Bully Boy

1914
Silent
6m

Lightning sketch propaganda stirs outrage about Reims bombing, and features a British bulldog eating the German sausage

The bombing of Reims Cathedral in the early months of WWI was perfect propaganda material for the Allied Powers: here, the appropriately named illustrator Lancelot Speed rattles off lightning sketches of Kaiser 'Bully Boy' Wilhelm and the Gothic edifice. The action then picks up as - with the aid of cotton wool and scissors - the building tumbles.

In what was the first of four Bully Boy films by Speed, things then take a little turn for the weird. The Kaiser morphs into a sausage which is cooked under the watchful gaze of Lord Kitchener, before the British bulldog appears to wolf it down. Britons, Lord Kitchener wants you to eat sausages! God save the King.

The First World War

From the home front to the front line: life during the 'war to end all wars' as seen through the lens of newsreel, propaganda and drama.

Films made and shown in Britain between 1914 and 1918 reflect the scale and horror of the unfolding conflict across multiple theatres of war, but also capture a nation trying to get on with everyday life. Filmmakers shot everything from local events and celebrations to short comedies that provided a much-needed dose of light relief in difficult times. Insights into the changing role of women in wartime and Britain's reliance on colonial troops can also be found.

After WWI, Armistice Day and Remembrance ceremonies were often caught on film, while British cinema produced epic dramas addressing the experiences of the Great War into the 1920s and beyond.