documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill N ...

. Various

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news, news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a Movie theater, cinema, newsreels were a source of cu ...

extracts were assembled into a coherent whole, accompanied by a commentary. This form of documentary was used for other British wartime propaganda films, such as '' Words for Battle'' (1941). Author and social commentator J. B. Priestley wrote and narrated the film with the intended message that Britain is responsible for "... the future of the civilised world ..." and faces a "dark" evil. The film opens with images of rural and urban Britain, including iconic images of

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, and, by extension, for the clock tower itself, which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. Originally named the Clock Tower, it ...

and the

White Cliffs of Dover The White Cliffs of Dover are the region of English coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliff face, which reaches a height of , owes its striking appearance to its composition of chalk accented by streaks of black flint, depo ...

, then depicts the rise of Nazi Germany through newsreel footage, including the recent fall of France. British civilians are seen contributing towards the war effort and scenes of Allied troops are juxtaposed with an extract from

's "

We Shall Fight on the Beaches "We shall fight on the beaches" was a speech delivered by the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 4 June 1940. This was the second of three major speeches given around the ...

" speech.'Britain at Bay' (1940)

Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and tele ...

: ''

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, ...

''. Retrieved: 1 February 2016.

Reception

''Britain at Bay'' was released in British theatres during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

and later, under its original title, in 1941 as part of the ''

Canada Carries On ''Canada Carries On'' () was a series of short films by the National Film Board of Canada which ran from 1940 to 1959. The series was created as morale-boosting propaganda films during the Second World War. With the end of the war, the series los ...

'' series of the

(NFB). Each film in the series was shown over a six-month period as part of the shorts or newsreel segments in approximately 800 theatres across Canada. The NFB had an arrangement with

Famous Players theatres Famous Players Limited Partnership was a Canadian-based subsidiary of Cineplex Entertainment. As an independent company, it existed as a film exhibitor and cable television service provider. Famous Players operated numerous movie theatre locati ...

to ensure that Canadians from coast-to-coast could see the ''Canada Carries On'' documentary series, with further distribution by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

.Ellis and McLane 2005, p. 122. After the six-month theatrical tour ended, individual films were made available on 16 mm to schools, libraries, churches and factories, extending the life of these films for another year or two. They were also made available to film libraries operated by university and provincial authorities.Ohayon, Albert
"Propaganda cinema at the NFB."
''National Film Board of Canada (NFB.ca)'', 13 July 2009. Retrieved: 1 February 2016. In recent times, ''Britain at Bay'' was praised for its timeless production values. One film reviewer noted "... it juxtaposes instantly resounding landscape images: green and pleasant, dark and smoky. Big Ben is defiant even when filmed behind barbed wire, and Dover's white cliffs are not yet clichéd. Shots of sea and sky complement narrator J.B. Priestley's invocation of a national history so old it brushes eternity." It was included in the ''

'' (BFI) DVD compilation ''Land of Promise: The British Documentary Movement 1930-1950'' (2008). ''Britain at Bay'' also was released in Panamint's series of propaganda shorts, ''Britain At War'' (2005) by the GPO/Crown Film Unit, the second volume was subtitled ''Under Fire''. Film reviewer Anthony Nield described it as offering "... a more sentimental approach ..." than other, more heavy-handed, propaganda films of the era.Nield, Anthony
"Britain At War: Under Fire."
''DVD Review'', 17 December 2005. Retrieved: 1 February 2016.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Ellis, Jack C. and Betsy A. McLane. ''New History of Documentary Film''. London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005. . * Fagge, Roger. ''The Vision of J.B. Priestley''. London: Continuum Publishing Corporation, 2011. . * March-Russell, Paul and Carmen Casaliggi, eds. ''Legacies of Romanticism: Literature, Culture, Aesthetics''. London: Routledge, 2012. . * Rist, Peter. ''Guide to the Cinema(s) of Canada''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. .

External links

*

' at

BFI Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and tele ...

* {{Harry Watt British short documentary films Films directed by Harry Watt Quebec films British aviation films Canadian aviation films British black-and-white films Canadian black-and-white films Canadian short documentary films Films with screenplays by J. B. Priestley British World War II propaganda films National Film Board of Canada documentaries GPO Film Unit films Canada Carries On Columbia Pictures short films Canadian World War II propaganda films 1940 war films 1940s English-language films 1940s Canadian films English-language short documentary films English-language war films 1940 short documentary films