Ministry of Information

A young, Scottish RAF gunner is debriefed by French officials about his escape from Nazi-occupied territory. They are particularly interested in one person who may or may not have been a German agent.

A former leader of the French Resistance finds that one of his fellow actors looks like a detestable official he knew in Madagascar during the war. He tells about his time, operating an illegal radio station while evading the Nazis.

A documentary account of the allied invasion of Europe during World War II compiled from the footage shot by nearly 1400 cameramen. It opens as the assembled allied forces plan and train for the D-Day invasion at bases in Great Britain and covers all the major events of the war in Europe from the Normandy landings to the fall of Berlin.

On the 29th September 1945, the incomplete rough cut of a brilliant documentary about concentration camps was viewed at the MOI in London. For five months, Sidney Bernstein had led a small team – which included Stewart McAllister, Richard Crossman and Alfred Hitchcock – to complete the film from hours of shocking footage. Unfortunately, this ambitious Allied project to create a feature-length visual report that would damn the Nazi regime and shame the German people into acceptance of Allied occupation had missed its moment. Even in its incomplete form (available since 1984) the film was immensely powerful, generating an awed hush among audiences. But now, complete to six reels, this faithfully restored and definitive version produced by IWM, is being compared with Alain Resnais’ Night and Fog (1955).

A 1941 Ministry of Information propaganda film set to the tune of The Lambeth Walk, a popular song from the musical Me and My Girl.

A doctor talks about the number of injuries and deaths resulting from automobile accidents.

Members of three Commonwealth armies, an Aussie, a Canadian, and a New Zealander meet actor Leslie Howard who buys them a beer and makes them understand why they're fighting.

Government information film on how to get maximum wear from a man's suit, narrated by one such suit in the form of an autobiography.

An explanation for American audiences of what rationing means to ordinary British families.

Commissioned by the Ministry of Information and specifically target working class audiences; ‘Now you’re talking’ follows a plant worker, who lets slip vital information about some overnight research on a captured enemy aircraft. This inevitably leads to this most important of secrets falling into the lap of the enemy.

Ever seen a snake with a moustache? The Middle East was as much an ideological as a physical battleground in the Second World War. In the midst of the conflict Halas & Batchelor were commissioned by the British Government to make four cartoons featuring a young boy Abu and his mule. They were intended to demonstrate in simple visual terms that Britain was a stout friend and the Axis powers a pernicious evil.

An uncredited Anthony Asquith is one of the directors of this WWII film (a joint UK/US production) which aims to explain British culture and character to the newly arrived American soldier. Starting with the ubiquitous pub visit, the film breezes through geography lessons, food and entertainment on the Home Front.

A tribute to the courage and resiliency of Britons during the darkest days of the London Blitz.

Documentary on the young builders who'll rebuild Britain after the war.

Ministry of Information-sponsored comedy short showing wartime audiences how to deal with the threat of incendiary bombs.

A Letter From Ulster (1943). Northern Ireland's greatest film director Brian Desmond Hurst directed the film and his assistant director was fellow Ulsterman William (Bill) MacQuitty who went on to make the ultimate Titanic film A Night to Remember. The script was written by Terence Young who went on to direct the early Bond films. All the components were in place for a fine film and this short (32 minute) by the Crown Film Unit remains an important part of Ulster and America's cultural history. As the opening credit says "This film is dedicated to those members of the US Forces Who are our guests in these islands". The film shows American soldiers landing in Northern Ireland and settling into their new camps. The arrival of mail from 'back home' helps camp moral, however, two brothers receive none. Their commander realises that the two brothers have not sent any letters back to their parents and gives the order to write a letter home- A Letter From Ulster.

Two evacuee children living in the United States receive a letter from their mother, Mrs Taylor, telling them of her life in Blitz-era London. Glimpses of the events of Mrs Taylor's typical day, including ration shopping and fire warden training, belie the letter's innocuous statements.

Is your hedge thin and straggly? Don't worry, help is at hand.

An exposure of the fallacy of race myths; Nazi and Japanese theories about pure blood and master races are contrasted with scientific facts of mixed origins to prove that no nation or race can be considered inferior or superior.

World War II propaganda film.