Appendix 3.2: Sample films - Synopses and character groups
THE WICKED IADY UK 45 "
|
14 |
Local landowners at the meeting Ralph calls to |
4 |
|
15 |
Guests at the Cottrell christening________________ |
4____ |
|
16 |
Ned Cottrell_______________________________________ |
3_____ |
|
17 |
Ned Cottrell's colleague on the bullion coach |
4_____ |
|
18 |
Guards on the bullion coach_______________________ |
4_____ |
|
19 |
Crowd on the frozen Thames________________________ |
4_____ |
|
20 |
Barkers f or the cockfight on the frozen Thames |
4_____ |
|
21 |
Doctor attending Barbara after Hogarth's death |
4____ |
|
22 |
Coachman driving Barbara in London________________ |
4____ |
|
23 |
Priest at the gallows where Jackson is hung_______ |
4____ |
|
24 |
Man checking gallows rope |
4_____ |
|
25 |
Group of men, Kit's friends, at the gallows brawl |
4____ |
|
26 |
Messenger bringing news that Jackson may not be |
4 |
THE DAM BUSTERS dir Michael Anderson UK 1955
The film recounts the details of a celebrated incident from
the second world war in which the Ruhr dams were breached
using a specially invented bouncing bomb. The action takes
place during the year between Spring 1942 and May 1943,
beginning with the inventor, Barnes Wallis' (Michael Redgrave)
conception of the idea and ending with the successful
completion of the bombing mission announced in the BBC news'
definitive public account of the operation.
The major part of the narrative is taken up with various forms
of struggle: that of the inventor in perfecting his idea and
overcoming Whitehall inertia in getting it developed; that of
training the specially formed sguadron of experienced fighter
pilots in the particular and dangerous flight techniques
required for the mission; and that of the bombing run itself.
Here the struggle is a straightforward one against the
obstacle of the enemy defences.
Thus imagination and faith (Barnes Wallis), courage and skill
(Gibson and the squadron) and perseverance against odds which
often seem insurmountable are offered as the combination of
qualities required for a successful outcome. There are
various asides in the representation of these differing
endeavours which locate the narrative securely in the UK of
the mid fifties. These special qualities of the heroic
figures of world war two are borrowed, as it were, to
substantiate a mythic view of Britishness which, with
historical hindsight, seems to have been particularly dominant
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