''Two Fathers'' (also known as ''2 Fathers'' ) is a 1944 British wartime

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 l ...

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

directed by

Anthony Asquith Anthony 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 other adaptations ...

and made by the

Crown Film Unit The Crown Film Unit was an organisation within the British Government's Ministry of Information during the Second World War; until 1940, it was the GPO Film Unit. Its remit was to make films for the general public in Britain and abroad. Its outp ...

, a division of the Ministry of Information. It was written by Asquith and V.S. Pritchett.

Plot

An Englishman and a Frenchman find themselves sharing a room in a hotel in an unidentified English location, and fall into conversation. The Englishman's son is in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, and when the Frenchman shows him a photograph of his daughter, the Englishman remarks that it is less worrisome to have a daughter than a son at this time of war. The Frenchman replies that his daughter, a nurse by profession, is currently an active member of the Maquis. The Englishman says that he has received news that his son was forced to bail out of his plane over France the previous day, and the Frenchman observes that there are many thousands of French men and women who will risk their own safety to help a downed British airman.

Cast

Bernard Miles Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles (27 September 190714 June 1991) was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in 1959, the first new theatre that opened in the City of London since the 17th century. He was ...

as the Englishman *

Paul Bonifas Paul Bonifas (3 June 1902 – 9 November 1975) was a French actor, born in Paris. Career In the 1920s, while working for the French customs service, Bonifas took classes in acting at the Conservatoire de Paris in his spare time. He left wit ...

as the Frenchman * Paulette Preney as the girl *

Margaret Yarde Margaret Yarde (2 April 1878 – 11 March 1944) was a British stage and film actress. She often played domestics, landladies and mothers. Biography Yarde was born on 2 April 1878 in Dartmouth, Devon, England. Initially training to be an o ...

* Arthur Young *

Everley Gregg Everley Gregg (26 October 1903, in Bishopstoke, Hampshire – 9 June 1959, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire) was an English actress. Early in her career, she became associated especially with plays of Noël Coward. She began making films in the ...

David Keir David Keir (1884–1971) was a British film actor, who also appeared on stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the ...

References

External links

* * 1944 films Films directed by Anthony Asquith British World War II propaganda shorts British black-and-white films Crown Film Unit films British war films 1940s war films 1940s English-language films English-language war films {{WWII-documentary-film-stub