GPO Film Unit

The GPO Film Unit was a subdivision of the UK General Post Office. The unit was established in 1933, taking on responsibilities of the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit. Headed by John Grierson, it was set up to produce sponsored documentary films mainly related to the activities of the GPO.

Among the films it produced were Harry Watt's and Basil Wright's Night Mail (1936), featuring music by Benjamin Britten and poetry by W. H. Auden, which is the best known. Directors who worked for the unit included Humphrey Jennings, Alberto Cavalcanti, Paul Rotha, Harry Watt, Basil Wright and a young Norman McLaren. Poet and memoirist Laurie Lee also worked as a scriptwriter in the unit from 1939–1940.

In 1940 the GPO Film Unit became the Crown Film Unit, under the control of the Ministry of Information.

In late 2008 the British Film Institute issued a first collection of selected films from the Unit. Titled Addressing the Nation, it comprises fifteen titles from the years 1933 to 1935, including Song of Ceylon. A second volume, We Live in Two Worlds was released in February 2009, with 22 films covering the period 1936 to 1938, and includes Night Mail. A third (and final) volume, If War Should Come, appeared in July 2009 and includes London Can Take It!

Filmography

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1940	Air Communique	Ralph Elton
	Britain at Bay		Written by J. B. Priestley
	The Front Line	Harry Watt
	London Can Take It!	Humphrey Jennings & Harry Watt	Oscar-nominated for Best Short Subject 1941
	Spring Offensive	Humphrey Jennings
	War and Order	Charles Hasse
1939	The City	Ralph Elton	Subtitle: "A Film Talk by Sir Charles Bressey"
	The First Days	Pat Jackson, Humphrey Jennings & Harry Watt
	Forty Million People	John Monck	Narrated by Ralph Richardson
	The Islanders	Maurice Harvey
	Love on the Wing	Norman McLaren	Animation
	Men of the Alps	Alberto Cavalcanti
	A Midsummer Day's Work	Alberto Cavalcanti
	Spare Time	Humphrey Jennings
	Squadron 992	Harry Watt
1938	Four Barriers	Alberto Cavalcanti
	Mony a Pickle	Norman McLaren & Richard Massingham	Animation
	N or NW	Len Lye	Comedy
	The H.P.O. – Heavenly Post Office	Lotte Reiniger	Animation
	North Sea	Harry Watt
1937	Book Bargain	Norman McLaren
	Job in a Million	Evelyn Cherry
	The Line to Tschierva Hut	Alberto Cavalcanti
	News for the Navy	Norman McLaren
	Roadways	William Coldstream and Stuart Legg	Music by Ernst Hermann Meyer
	The Saving of Bill Blewitt	Harry Watt	Drama, starring Bill Blewitt as himself
	Trade Tattoo	Len Lye	Animation
	We Live in Two Worlds	Alberto Cavalcanti	Written by J. B. Priestley
1936	Message from Geneva	Alberto Cavalcanti
	Night Mail	Harry Watt & Basil Wright	Written by W. H. Auden. Music by Benjamin Britten
	Rainbow Dance	Len Lye	Animation
1935	Air Post	Geoffrey Clark
	Coal Face	Alberto Cavalcanti	Written by W. H. Auden. Music by Benjamin Britten
	A Colour Box	Len Lye	Animation
	The King's Stamp	William Coldstream	With Barnett Freedman
1934	Pett and Pott: A Fairy Story of the Suburbs	Alberto Cavalcanti	Comedy, starring J. M. Reeves, Marjorie Fone and June Godfrey
	Locomotives	Humphrey Jennings
	Song of Ceylon	Basil Wright
	The Story of the Wheel	Humphrey Jennings

See also

• Edgar Anstey

Further reading

• Anthony, Scott and James G. Mansell. The Projection Of Britain: A History of the GPO Film Unit. London: British Film Institute, 2011 ISBN 1-84457-374-5 338p.

External links

• GPO Film Unit at the British Film Institute's Screenonline