INSIDE SOCIAL REALISM at the BFI

I was recently invited by Dee of Inside Film to talk to young learners and their parents/guardians about British social realist films at the BFI.

My brief was to give a history of social realism films, whilst considering who the films were made by and for, and offering an analysis of the extracts that I screened. The main thread of the talk was to consider the representations of the working class.

Saturday Night And Sunday Morning (1960)

After a lovely lunch in the Riverside cafe, Noel and a colleague at the BFI helped Dee and I set up.

The screening and three-hour talk went well. A very receptive audience put me at ease. After an introduction to some of the key concepts regarding social realism, the first clip I showed was an extract from O Dreamland (1953). Some members of the audience were shocked that Lindsay Anderson's film was meant to be a sympathetic portrayal of working class trippers at Margate. They rightly pointed out that the people in the film looked like 'zombies' and were filmed little differently to the caged zoo animals at Dreamland Amusement Park.

Other films we looked at included Saturday Night And Sunday Morning (1960), A Taste Of Honey (1961), Kes (1970), Raining Stones (1993), Brassed Off (1996) and A Room For Romeo Brass (1999) - a particular favourite of the afternoon.

A Room For Romeo Brass (1999)

We finished by watching Andrea Arnold's Oscar-winning short Wasp (2003). This sparked some heated comments about whose point of view the film is constructed from, and what audience the film is made for. Someone commented quite rightly that it showed working class single mothers in a bad light, whilst I pointed out that the characters in the film came across as 'grotesques' with no light and shade.

We concluded that not a lot has changed in the years since O Dreamland was made.

Wasp (2003)

SHELLS! Eccentric Seaside Art

Shell House postcard

I lived in Bournemouth for a while in the early 1990s. On several occasions I went to visit the Shell House in Southbourne. This folly was an incredible collection  of sea shells collected from all over the world by one man, George Howard, and managed to be both amusing and moving in equal measure.

Shell House postcards

Not long before I left Bournemouth I filmed the Shell House; these are some stills from my cine film:

You can view a clip of the movie here:

I was sad to hear years later that the attraction had been demolished, but I'm pleased that I was able to capture it on film and that I can share it today.

You can read more about the Shell House here:

THE SHELL HOUSE 

*******

More recently, I came across the Peter Coke Shell Gallery in Sheringham, North Norfolk. Just like the Shell House, this gallery houses the work of one man, the late actor Peter Coke who was enamoured with the art of 'sailor's valentines' but took it to another level with his miniature gardens, temples and flower posies, all constructed out of shells and coral. 

The gallery is open in the summer months. It is free to enter but there are postcards and shells for sale, or you can make a donation towards its upkeep.

Read more about the Peter Coke Gallery here:

PETER COKE SHELL GALLERY 


(Postcards of the Shell House on this Blog by Dennis, Salmon and J. Hammersley, Boscombe).

HOLIDAY FILMOGRAPHY PART 5 (1947 - 1955)

1947:

Bank Holiday Luck, Baxter (ABFD). Directed by Baynham Honri.Cast: Fred Wynne, Olive Sloane. Comedy. Builders recount adventures on previous bank holiday.

Bush Christmas, Reissue: 1950 (ABFD), 1971 (15 mins cut). Ralph Smart. Directed by Ralph Smart (GFD). Cast: Chips Rafferty. Children. New South Wales.

Jack Warner and Kathleen Harrison arrive at the camp in Holiday Camp (1948)

Jimmy Hanley and Hazel Court by the pool in Holiday Camp

Esma Cannon takes part in the beauty contest in Holiday Camp

Holiday Camp, Reissue: 1948, 1954 (Monarch,12 mins cut). Gainsborough (GFD). Directed by Ken Annakin. Cast: Flora Robson, Dennis Price, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison. Comedy. Butlin’s, Filey.

Brighton Rock, ABPC (Pathe). Directed John Boulting. Cast: Richard Attenborough. Crime. Brighton, 1938.

1948:

The Gentlemen Go By, AIPGB (Electa). Directed by J. Widgey Newman, John Calthrop. Cast: Conrad Phillips, Alastair Bannerman. Crime. Ex-sailor joins smuggling gang using holiday camp as front.

