Christmas Under Fire (1940)

Interesting facts

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Christmas Under Fire is a 1941 British short documentary film directed by Harry Watt for the Crown Film Unit of the Ministry of Information. It was conceived as propaganda primarily for an American audience, to raise support for the Allied cause during the Second World War. Produced in the context of German bombings of British cities, it depicts the resilience of British civilians despite the hardships they suffered during the 1940 Christmas, by showing the continuation of Christmas traditions in the face of the disruptions caused by war. The film is a sequel to London Can Take It!, with the same narrator, Quentin Reynolds.

Production

Christmas Under Fire was produced by the Crown Film Unit of the Ministry of Information, commissioned as a sequel to London Can Take It. It was designed primarily for distribution in America and, in order to increase the film's appeal to an American audience, Quentin Reynolds from the magazine Collier's Weekly was chosen as the film's narrator; Reynolds had previously written and narrated two other British propaganda films, London Can Take It and…

The film was produced in the context of The Blitz, the series of German bombing raids on British cities that began in September 1940. A central message of the film is that "life goes on", with Christmas traditions continuing despite disruption caused by bombing.

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