Celluloid War Memorials: The British Instructional Films Company and the Memory of the Great War

by Mark Connelly

Overview

Creating Celluloid War Memorials for the British Empire looks at the British Instructional Film company and its production of war re-enactments and documentaries during the mid to late 1920s. It is both a work of cinema history and a study of the public’s memory of World War I. As Mark Connelly shows, these films, made in the decade following the end of the war, helped to shape the way in which that war was remembered, and may be understood as microhistories that reveal vital information about perceptions of the Great War, national and imperial identities, the role of cinema as a shaper of attitudes and identities, power relations between Britain and the United States, and the nature of popular culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780859899987
Publisher:	University of Exeter Press
Publication date:	12/22/2016
Series:	Exeter Studies in Film History
Pages:	339
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Mark Connelly is professor of modern British military history at the University of Kent. 

Table of Contents

Illustrations vii

Acknowledgements ix

Introduction 1

1 Forging an Identity: The Battle of Jutland (1921) and Armageddon (1923) 33

2 Twisting the Dragon's Tail: Zeebrugge (1924) 64

3 Filming the Holy Ground of British Arms: Ypres (1925) 99

4 Retreating to Victory: Mom (1926) 146

5 Praising the Not-So-Silent Service: The Battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands (1927) 199

Epilogue and conclusion 246

Notes 271

Sources and Bibliography 307

Index 324

Editorial Reviews

"Connelly's Celluloid War Memorials is an indispensable addition to the field of British film history and to film studies and history more broadly.  The book is a landmark study of a British production company.  But more than that, Connelly has written a book which productively connects industry, audience, and cultural memory, and in the process provides an important piece of the puzzle that is the ever changing cultural memory of the Great War in Britain."

University of Southampton Michael Hammond

Celluloid War Memorials covers a fascinating subject and Professor Connelly reveals interesting and thought-provoking ideas about how the past - even the immediate past - is remembered and memorialized by individuals and society.

The Western Front Association - Kathy Stevenson

"Celluloid War Memorials covers a fascinating subject and Professor Connelly reveals interesting and thought-provoking ideas about how the past - even the immediate past - is remembered and memorialised by individuals and society." Kathy Stevenson, The Western Front Association Stand To!, Number 11, May 2018 "This is a convincing and important contribution to the field ... this promises to provide a depth to our understanding of the history and tradition of documentary in British film production at this time. I look forward to reading it when it comes out. Mark Connelly's Celluloid War Memorials is an indispensable addition to the field of British Film History and to Film Studies and History more broadly. The book is a landmark study of a British production company. But more than that, Connelly has written a book which productively connects industry, audience and cultural memory, and in the process provides an important piece of the puzzle that is the ever changing cultural memory of the Great War in Britain." Michael Hammond, Department of Film Studies, University of Southampton "BIF [British Instructional Films] and their WW1 [World War 1] films have received little attention by scholars, despite their box office success and critical acclaim at the time of their release the role of the films as a 'surrogate language' for veterans is particularly interesting and productive, as is the argument that the films might be understood as 'celluloid war memorials'. The intention to concentrate on contexts of reception is particularly interesting in this regard and promises to offer a fresh insight into the productions. Another major strength is the emphasis it places on the circulation of the films outside Britain itself, within the Empire and further afield. This really is original and has the potential to result in some ground-breaking work." Lawrence Napper, Film Studies Department, King's College London

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