This week we take a closer look at a stylistic and lyrical gem of the gpo film unit and probably the greatest train documentary of all time. Bringing together the creative talents of harry watt, basil wright, wh auden and benjamin britten, the film gave john griersonas documentary school its. The film contains excerpts from speeches given by nazi leaders at the congress, including adolf hitler. The flagship of the gpo film units output and a cornerstone of british documentary. Night mail, the gpo film units 1936 documentary, seemingly had everything going for it from the start from its directors harry watt and basil wright, narrators john grierson and stuart legg to the poem that wh auden wrote especially for it and the music score composed by a 23yearold benjamin britten. For one thing, the film promoted a government agency that hardly seemed to need promoting.
Night mail is a 1936 english documentary film directed and produced by harry watt and basil. Excellent blending of lyrical comments on the train passing through englands powerful heavy industries of the country, iron, steel, coal, shipbuildingheading to edinburgh. The charming poem night mail was written in 1936 to accompany the documentary film of the same year and the same title. Harry watt and basil wrights study of the down postal express stands as a. The film concerned a london, midland, and scottish railway lms mail train traveling from london to scotland. John grierson born at deanston borders of stirling and perth on 26 april 1898.
It is almost always cited as a seminal film, but its influence on modern documentary form is close to nil. The postal museum blog iconic night mail this is the night mail an icon of britains documentary film movement this week we take a closer look at a stylistic and lyrical gem of the general post office film unit and probably the greatest train documentary of all time night mail. Night mail is a classic british documentary featuring benjamin brittens music with w h audens poetry. It shows the run from london to glasgow, picking up post on the way, sorting it on the train and dropping off at lineside collection points, all at speed. Night mail, the gpo film units 1936 paean to the british railbased mail delivery system, occupies an ambivalent place in documentary history. The units bestknown film is night mail, made in 1936, showing the overnight express carrying the post from london to edinburgh. Night mail, about the london to glasgow postal train, is a classic of the. Its general release gained critical praise and became a classic of its own kind, much imitated by adverts and modern film shorts.
However, it wasnt until nearly two years later that a print was produced. Together they worked on the films, coal face and night mail. The gpo film unit was created in 1933 and overseen in its early years by john grierson, the man who invented the term documentary for nonfiction films. Britten became a member of the gpo film units group of regular contributors, another of whom was the poet, w. Night mail, film score play streams in full or download mp3 from classical archives, the largest and best organized classical music site on the web. Auden the film ends with a recital of the poem, matched with music by. Night mail is widely considered a masterpiece of the british documentary film movement. Night mail is a 1936 english documentary film directed and produced by harry watt and basil wright, and produced by the general post office gpo film unit. Grierson was born in deanston, near doune, scotland.
Though predated by a few film collaborationscoal face 1935 and the cantata negroes 1935, reassembled two years later as gods chillun night mail 1935 6 was the first of an audacious string of works that poet and composer produced over the following five years. The brazilian filmmaker alberto cavalcanti was sound director. But it was bbc the voice of britain that saw the gpo film unit pulling out every stop. All night mail movie posters,high res movie posters image for night mail. Turner classic movies presents the greatest motion pictures of all time from one of the largest film libraries in the world. Together they worked on the documentary films coal face and night mail in 1935. Lye, for example, in the 1935 film a colour box, painted directly onto. Gods chillun is an experimental film, sight and sound stated in 1938, similar to the early coal face in that the sound was completed first, and the visuals later cut and combined with.
Doris hare 19052000 actress doris hare was born on march 1, 1905 in bargoed, monmouthshire, wales as doris breamer hare. Night mail 1936 is one of the bestloved and bestknown films in the canon of british documentary cinema. Night mail 1936 was one of the most critically acclaimed films to be produced within the british documentary film movement. It is not to be confused with the 1936 documentary night mail. The bbc asked to come along and talk to us about w. Night mail directed byherbert smith produced byherbert smith written bycharles bennett billie bristow starringhenry oscar hope davy c. By 1936, film output at the gpo film unit was divided between the production. Britten became a member of the film units small group of regular contributors, another of whom was w.