Frank Randle on Blackpool pier in Holidays With Pay (1948)

Holidays With Pay, Reissue: 1950 (cut). Film Studios Manchester. (Mancunian). Producer and Director John E. Blakeley. Cast: Frank Randle, Tessie O’Shea. Comedy. Blackpool. (Extract in Tonight’s The Night, 1960, Seaside Frolics).

Tessie O'Shea falls into the sea in Holidays With Pay

1949:

Forbidden, Pennant (BL). Produced and Directed by George King. Cast: Douglas Montgomery, Hazel Court. Crime. Blackpool. Chemist tries to poison extravagant wife.

A Man’s Affair, Concord (Ex). Produced and Directed Jay Gardner Lewis. Cast: Hamish Menzies, Cliff Gordon. Romance. Ramsgate. Playboy tries to spoil miner’s holiday romances.

Dick Barton Strikes Back, Exclusive. Directed by Godfrey Grayson. Cast: Don Stannard, Sebastian Cabot. Crime. Blackpool. Foreign agents beam atomic rays from top of Tower.

Old Mother Riley’s New Venture, Reissue: Mother Riley’s New Venture,1953. Harry Reynolds (Renown). Directed by John Harlow. Cast: Arthur Lucan, Kitty McShane. Comedy. Dishwasher becomes hotelier and is framed for gem theft.

1950:

Last Holiday, ABPC/Watergate (AB-Pathe). Produced by Stephen Mitchell, A. D. Peters, J. B. Priestley, Directed by Henry Cass, Screenplay by J. B. Priestley. Cast: Alec Guinness, Kay Walsh. Comedy. (Torquay).

The Mysterious Poacher, Reissue: 1973 (18 mins cut). G-B Instructional (GFD). Directed by Don Chaffey. Cast: Herbert Leidinger. Children. Austria. Holiday children help gamekeeper trap poacher.

Ha’Penny Breeze, Storytellers (AB-Pathe). Directed by Frank Worth. Cast: Don Sharp, Edwin Richfield. Drama. Suffolk. Ex-soldier turns ‘dead’ village into yachting centre.

1951:

Worm’s Eye View, Reissue: 1955, (Renown). Byron (ABFD). Directed by Jack Raymond. Cast: Ronald Shiner, Diana Dors. Comedy. 1942. Adventures of a group of airmen billeted on seaside landlady.

Penny Points to Paradise, Advance/PYL (Adelphi). Directed by Tony Young. Cast: Harry Secombe, Alfred Marks, Peter Sellers. Comedy. Brighton.

Encore, Two Cities/Paramount (GFD). Winter Cruise segment Directed by Pat Jackson. Cast: Kay Walsh

1952:

Brandy for the Parson, Group 3 (ABFD). Directed by John Eldridge. Cast: James Donald, Kenneth More. Comedy. Couple on yachting holiday become involved with brandy smugglers.

Hindle Wakes, USA: Holiday Week. Monarch. (Adapted from Stanley Houghton’s 1912 play). Directed by Arthur Crabtree. Cast: Lisa Daniely, Leslie Dwyer, Brian Worth. Romance. Blackpool.

Ogling women at the Lido in Hindle Wakes (1952)

1953:

Genevieve, Reissue: 1960. Sirius (GFD). Produced and Directed by Henry Cornelius. Cast: Diana Sheridan, John Gregson, Kay Kendall, Kenneth More. Comedy. Brighton.

Vintage cars at Brighton in Genevieve (1953)

Innocents in Paris, Reissue: 1956 (Renown, 10 mins cut). Romulus (IFD). Directed by Anatole de Grunwald. Cast: Alastair Sim, Ronald Shiner, Claire Bloom, Margaret Rutherford. Comedy. Seven stories of British tourists on a weekend trip to Paris.

The Girl on the Pier, Major (Apex). Directed by Lance Comfort. Cast: Veronica Hurst, Ron Randell. Crime. Brighton.

