Savings Cavalcade

1943
Sound
17m

An entertaining wartime promotional film for the National Savings campaign thatshoehorns in three variety acts.

An entertaining promotional film for National Savings that shoehorns in three variety acts. Life in the Home Guard can have its dull moments, so while on guard duty three members reflect on the value of National Savings (as you would), thus introducing into the proceedings George Robey (comic patter), Stanley Holloway (comic monologue) and Pat Kirkwood (trilling a song). No, it doesn't make sense, but it's fun nonetheless.

The large-scale sequences showing soldiers leaving for the front at a railway station and the end of war celebrations in Trafalgar Square are taken from the film Cavalcade (US, 1933), possibly accounting for the title of this film.

WWII at the Pictures

Once the cinemas were declared open for business, the film industry kept the reels turning, serving up a mixed diet of news, morale-boosting propaganda and uplifting entertainment.

In the early days of the war, cinemas were closed as a public safety measure, but authorities were soon persuaded of film's many virtues in wartime. Newsreels kept spirits up and relayed vital information, documentaries rigorously explored every aspect of life and work on the home front, and an array of animations and short films imparted practical tips and guidance.

Feature films, meanwhile, offered equal parts inspiring wartime stories and escapist fantasy to bring relief from everyday trials. And with gender roles evolving and so many men away from home, producers were forced to pay more attention (long overdue!) to the tastes and interests of women cinemagoers - with fascinating and enduring results.