The Essay - British Cinema of the 40s
Simon Heffer re-interprets 1940s British films in terms of their social and political message. He traces cinema's move from galvanising the public during the war to later challenging the class system
The Essay - British Cinema of the 40s - A Canterbury Tale
Simon Heffer celebrates the 1944 Powell and Pressburger film A Canterbury Tale, focusing on its images of the English countryside, as something to preserve and a pointer to change.
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The Essay - British Cinema of the 40s - Kind Hearts and Coronets
Simon Heffer explores how the 1949 Ealing comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets attacked England's legal system, class system, the church and the City of London.
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The Essay - British Cinema of the 40s - The Blue Lamp
Simon Heffer explores the Ealing film The Blue Lamp portrays a fractured post-war world, going against established wartime images of a cohesive and deferential society.
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The Essay - British Cinema of the 40s - The Small Back Room
Simon Heffer explores how the 1949 Powell and Pressburger film The Small Back Room told a wartime story in very different ways to movies made during the war.
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The Essay - British Cinema of the 40s - Went the Day Well?
In a series on classic 1940s British films, Simon Heffer explores Went the Day Well?. It creates a utopian vision of rural peace, suggesting a less class-bound future society.
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