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1940's England

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,279
Location
New Forest
A modern film, set in the 40's was Enigma.
By way of a contrast, what might fascinate you, is the comic strip in the Daily Mirror, of Jane.
She was by far and away the most read, most sort after and most popular pin up of the British soldiers during WW2. There are hundreds of cartoons featuring Jane, but to give you a flavour of the history and popularity, the link will take you to Wiki, from there you can find many other links. Hope you enjoy.
 

Haversack

One Too Many
Messages
1,193
Location
Clipperton Island
A couple or three of the Ealing Studio comedies referenced above that I would particularly recommend for scenes of England are A Run for Your Money (1949), The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953), and Passport to Pimlico (1949). Both ARFYM and PTP were primarily shot in London and show a lot of everyday life. TTT, although a bit later, concerns the efforts of a small village to maintain rail service in the face of Beeching's closure of many small rail lines. For the train buffs among us, it features an actual 1838 locomotive. What is particularly good about the Ealing studio movies is that they are not recreations of 1940s England, (And Wales and the Outer Hebrides). They were filmed then and there.
 

Morty

New in Town
Messages
1
Location
Somewhere in Southern England
Slightly out of your timescale at 1938, but otherwise covering all of your bases would be A Yank At Oxford.

"Lee Sheridan, arrogant son of an American small-town publisher, is sent to England to complete his education. A crack sportsman, he is convinced that Oxford University has much to learn from him. It is, of course, the other way round."

I have a digital copy if you have a Dropbox account.

robert_taylor.jpg
 

AdeeC

Practically Family
Messages
646
Location
Australia
Recently watched the first and only season of THE CAZALETS TV series made in 2001. A British series set during the war years. Similar in concept to DOWNTON ABBEY but far more sophisticated and well developed story IMO. More adult themed and not as soapy. ALsomstars Hugh Bonneville. Shame it was cancelled after only one season and leaving all the plot lines unresolved.
 

EngProf

Practically Family
Messages
597
There are a lot of British-made WWII movies made from mid-war through the '50's that my group of war-movie fans call "How We Won the War" movies. These are mostly black and white movies that cover various aspects of the better events of WWII, from the British perspective.
A partial list, in no order:
"We Dive at Dawn"
"Sink the Bismarck"
"The Dam Busters"
"Malta Story"
"Angels One Five"
"Glory at Sea"
"Above Us the Waves"
"In Which We Serve"
"Dunkirk"
There are so many of these that it's hard to remember all of them. Most are at least worth watching and some are really good.
 
Messages
16,814
Location
New York City
^^^Haven't seen all of those, but really enjoyed "In Which We Serve," and "Dam Busters." They are solid, entertaining movies that pair well with a documentary on the same subject if you can find one (the Dam Busters is a great story as movie or documentary).
 

Inkstainedwretch

One Too Many
Messages
1,037
Location
United States
The obscure film "Merry Andrew," (1958) features Danny Kaye as an English boy's school teacher bicycling around the Sussex countryside in search of a buried Roman statue. I think it meets all your requirements.
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,279
Location
New Forest
Malta Story is a 1953 British war film, it's directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, and is based on the heroic air defence of Malta during what became known as, the Siege of Malta, in the Second World War.
The film uses real and unique footage of the locations at which the battles were fought and includes a love story between a RAF pilot and a Maltese girl, as well as the anticipated execution of her brother, caught as an Italian spy.
In the promotional poster you can just see The George Cross. It's the highest bravery award Britain can give to civilians. (The Victoria Cross is for the military.) So courageous were The Maltese that the entire Island was presented with the George Cross honour.
Malta-Story.jpg
 

rocketeer

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,605
Location
England
Most of the 40s films of the era are a romanticised version of the those times. They rarely touched on true realism and it is todays films and TV that often show how things really were.
For a truer outlook we have to go to the 1950s and 60s to view a more realistic version and what are known as 'kitchen sink ' dramas such as the recently shown "Cathy Come Home" a 1960s play about how the welfare state only appeared to care(to quote a line from Ken loach's film)
During these times reality really hit home with back street abortion(Up the Junction), homosexuality(The leather boys), perversion(10 Rillington Place), While we all laughed along to The Belles of St Trinians and the mentioned Passport to Pimlico. Some of course mixed laughter with tragedy as in The Bells Go Down, a comedy film where the heros die in the end.
I know this is blowing our own trumpet but I think British TV and film do have more character actors who are not all glamorous, but who else could play Miss Marple better than Margaret Rutherford or be a bigger cad than Terry Thomas or play a pervert such as Christie than Richard Attenborough
Loved Foyel's War by the way hated Hanover Street and the like. Ealing studio's forever laughter :)
Nearly forgot. The deserted airfield and leafy lane scenes in 12 o'clock high are spot on, and that was made in the US.
 
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rocketeer

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,605
Location
England
Anyone interested in a "Then and Now' perspective of Britain in the 40s and 50s would do well to check out this site for it's abundance of old British films and comparison screen shots sent in by viewers :)
http://www.reelstreets.com
There are a lot of other films/movies call them what you will, listed from all over the world too.
 

daisy2er

New in Town
Messages
17
Captain America is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It return to England during this time.
 

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