The Great War in Popular British Cinema of the 1920s: Before Journey’s End

243 Pages·2015·5.717 MB·English

by  Lawrence Napper (auth.)

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The Great War in Popular British Cinema of the 1920s
The Great War in Popular
British Cinema of the 1920s
Before Journey’s End
Lawrence Napper
King’sCollegeLondon,UK
©LawrenceNapper2015
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-0-230-37170-5
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Napper,Lawrence.
TheGreatWarinpopularBritishcinemaofthe1920s:beforejourney’s
end/LawrenceNapper,KingsCollegeLondon,UK.
pages cm
Summary:“ThisbookdiscussesBritishcinema’srepresentationofthe
GreatWarduringthe1920sinbothbattlereconstructionfilmsandin
popularromances.Itarguesthatpopularcinematicrepresentationsofthe
warofferedsurvivingaudiencesalanguagethroughwhichtointerpret
theirrecentexperience,andtracesthewaysinwhichthoseinterpretations
changedduringthedecade.Afocusonthedistinctivelanguageevolved
forbattlereconstructionfilmsformsacentralchapter–suchfilms
useadistinctivekindof‘stagedreality’toaddresstheirveteran
audiences,andwereoftenviewedwithinaspecificRemembrancecontext.
Otherchapterscovertherepresentationofthereturningsoldierasa
‘wartouchedman’inarangeoffictionalnarratives,andthecentrality
ofritualsofremembrancetomanypost-warnarratives.1920sBritish
cinematicrepresentationsofthewararedistinctivelyoftheirperiod,
andareappraisedaspartofawidercultureofwarrepresentationin
thedecade.”—Providedbypublisher.
1. WorldWar,1939–1945—Motionpicturesandthewar. 2. Motion
pictures—GreatBritain—History—20thcentury. I. Title.
D522.23.N372015
791.43(cid:2)658—dc23 2015001311
Contents
ListofFigures vii
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction:PeaceDaysinPictureland 1
Ashiftinlanguage 4
BeforeJourney’sEnd 6
Peacedaysinpictureland 10
1 ‘IntheMidstofPeace,WeAreatWar’:TheBritishFilm
Tradein1919 12
Returningex-servicemen 17
AGermantradeinvasion? 20
Politicalpropaganda 23
ThereceptionofAmericanwarfilms 27
Preservingafilmrecordofthewar 30
2 BattleReconstructionsandBritishInstructional
Films 33
TheBattleofJutland(Woolfe,1921) 42
Armageddon(Woolfe,1923) 48
Zeebrugge(A.V.Bramble,1924) 55
Ypres(WalterSummers,1925) 80
Mons(WalterSummers,1926) 94
TheBattlesofCoronelandFalklandIslands(WalterSummers,
1927)andTheSomme(M.A.Wetherell,1927) 106
3 RemembranceandtheAmbivalentGaze 132
ACoupleofDownandOuts(WalterSummers,1923) 138
Reveille(GeorgePearson,1924)andRemembrance
(BertWynne,1927) 146
LandofHopeandGlory(HarleyKnoles,1927) 152
Blighty(AdrianBrunel,1927) 155
4 ‘WhentheBoysComeHome’ 159
Thescrapofpaper:Bigamyandtheearly1920s 161
Thewar-touchedman:Impotenceinthelate1920s 178
v
vi Contents
Conclusion:TellEngland 195
Notes 202
Bibliography 222
Index 227
Figures
1.1 ‘TheFailureoftheFilm-Thrill’byJ.H.DowdforPunch,
15August1917,pp.12–13(PunchLtd.) 13
1.2 ‘TheSortofFilmWe’llHaveforYears’byBruce
BairnsfatherinStillMoreBystanderFragmentsfromFrance,
No.3,TheBystander,1916,pp.12–13(MaryEvansPicture
Library) 16
2.1 TheBattlesofCoronelandFalklandIslands(Walter
Summers,1927;BFIStills) 34
2.2 ‘AFightNowFilmed:TheZeebruggeRaid–Wembley’s
Version’inTheIllustratedLondonNews,24October1924,
p.740(MaryEvansPictureLibrary) 62
2.3 ‘TheMostInspiringBritishWarFilm:TheNew
“Zeebrugge”’inTheIllustratedLondonNews,24October
1924,p.741(MaryEvansPictureLibrary) 63
3.1 TheCenotaphfrom‘FlowersofLondon’inWonderful
London(Parkinson,1924) 133
4.1 ‘WhentheBoysComeHome’byJ.H.DowdforPunch,
3January1917(PunchLtd.) 160
C.1 TellEngland(AnthonyAsquith,1931;BFIStills) 196
vii
Acknowledgements
ThisbookwasCharlesBarr’sidea.Itwashewho,afterhearingmetalk
onthesubject,suggestedIshouldexpandtheideasintoamonograph.
