The Lads of the Village
Humour and adventure as the returning heroes of an English village recount their exploits in the Mesopotamian war.
This cheerful mix of wartime spy drama and comedy sees the returning heroes of a small English village recount their exploits in the war in Mesopotamia. German spies have been using a Peace Society as a front for their nefarious activities (the rotters!), but our stout lads are on to them. They finally rout the blackguards while on active service in the Middle East - or at least the English field that stands in for it! The eponymous lads actually include a lass, who joins up as a nurse.
War comedy drama. During the First World War, British soldiers Bert and Erb attempt to thwart an enemy agent on the streets of London, before sailing on a troop ship to Mesopotamia, where they join in the trench warfare against the Turks. Later they dress as harem girls to sneak into the Caliph's palace, where they use a magic show to trick their way to victory. They return to England and marry their beloveds, and Erb wins the Victoria Cross.
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Cinema of WWI
The films made during and just after World War I have a special directness, untainted as they are by layers of mythologising and cliché built up over the decades. There is a great variety of news, comedy and heartrending drama. A genre unique to this period of film production is the battle reconstruction film: the film equivalent of the stone memorials still to be found in every town and village of the UK.
11 videos in this collection
The Lads of the Village
Hedd Wyn
Nurse and Martyr
The German Spy Peril
East Is East
The Somme
How Kitchener Was Betrayed
The Man Who Came Back
Conscription