The Big Blockade
| The Big Blockade | |
|---|---|
 British DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Charles Frend |
| Produced by | Michael Balcon |
| Written by |
Charles Frend Angus McPhail |
| Starring |
Leslie Banks Frank Cellier Will Hay John Mills Robert Morley Michael Redgrave |
| Music by |
Richard Addinsell orchestrated by Roy Douglas |
| Cinematography |
Wilkie Cooper Douglas Slocombe |
| Edited by |
Compton Bennett Charles Crichton |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | United Artists Ltd (UK) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 73 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Big Blockade is a 1942 British black-and-white war propaganda film in the style of dramatised documentary. It is directed by Charles Frend and stars Will Hay, Leslie Banks, Michael Redgrave and John Mills. It was produced by Michael Balcon for Ealing Studios, in collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Warfare.
Plot
This is a propaganda film in which the British strategy of the economic blockade of Nazi Germany is illustrated through a series of scenes and sketches, combined with documentary footage.
Main cast
- Leslie Banks as Taylor, Civil Service
- Michael Redgrave as the Russian
- Will Hay as Skipper, Royal Navy
- Bernard Miles as Mate, Royal Navy
- Michael Rennie as George, Royal Air Force
- John Mills as Tom, Royal Air Force
- Frank Cellier as Schneider
- Robert Morley as von Geiselbrecht
- Alfred Drayton as Direktor
- Marius Goring as German propaganda officer
- Austin Trevor as U-boat Captain
- Morland Graham as Civil Servant
- Albert Lieven as Gunter
- John Stuart as Naval officer
- Joss Ambler as Stoltenhoff
- Michael Wilding as Captain
- George Woodbridge as Quisling
- Quentin Reynolds as American journalist
- Elliott Mason as German stationmistress
The film's commentary is made by the journalist and former Liberal MP Frank Owen.
Release
The film premiered at the London Pavilion on 19 January 1942, and the premiere was attended by a group of members of Parliament interested in economic warfare.[1] The film was not very well received by The Times' critic in 1942, who found that "this particular hotch-potch is, as propaganda, woefully unconvincing. It is splendid to give audiences a glimpse of the devoted work done by the Services […] but actors got up as comic Nazi business men distort the lessons the more serious parts of the film are trying to drive home",[2] and modern film reviewers are not very much kinder to it.[3]
References
- ↑ The Times, 20 January 1942, page 2: News in Brief - found in The Times Digital Archive on 2014-02-26
- ↑ The Times, 14 January 1942, page 6: "The Big Blockade" - Fact and Fiction - found in The Times Digital Archive on 2014-02-26
- ↑ Dr Keith M. Johnston: The Great Ealing Film Challenge 65: The Big Blockade (1942) Linked 2014-02-27
External links
- The Big Blockade in the British Film Institute's "Explore film..." database
- The Big Blockade at the Internet Movie Database
- Dr Keith M. Johnston: The Great Ealing Film Challenge 65: The Big Blockade (1942)
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