Inthedecadesincethatday,Ihavehadthepracticalhelpandencour-
agementofmanyfriends,colleaguesandstudents.Inparticular,Ishould
like to thank those listed here for their help and support. As always,
my parents, Adrian and Paula Napper. From the early days of the
projectwhenIwasbasedinNorwich:CharlesBarr,JaneBryan,Miranda
Bayer,ClareWatson,AlCormack,ThomasAlbrightonandKarenMichel.
FriendsandcolleaguesIhavemetthroughtheannualBritishSilentFilm
Festival:BryonyDixon,LarainePorter,SuePorter,NeilBrand,Christine
Gledhill,StephenHorne,PhilCarli,AmySargeant,TonyFletcher,Mark
Fuller, Lucie Dutton, Mike Hammond, Michael Williams, Jon Burrows,
Sarah Eason, Toby Haggith and Jo Botting. Friends and staff at the
BFIReubenLibrary,thespecialcollectionsdepartment,theviewingser-
vice,andtheBFINationalArchive,particularlyBryonyDixon,Nathalie
Morris, Johnny Davis, Kathleen Dixon, Sarah Currant, Steve Tolliver
and Sarah Wilde. At the Bill Douglas Centre in Exeter, Phil Wickham.
StaffattheImperialWarMuseumArchives,theLiddellHartCentrefor
MilitaryArchivesatKing’sCollegeLondonandtheLondonMetropoli-
tan Archives. At the Mary Evans Picture Library, Mark Vivian and at
Punch Ltd, Andre Gailani. Colleagues in the Film Studies Department
at King’s College London, particularly Ginette Vincendeau, Richard
Dyer, Sarah Cooper, Stephanie Green, Michele Summerfield, Hannah
Hamad, Rosalind Galt, Belen Vidal, Michele Pierson and Catherine
Wheatley. First World War experts who have offered me specialist
advice, particularly George Webster, Peter Hart, Mark Connelly and
Emma Hanna. Academic and film-enthusiast friends who through the
magicofFacebookhaveprovideddailysupport,encouragement,practi-
calhelpandfriendlyridicule,particularlyAndyMedhurst,PhilUlyatt,
NickySmith,SheldonHall,SueHarper,DaleTownsend,SueHarris,Tim
Bergfelder,MattHoulbrook,KarenRandell,JoseArroyo,AndrewMoor,
KulrajPhullar,MelanieSelfe,JamesChapmanandJayneMorgan.
Thisbookisdedicatedtothetwopeoplewhohadtoputupwithmy
bellyachingthemostduringitsproduction:SimonGreenacreandMark
Jeanes.
viii
Introduction
Peace Days in Pictureland
Naturallythecrowdsfoundtheirwaythroughthedoorsofthe
picture houses and with lighter hearts than they have had for
over four years settled down to enjoy the movies, which have
beensuchasolaceandcomfortduringthedarkdayswhichwe
havepassed.
KinematographWeekly,21November1918
I felt more and more melancholy and hopeless of the human
race.Theymakeonedoubtwhetheranydecentlifewilleverbe
possible,orwhetheritmattersifweareatwaroratpeace.