A Day to Remember, Group (GFD). Produced by Betty E. Box, Directed by Ralph Thomas. S (Novel) Jerrard Tickell (The Hand and the Flower). Cast: Stanley Holloway. Comedy. Adventures of public house darts team on day trip to Boulogne.

1954:

A Letter From the Isle of Wight, Rayant (ABFD/CFF). Directed by Brian Salt. Cast: Robin Doyer, Joy Ray. Children. Coastguard’s son and visiting cousin saved from sea by lighthouse keepers.

Calling All Cars, Fancey (NR). Directed by Maclean Rogers. Cast: Cardew Robinson. Comedy. Friends on a motoring holiday pursue two girls.

Mystery on Bird Island, Rayant (BL/CFF). Directed by John Haggerty. Cast: Mavis Sage, Jennifer Beach. Children. Alderney. Holiday children catch smugglers using bird sanctuary

1955:

The Lyons in Paris, Hammer (Ex). Directed by Val Guest. Cast: Bebe Daniels, Ben Lyon, Barbara Lyon, Richard Lyon. Comedy. Complications when family spend holiday in Paris.

Out of the Clouds, Ealing (GFD). Directed by Basil Dearden. Cast: Anthony Steele, Robert Beatty. Smuggling and romance in fogbound London airport.

The Love Match, Group 3/Beaconsfield (BL). Directed by David Paltenghi. Cast: Arthur Askey, Thora Hird. Comedy. Lancashire. Football fans try to replace stolen holiday funds.

Playground Express, Grendon (BL/CFF). Directed by John Irwin. Cast: Peter Butterworth, Humphrey Kent. Brighton.

Song of Norway, Fancey (NR). Directed by Maclean Rogers. Cast: Eric Micklewood, Adrienne Scott. Oslo. English girl becomes hotel receptionist, enters ski race and is rescued from crevasse.

Raising a Riot, Reissue: 1960. London/Wessex (BL). Directed by Wendy Toye. Cast: Kenneth More. Comedy. Father copes with children on holiday in old windmill.

The Secret, Laureate/Golden Era (Eros). Directed by Raker Endfield. Cast: Sam Wannamaker, Mandy Miller. Crime Brighton.

No Love For Judy, De Lane Lea/Archway. Directed by Jacques De Lane Lea. Cast: Ellette Mauret, Zoe Newton. Comedy. Riviera. Model on holiday steals companion’s boy friends.

Brigitte Bardot and Dirk Bogarde in Doctor At Sea (1955)

  

Doctor At Sea, Group (GFD). Directed by Ralph Thomas. S (Novel) Richard Gordon. Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Brigitte Bardot. Comedy. Misadventures of medical officer aboard passenger-carrying cargo steamer.

Cast a Dark Shadow, Frobisher (Eros). Directed by Lewis Gilbert. S (Play) Janet Green (Murder Mistaken). Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Margaret Lockwood. Crime. Brighton.

Bibliography:

Gifford (2001), Catalogue of British Film

HOLIDAY FILMOGRAPHY PART 4 (1931 - 1946)

1931:

No Lady, Reissue: 1943. Gaumont. Directed by Lupino Lane. Cast: Lupino Lane. Comedy. Blackpool.

Hindle Wakes, Gaumont. (Adapted from Stanley Houghton’s 1912 play). Produced by Michael Balcon, Directed by Victor Saville. Cast: Sybil Thorndike. Drama. Blackpool.

The sinister song plugger in Hindle Wakes (1931)

1932:

Hotel Splendide, Film Engineering (Ideal). Directed by Michael Powell. Cast: Jerry Verno, Vera Sherburne. Comedy. Clerk inherits seaside hotel built on field where ex-convict buried loot.

Strip, Strip Hooray! BIP (Pathe). Directed by Norman Lee. Cast: Ken Douglas, Betty Norton. Comedy. Photographer blackmails fiancee’s father with sunbathing snaps.

Old Spanish Customers, BIP (Wardour). Directed by Lupino Lane. Cast: Leslie Fuller, Drusilla Wills, Binnie Barnes. Comedy. Spain. Henpeck on prize holiday mistaken for toreador.

Holiday Lovers, Harry Cohen (Fox). Directed by Jack Harrison. Cast: Marjorie Pickard, George Vollaire. Romance. Couple meet on holiday and each pretend to be rich.

