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Pick of
the indies
HUMPHREY Jennings’s works chronicled World War II in London – yet they were more than just the Pathé newsreels or a silver screen version of the London Illustrated News.
In a month long season at the Imperial War Museum, some of Jennings’ best known works are being shown.
Jennings was a founding member of the Mass Observation Movement, which encouraged people from all walks of life to keep diaries and has since provided a fascinating look at the social history of the mid-20th century Britain.
He worked for the General Post Office from 1934, and it was here he learned his trade.
The film season includes London Can Take It, a look at the realities of living life under the Blitz. The film was shown across America and galvanised public support of the land-lease programme.
But not all of his films were London-centric – Spring Offensive focussed on the need to co-ordinate agriculture during the war, and make Britain as self-sufficient as possible.
This inspired him to make another film on the bill: The Heart Of Britain, which toured the industrial areas of the North and Midlands, and features interviews with workers in the protected industries and the new wave of female workers who poured into armaments factories.
• The Films of Humphrey Jennings
Until June 2
Imperial War Museum
Lambeth Road
SE1
Call 020 7416 5320/5321
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