British Postwar Cinema: Five Personal Favourites

The Passionate Friends

Five personal favourites from the upcoming British Postwar Cinema 1945-1960 retrospective at Locarno.

The Passionate Friends (David Lean, 1949)

Lean was a painter with his camera even before he could open up his canvas to the widescreen glory of deserts and icy steppes. He was already a painter in this ravishing melodrama, with Ann Todd at its center. Her mature bitterness and the film’s rich visual details (plus a narrative link to Switzerland) make it essential viewing. This is a restored version from a few years ago.

Train of Events (Sidney Cole, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, 1949)

At least two of these three directors are masters of British cinema. This film is, in my view, the best of the portmanteau films that were common in British cinema of the 1940s and 1950s. It combines Ealing Studio stylisation and fine acting with shrewd social observation.

The Happy Family (Muriel Box, 1952)

London was in ruins after the war and had to be rebuilt. Films were made about the new plans for the post-Blitz capital, and to me, this semi-anarchist comedy is the best of them. It conveys all the insights found in remarkable documentaries on teh same subject, but tells the story from the perspective of a family whose house is about to be demolished during the redevelopment of the South Bank before the Festival of Britain.

The Elephant Will Never Forget (John Krish, 1953)

A poetic short film about the last tram ride in London before the service was discontinued. It makes one’s heart ache.

The Flying Scot (Compton Bennett, 1957)

An excellent and surprisingly self-conscious example of a British B-movie. Many of these films were made, often enjoyable crime or mystery stories. This one, however, questions the nature of American-influenced crime films in a self-referential way you wouldn’t expect from a low-budget flick!