National Cinemas: the Boulting Brothers and British Film Culture

Content of Course

Course content will consist of examination of the films of John and Roy Boulting, one of the great producer/director teams in British Cinema, commencing with an introductory lecture outlining the career trajectory of the Brothers.  Their wartime documentaries will be examined, focusing particularly on the Oscar winning Desert Victory.

Following that we consider the Brothers’ role in the propaganda produced for the Ministry of Information and the production of their early anti-fascist films, Pastor Hall and Thunder Rock, films which embody the concept of the ‘People’s War’. The post-war films will also be studied as a continuation of the People’s War into the ‘People’s Peace’.

The course will go on to examine the filmmakers’ response to the Cold War and the arms race, the beginning of the Brothers retreat from post-war idealism and their support for the 1945 Labour government towards a more cynical view the great institutions of society i.e. the army, the law, industrial relations and the church.

Through study of these films we trace the interaction between popular cinema and social change and how the films address the onset of affluence, and gender issues, in particular representations of masculinity.

1. The Wartime Documentaries: Desert Victory, Tunisian Victory and Burma victory.

2. Anti-Fascist film: Pastor Hall (1940); The Dawn Guard (1941); Thunder Rock (1942).

3. Post war politics: Fame is the Spur (1947).

4. The dark underbelly: Film Noir and Brighton Rock (1948).

5. The nuclear option: Seven Days To Noon (1950).

6. Cold War tensions: High Treason (1951).

7. Society’s institutions examined. The Army: Private’s Progress (1956).

8. Society’s institutions examined. The Law: Brothers in Law (1957).

9. Society’s institutions examined. Industrial relations: I’m Alright Jack (1959).

10. Society’s institutions examined. The Church: Heavens Above! (1963).

Teaching method(s)

The course will be lecture-based with full screenings and relevant extracts, followed by analysis and discussion. Weekly readings will be delivered to students electronically.  By the end of the course students will be able to appreciate the ideological content of popular cinema and how popular cinema can relate to and influence societal change.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Appreciate the role of popular national cinema as reflection and reaction to social change;

• Recognise the role of cinema in creating a sense of national identity;

• Make connections between film makers, censors, the state and the organisation of the national film industry;

• Contextualise and discuss ideological and national issues within selected films;

Sources

Core Readings

Recommended:

• Aldgate, Anthony & Richards, Jeffrey, 1986. Britain Can Take It. The British Cinema in the Second World War. Oxford: Blackwell

• Barr, Charles, ed., 1986. All Our Yesterdays. 90 Years of British Cinema. London: BFI

• Burton, Alan, O’Sullivan, Tim and Wells, Paul, 2000. The Family Way. The Boulting Brothers and British Film Culture. Trowbridge: Flicks Books

• Chibnall, Steve, 2005. Brighton Rock. London: I.B. Taurus

• Landy, Marcia, 1991. British Genres. Cinema and Society 1930-1960. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press

• McFarlane, Brian, 1997. An Autobiography of British Cinema. London: Methuen

• Richards, Jeffrey & Aldgate, Anthony, 1983. Best of British. Cinema and Society 1930-1970. Oxford: Blackwell

• Stead, Peter, 1991. Film and the Working Class. London: Routledge

• Street, Sarah, 1997. British National Cinema. London: Routledge

Queries

If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email COL@ed.ac.uk or by phone 0131 650 4400.

Student support

If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.