Shows the special train on which mail is sorted, dropped and collected on the run, and. This week we take a closer look at a stylistic and lyrical gem of the. In 1935, the general post office film unit decided to produce a documentary to present the new 24hour postal service between england and scotland. Find video, photos, forums, blogs and shop for some of the best movies ever made only at tcm. Public service broadcasting night mail lyrics genius. They also collaborated on the song cycle our hunting fathers 1936, radical both in politics and musical treatment, and subsequently other works including cabaret songs, on this island, paul bunyan and. Night mail poem with explaination educational wealth. Night mail 1935 archive footage welsh greats 2012 archive footage. Night mail, the gpo film units 1936 documentary, seemingly had everything going for it. Once finished, the equipment was packed in time for arrival of the postal train bound for london. It was also among the most commercially successful, and remains the film most commonly identified with the movement.
Vanessa bell completed her design in march 1935 a nd a month later it was approved. Auden and britten also collaborated on the song cycle our hunting fathers 1936 and subsequent other works. The 24minute film documents the nightly postal train operated by the london, midland and scottish railway lms from london to glasgow and the. He is credited with initiating the 1930s british documentary film movement. Dvd the 1967 recording of the burning fiery furnace a film by tony palmer the book read about britten. Blake morrison marvels at night mail books the guardian. During the next ten years, until he left england for america, he created the increasingly ambitious works for stage, film, and. The complete film was narrated by john grierson and stuart legg. Censored version of the image after the film was complete, producer dauman told resnais that he was delighted to have produced the film, but that he guaranteed that it will never see a theatrical release. This government film is a public record, preserved and presented by the bfi national archive on behalf of the national archives, home to more than 1,000 years of british history.
From 1935 to 1937 britten wrote nearly 40 scores for theatre, cinema and radio. Night mail is about a london, midland and scottish railway lms mail train from london to scotland, the music is by benjamin britten. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing night mail near you. To view this page ensure that adobe flash player version 9.
Auden and britten began collaborating for the gpo during the summer of 1935 most famously on night mail. This track is based around samples from the classic 1936 documentary night mail, including a poem of the same name by w. It is partscripted by wh auden with the famous refrain. The film begins with a voiceover commentary describing how the mail is collected for transit. Audens poem night mail, written for the film of the same name which was released 75 years ago. It was produced by gpo film unit, directed by harry watt and basil wright, and narrated by john grierson and.
Films produced by the gpo film unit in 1935 include. Benjamin britten night mail, film score classical archives. The 24minute film documents the nightly postal train operated by the london, midland and scottish railway lms from london to glasgow and the staff who operate it. John grierson documentary film maker made in perth. A correspondent attempts to thwart a violinists planned assassination of a judge aboard an arberdeenian express. Night mail, about the london to glasgow postal train, is a classic of the 1930s british documentary boom, with contributions from auden and britten. It chronicles the 1934 nazi party congress in nuremberg, which was attended by more than 700,000 nazi supporters. Night mail poem this is the night mail crossing the border, bringing the cheque and the postal order, letters for the rich, letters for the poor, the shop at the corner, the girl next door. After he left oxford at age twentyone, during the summer of 1928, he wrote the tragicomic charade paid on both sides. John grierson april 26, 1898 february 19, 1972 is often considered the father of british and canadian documentary film.
Most notably, it contains the poem written and spoken by writer w. Night mail 1936 changing the face of film the literary shed. The locomotive featured in the film was royal scot 6115 scots guardsman, built in. A critically acclaimed pioneering realistic english social film documentary. For the 1935 british film by herbert smith, see night mail 1935 film. Hallard cinematographyalex bryce production company british lion film corporation distributed bymgm release date may 1935 running time 53 mins countryunited kingdom languageenglish night mail is a 1935 british thriller film. This is the night mail an icon of britains documentary film movement. This song contains samples from the 1936 movie night mail about the london, midland and scottish railway lms mail train. Night mail premiered on 4 february 1936 at the cambridge arts theatre in cambridge, england in a launch programme for the venue. Of course in the two minutes comment allowed, you can never get in all the fascinating facts youve discovered or wider considerations. The gpo was a monopoly that covered mail and telegraphs as well as other new electronic systems linked to defense and national security. I like this film, because it is a glimpse of days long past when the gpo ran the the night mail train.
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