1933:

To Brighton With Gladys, George King (Fox). Directed by George King. Cast: Harry Milton, Constance Shotter. Comedy. Man must take rich uncle’s pet penguin from London to seaside.

Three Men in a Boat, ATP (ABFD). Directed by Graham Cutts. (Novel Jerome K. Jerome). Cast: William Austin, Edmond Breon, Billy Milton. Comedy. Boating holiday.

1934:

On the Air, Reissue: 1939. (EB) British Lion. Directed by Herbert Smith. Cast: Davy Burnaby, Anona Winn, Max Wall. Musical. Radio stars on holiday help village vicar stage concert.

Boots! Boots! Reissue: 1938. (Amb; 25 mins cut). Blakely (Butcher). Directed by Bert Tracey. Cast: George Formby. Musical. Hotel ‘Boots; and scullery maid star in cabaret.

Autumn Crocus, ATP (ABFD). Producer/Directed Basil Dean. Cast: Ivor Novello. Romance. Teacher on holiday falls in love with married innkeeper.

Seeing is Believing, B & D Paramount British. Directed by Redd Davis. Cast: Billy Hartnell. Comedy. Police recruit mistakes girl for thief and trails her aboard father’s cruise ship.

Gracie Fields sings as the lights go down over Blackpool Pleasure Beach in Sing As We Go (1934)

Sing As We Go, Reissue: 1953. (EB). ATP (ABFD). Producer/Director Basil Dean. Cast: Gracie Fields, John Loder, Stanley Holloway. Comedy. Blackpool.

1935:

All At Sea, Fox British. Directed by Anthony Kimmins. Cast: Tyrell Davis, Googie Withers. Comedy. Timid clerk spends legacy on sea cruise and poses as author.

Florrie and George arrive at the hotel at Douglas...

...and George is offered a room with a sea view in No Limit (1935)

No Limit, Reissue: 1946. ATP (ABFD). Produced by Basil Dean, Directed by Monty Banks. Cast: George Formby. Comedy. Isle of Man.

Little Paper People, (ABFD). Producer/Director Margaret Hoyland. Trick. Paper marionettes: Victorian foibles and seaside characters.

1936:

Love At Sea, B & D/ Paramount British. Directed by Adrian Brunel. Cast: Rosalyn Boulter. Comedy. Girl on cruise loves reporter accused of robbing her elderly suitor.

Unlucky Jim, Master (RKO). Directed by Harry S. Marks. Cast: Bob Stevens, Agnes Lenton. Comedy. Adventures of two boys on half-day’s holiday.

1937:

Not Wanted On Voyage, USA: Treachery on the High Seas. Dela Films (BL). Directed by Emil E. Reinert. (Based on play by Maurice Messenger Murder in the Stalls). Cast: Bebe Daniels, Ben Lyon. Comedy. Singer and crooks seek ruby necklace during transatlantic voyage.

Ship’s Concert, WB-FN (Warner). Directed by Leslie Hiscott. Cast: Claude Hulbert, Joyce Kirby. Musical. Luxury cruise passengers put on show to aid stowaway actors.

Catch As Catch Can, Reissue: 1943 (200 ft cut); 1947 Atlantic Episode (Stah) Fox British. Directed by Roy Kellino. Cast: James Mason. Crime. Girl smuggles diamond aboard transatlantic liner and crooks try to steal it.

Change For a Sovereign, WB-FN (FN). Directed by Maurice Elvey. Cast: Seymour Hicks, Chili Bouchier. Comedy. Ruritania. Drunken double takes place of king on holiday.

Transatlantic Trouble, Retitled: Take it From Me, WB-FN (FN) Directed by William Beaudine. Cast: Max Miller. Comedy. Dud boxer elopes on liner with lady and his pursuing manager is mistaken for millionaire.

Non-Stop New York, Reissue: 1947 (NR) Gaumont (GFD). Directed by Robert Stevenson. S (Novel) Ken Attiwell (Sky Steward). Cast: John Loder, Anna Lee. Crime. 1940. Gangsters try to kill chorus-girl witness who stows away in transatlantic airliner.

