Some of My Best Friends
- Westminster
- 1969
Celebrity endorsement: Stanley Baldwin introduces George Arliss playing the legendary PM
Now here's a curio-and-a-half... A party-political film introduced by Tory leader Stanley Baldwin, in turn introducing George Arliss in a bespoke take on his famous role. Arliss played the legendary Victorian PM on stage and twice on screen, winning an Oscar for his 1929 performance. This curious celebrity endorsement is also a study in the changing art of rhetoric between Disraeli's and Baldwin's eras and our own. Disraeli is the only UK Prime Minister to have been Jewish by birth, though he later joined the Church of England.
GEORGE ARLISS PORTRAYS DISRAELI GIVING EXTRACTS FROM FOUR FAMOUS SPEECHES
This collection uncovers insights, injustices and hidden histories across a century of Jewish life on British screens. It brings together documentary and first-person accounts of Jewish life in the UK, alongside historical dramas and artists’ work exploring the 20th century Jewish experience. The earliest surviving depictions of Jewish characters in British cinema offer a troubling insight into antisemitic representation, yet prejudice was later tackled head-on, with newsreels documenting the anti-fascist movement of the 1930s.
Drop in on joyous family weddings and community gatherings, and see the ways in which UK Jewry supported Jews young and old, and those fleeing persecution, in a selection of fascinating films from the 1900s to the 1980s.
This collection is generously supported by the Neil Kreitman Foundation, Shoresh Charitable Trust, John S Cohen Foundation, and Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation.