Humphrey Jennings

BBC: The Voice of Britain

Stuart Legg

Gilbert Keith Chesterton, H.G. Wells

An impressionistic portrait of the BBC.

This Is England

Humphrey Jennings

Edward R. Murrow

Edward R. Murrow narrates Humphrey Jennings' short documentary about life in England during wartime.

The First Days

Humphrey Jennings, Harry Watt

Londoners prepare for war.

The Silent Village

Humphrey Jennings

The true story of the massacre of a small Czech village by the Nazis is retold as if it happened in Wales.

London Can Take It!

Humphrey Jennings, Harry Watt

Quentin Reynolds

A tribute to the courage and resiliency of Britons during the darkest days of the London Blitz.

A Diary for Timothy

Humphrey Jennings

Michael Redgrave, Myra Hess

This brief documentary-style film presents the status of Great Britain near the end of the Second World War by means of a visual diary for a baby boy born in September, 1944. Narration explains to "Timothy" what his family, his neighbors, and his fellow citizens are going through as the war nears its end, and what problems may remain for new Englishmen like Timothy to solve.

The Dim Little Island

Humphrey Jennings

James Fisher, Osbert Lancaster

Osbert Lancaster, James Fisher, John Ormston and Ralph Vaughn Williams meditate on the history and culture of England.

Words for Battle

Humphrey Jennings

Laurence Olivier

Poetry by Rudyard Kipling, John Milton, and William Blake, and excerpts from speeches by Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill, all read by Laurence Olivier, illuminate documentary footage of England during its defense against the Nazi blitz in World War II. This short film serves as both propaganda and as a rallying cry to the British people.

The Heart of Britain

Humphrey Jennings

Documentary by Humphrey Jennings

English Harvest

Humphrey Jennings

A.G. Street

Documentary short made by Humphrey Jennings.

The True Story of Lili Marlene

Humphrey Jennings

The Eighth Army famously adopted a German song in the Western Desert. The Crown Film Unit traces the journey of Lili Marlene from its composition in post-WW1 Hamburg, via Radio Belgrade and the Afrika Korps, through victory in Tunisia and Sicily, to an imagined post-war East End, full of light, music and bananas for sale.

V. 1

Humphrey Jennings

Fletcher Markle

Short documentary on the use of the V-1 Flying Bomb during the German bombings of London.

Listen to Britain

Humphrey Jennings, Stewart McAllister

Chesney Allen, Leonard Brockington

A depiction of life in wartime England during the Second World War. Director Humphrey Jennings visits many aspects of civilian life and of the turmoil and privation caused by the war, all without narration.

Humphrey Jennings: The Man Who Listened to Britain

Kevin Macdonald

James Purefoy, Richard Attenborough

Documentary about Humphrey Jennings, an English documentary filmmaker from the 1930s to 1950.

Spring Offensive

Humphrey Jennings

Documentary short by Humphrey Jennings. The GPO Film Unit was a subdivision of the UK General Post Office. The unit was established in 1933, taking on responsibilities of the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit. Headed by John Grierson, it was set up to produce sponsored documentary films mainly related to the activities of the GPO.

Fires Were Started

Humphrey Jennings

George Gravett, Phillip Wilson-Dickson

British film written and directed by Humphrey Jennings, filmed in documentary style showing the lives of firefighters through the Blitz in World War II.