Men, War and Film

The Calling Blighty Films of World War II

Steve Hawley

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English

Intellect Books
27 June 2025

Films, movies & cinema; Film theory & criticism; Gender studies: men

A reclamation of a largely unknown genre of British wartime filmmaking.

The Calling Blighty series of films produced by the Combined Kinematograph Service around the end of World War II were one-reel films in which soldiers of the ""Forgotten Army"" gave short spoken messages to the camera as a means of connecting the front line and the home front. Shown in local cinemas, these were the first films in which men spoke openly in their regional accents, and they hold profound meaning for remembrance, documentary representation, and the ecology of film in wartime. Of the four hundred films made on the Far Eastern Front, only sixty-four survive. Until now, however, these films have barely been researched, despite being a valuable source of social history. This book expands the history of Calling Blighty, placing it in a broader context for contemporary audiences.

By: Steve Hawley
Imprint: Intellect Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 244mm, Width: 170mm, Spine: 9mm
Weight: 264g
ISBN: 9781835951071
ISBN 10: 1835951074
Pages: 150
Publication Date: 27 June 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

List of Figures Introduction: Talking with the Dead 1. Death and Disease in the Jungle: The War in Burma 2. The Ecology of Wartime Film 3. Living Letters: How the Films Came About 4. I’m in the Pink: An Overview of the Messages 5. Masculinity and the Soldier’s Tale 6. The Invisible Men: Empire Soldiers and Calling Blighty 7. ‘Dimmed by Happy Tears’: Remembrance, Ritual and Forgetting Conclusion Bibliography Index

Steve Hawley is an artist/filmmaker whose work has been screened worldwide, and has collaborated closely with the North West Film Archive UK. He is emeritus professor at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.