VirginiaWoolf,Diaries,11November1918
Towards the start of her popular history The Great Silence 1918–1920:
LivingintheShadowoftheGreatWar,JulietNicholsonoffersanaccount
of Armistice Day made up of a series of vignettes culled from diaries,
letters and memoirs.1 We learn of Harold Nicholson, looking up from
his desk in Whitehall to see David Lloyd George excitedly announc-
ingpeacefromthestepsof10DowningStreet;ofDuffCooper,looking
down at the celebrating crowds and feeling ‘overcome with melan-
choly’; of Vera Brittain, working as a voluntary aid detachment (VAD)
nurse,whose ‘joylessness grewwith thesame speed as theelationthat
surroundedher’;ofCynthiaCurzoncelebratinginTrafalgarSquare,but
afterwardsadmonishedbyOswaldMosleyforherlackofconsideration
of ‘the loss of life, the devastation and misery’; and of D.H. Lawrence
andhisfamousoutburstataBloomsburyparty.‘Thewarisn’tover’,he
isreputedtohavesaid,‘Itmakesmesicktoseeyourejoicinglikeabut-
terflyinthelastraysofsunbeforethewinter...Whateverhappensthere
canbenopeaceonearth.’Nicholsonvaliantlystrugglestointroducethe
1
2 TheGreatWarinPopularBritishCinemaofthe1920s
voices of more ordinary individuals into her account, but the famous
namesofthearistocratic,theliteraryandthepoliticallypowerfulmount
up:LucyDuffGordon,ThomasHardy,SirArthurConanDoyle,Arnold
Bennett, Serge Diaghilev, David Garnett, Vanessa Bell, Osbert Sitwell,
VirginiaWoolf,AdolfHitlerandsoon.Outoftheircollectiveaccount,
a sort of consensus emerges. Each individual looks on at the crowds
from afar, unable to participate in the general delight because appar-
ently, they have access to a more profound understanding – a greater
recognitionofwhathasbeenlostintheconflictandoftheuncertainties
tocome.Themostvividimagesofordinarypeoplecomeassnapshotsin
accountswhichfeelnosympathyfortheirjoyandwhichseetheircele-
brationsasevidenceofvenality,stupidityorworse.SiegfriedSassoonis
described as being ‘disgusted’ by the sight of a woman in Oxford who
‘hadtuckedherskirtsrightuptohernakedwaistandwasplayingtothe
cheeringcrowd,wavingaUnionflagatthearmyandnavycadetswith
unashamedabandon’.2
VirginiaWoolfnotedinherdiary:
Every wounded soldier was kissed by women; nobody had any
notion where to go or what to do; it poured steadily; crowds
drifted up and down the pavements waving flags and jumping into
omnibuses...I felt more and more melancholy and hopeless of the
humanrace.Theymakeonedoubtwhetheranydecentlifewillever
bepossible...3
ItisLadyOttolineMorrellwhotakesthispositiontoitslogicalculmina-
tion.EmergingfromaperformanceoftheBalletRussesattheColiseum,
sheencounteredaone-leggedex-soldierintheCharingCrossRoad.He
was too drunk to walk with his crutches and so his companions were
simply dragging him along the ground. Lady Ottoline hurried across
the road to intervene, but they roughly told her to go away and leave
themalone.NicholsonreportsMorrell’sinterpretationofthisencounter
withoutcommentorgloss.‘War’scontributiontothisyoungman’slife,
Ottolinewrotelaterinherdiary,hadbeento“maimhiminbodyand
ruinhiminsoul.”’4
InhismajesticstudyofthewaranditseffectonEnglishculture,AWar
Imagined, Samuel Hynes also devotes a chapter to the accounts offered
indiariesandlettersofthatday.Hisversionisrathermorecrisplyself-
conscious, noting that every diarist recorded the day, ‘but only to say
thattheweatherwasawfulandthatoutthereintherainotherpeople,
dreadful people, were celebrating in dreadful ways’.5 Nevertheless, he