Alexander Korda made two powerful films: The Tunnel, in 1935, and Things to Come, in1936, which was based on a story by HG Wells. Neither could be called uplifting, but both of these films portrayed great self-sacrifice making them popular as dramatisations of human catastrophes, such as war.
However, there was a gradual rise of social realism in film with the increasing popularity of the tragic melodrama during the late 1930s. The Turn of the Tide, 1935, again based on a novel, was made in a more realistic, almost documentary style and it went on to win third prize at the Venice Film Festival.
This was also the period that saw the rise of director Carol Reed’s career with his first big film, The Stars Look Down, in 1939. Based on the novel by AJ Cronin, it examined the reality of unemployment, poverty and the exploitation of workers and it was for this realist aspect, and its rather misogynistic attitude to working class women, that it attracted the most comment. Yet the film ends on a note of hope, with the voice-over pointing to the future.
Documentary Films Important to 1930s British Cinema
One important aspect of 1930s British cinema was the documentary, at which Britain excelled. This was the kind of documentary that provided education and information as opposed to the entertainment offered by mainstream cinemas.
Apart from the newsreels that often accompanied the main feature, six of John Grierson’s main films, known as the ‘Imperial Six’, were the supporting short films in cinemas. His documentary movement made films that were educational, optimistic and generally morale boosting during the Depression. One such film, England Awake, 1932, was a ‘patriotic saga’ showing Britain’s achievements in engineering, science and industry since 1815.
Famous Night Mail Documentary
The famous Night Mail, made by the GPO in 1936 and distributed in theatres, showed the special postal express train from Euston to Glasgow. The final section of the film was accompanied by verse from the poet WH Auden and music by Benjamin Britten. This is still used today in the study of literature and history as an example of British character and efficiency. Gradually such realistic documentaries were regarded as being not realistic enough and were overshadowed by an increasing realism in mainstream films.
Social History
As British cinema research increased, attitudes changed towards the variety of genres and films that evolved in the 1930s. Even the once despised ‘home market’ films of music and comedy are now regarded in a new light. These films offer an insight into the social history and culture of the period in the same way that literature often reflects the society in which it was written.
Britain moved towards war in the late 1930s and into the 1940s, but the cinema continued to play a relevant part in people’s lives. The patriotic film now became increasingly important and popular as nationalism was emphasized, in both the film itself and the national anthem at the end. British films, and the cinemas in which they played, were to have an important part in the war years, not least for their effective propaganda, and they are now a valuable tool for historical and social research.
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