The Live Wire, Reissue: 1946 (NR) Tudor/Olympic (BL), Directed by Hernert Brenon. S (Play) Stafford Dickens (Plunder in the Air). Cast: Bernard Nedell. Comedy. Yankee trickster reforms and turns worthless land into spa.

Sam Small Leaves Town, Reissue: 1942, It’s Sam Small Again (Fed; 9 mins cut) British Screen Service. Directed by Alfred Goulding. Cast: Stanley Holloway. Comedy. Butlin’s, Skegness.

1938:

Bank Holiday, USA: Three on a Weekend. Reissue: 1951 (GFD; 18 mins cut), Gainsborough (GFD). Directed by Carol Reed. Cast: John Lodge, Margaret Lockwood, Wally Patch, Kathleen Harrison. Drama. Brighton.

Kathleen Harrison and children on the pier in Bank Holiday (1938)

 

John Lodge and Margaret Lockwood try to sleep on the beach in Bank Holiday

It’s In The Blood, WB-FN (FN). Directed by Gene Gerrard. S (Novel) David Whitelaw (The Big Picture). Cast: Claude Hulbert. Comedy. Film fan on day trip to Bologne catches jewel thieves.

Double or Quits, WB-FN (Warner). Directed by Roy William Neill. Cast: Frank Fox. Crime. Reporter is double of thief who steals rare stamps on transatlantic liner.

Hey! Hey! USA! Reissue: 1951 (17 mins cut) Gainsborough (GFD), Directed by Marcel Varnel. Cast: Will Hay, Edgar Kennedy Comedy. Tutor on transatlantic liner mistaken by gangster saves millionaire’s son from kidnappers.

1939:

Inspector Hornleigh on Holiday, 20th. Century Productions (20^th). Directed by Walter Forde. Cast: Gordon Harker, Alistair Sim. Crime.

The Middle Watch, ABPC. (Based on play by Ian King and Stephen King-Hall) Directed by Thomas Bentley. Cast: Jack Buchanan, Greta Gynt. Comedy. Girls accidentally taken to sea aboard battleship must be hidden from admiral.

1940:

Return to Yesterday, Reissue: 1944 (Renown), Ealing/CAPAD (ABFD). Directed by Robert Stevenson, Screenplay (Play) Robert Morley (Goodness, How Sad). Cast: Clive Brook, Anna Lee. Romance. Hollywood star posing as actor joins seaside repertory company and falls for affianced leading lady.

1941:

Gert and Daisy’s Weekend, Reissue: 1945 (Sherwood; 10 mins cut), Butcher. Cast: Elsie Waters, Doris Waters. Comedy. Cockney sisters take evacuees on a trip to the countryside.

1943:

Millions Like Us, Reissue: 1947 (ABFD; cut), Gainsborough (GFD). Cast: Eric Portman, Patricia Roc, Gordon Jackson. War. Family spends peacetime holiday at the seaside prior to Second World War.

1944:

Hotel Reserve, RKO. Directed by Lance Comfort, Max Greene. Cast: James Mason. Crime. France, 1938. Hotel guest unmasks spy who used his camera by mistake

Chaps on the beach in Hotel Reserve (1944)

1945:

Here We Come Gathering, Wallace (GFD). Produced and Directed by Barry Delmaine. Children, Kent. Unpopular boy on fruit-picking holiday rescues girl from sandpit.

1946:

Hands Across The Ocean, Gordon (BL). Directed by Harry Gordon. Cast: Pearl Cameron, Sgt Bill Swyre. Romance. GI and English girl fall in love and tour England.

Under New Management, Reissue: 1948 Honeymoon Hotel (cut). Mancunian (Butcher). Producer and Director John E. Blakeley. Cast: Nat Jackley, Norman Evans. Comedy. Sweep inherits hotel and staffs it with army pals.

Quiet Weekend, ABPC (Pathe). Directed by Harold French. Cast: Derek Farr, Barbara White. Comedy. Family spend hectic weekend of romance and poaching at country cottage.



Bibliography:
Gifford, 2001, Catalogue of British Film