| Painted Boats | |
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Painted Boats VHS videotape cover |
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| Directed by | Charles Crichton |
| Produced by | Michael Balcon |
| Written by | Louis MacNeice, Stephen Black, Michael McCarthy |
| Starring | Jenny Laird Harry Fowler |
| Music by | John Greenwood |
| Cinematography | Douglas Slocombe |
| Editing by | Leslie Allen |
| Distributed by | Ealing Studios |
| Release date(s) | September 1945 |
| Running time | 63 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Painted Boats (U.S. The Girl on the Canal) is a black-and-white British film directed by Charles Crichton and released by Ealing Studios in 1945. Painted Boats, one of the lesser-known Ealing films of the period, is brief (63 minutes long), uses a little-known cast and has a slight storyline. It is however considered significant by waterways enthusiasts as a fictionalised documentary providing a rare extensive filmic depiction of a long-gone way of life on England's working canal system in the 1940s.
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Painted Boats focuses on two families living and working on cargo-carrying canal boats: the "traditional" Smiths on their horse-drawn boat and the "modern" Stoners on their motorised vessel. Despite some differences of opinion (Mr. Smith disapproves of motorised boats as he claims they churn up mud and damage canal banks) relations between the families are generally harmonious.
The main plot strand deals with the tentative attraction between Mary Smith and Ted Stoner, despite their differing viewpoints; Mary appreciates the gentle rhythm of traditional canal life, whereas Ted's ambition is to get off the canals and into mainstream life at the earliest opportunity. World War II intrudes when Ted is called up for military service, leaving the future for the pair uncertain.
Location filming took place on the 20-mile stretch of the Grand Union Canal between Stoke Bruerne and Braunston in Northamptonshire, including the Blisworth Tunnel – at 1.75 miles (2.82 km) in length, the third-longest canal tunnel in Britain. Insert shots feature the industrial landscape of Stoke-on-Trent, the famous Anderton Boat Lift in Cheshire and the Limehouse Cut in London.
A preserved section of the horse-drawn boat Sunny Valley as featured in the film is on display at Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum.
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