Humphrey Jennings — Director (16)
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Myra Hess (1945)
Myra Hess IMDb TMDB
Humphrey Jennings actor: Myra Hess
A concert short spotlighting Dame Myra Hess performing the first movement of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, “Appassionata.” Filmed in an intimate hall setting, it focuses on her touch and phrasing, presenting the movement as a self-contained showcase of her artistry.
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The Eighty Days (1944)
The Eighty Days IMDb TMDB
Humphrey Jennings actor: Edward R. Murrow
Humphrey Jennings’s Crown Film Unit short on the summer 1944 V-1 “doodlebug” campaign, tracking a salvo from the coast toward London as it runs Britain’s layered defenses—coastal AA guns, RAF fighters, and barrage balloons—capturing both interception and impact in a stark report of terror and resilience.
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The True Story of Lili Marlene (1944)
The True Story of Lili Marlene WikiData IMDb TMDB
Humphrey Jennings
The Eighth Army famously adopted a German song in the Western Desert. The Crown Film Unit traces the journey of Lili Marlene from its composition in post-WW1 Hamburg, via Radio Belgrade and the Afrika Korps, through victory in Tunisia and Sicily, to an imagined post-war East End, full of light, music and bananas for sale.
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Cargoes (1939)
Cargoes IMDb TMDB
Humphrey Jennings
Shot in mid-1939 as S.S. Ionian (also shown as Her Last Trip), Humphrey Jennings’s GPO short follows the Royal Mail steamer on a last peacetime run through the Mediterranean—Gibraltar, Malta, Alexandria, Haifa—under the gaze of the Mediterranean Fleet (HMS Barham, Malaya, Warspite). After the Ionian was sunk by a German mine on 29 November 1939 en route from Crete to Hull, the film was recut and released as Cargoes.
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Family Portrait (1950)
Family Portrait WikiData IMDb TMDB
Humphrey Jennings actor: Michael Goodliffe
In preparation for the celebration of the 1951 Festival of Britain, this short film was released to assure British citizens of their nation's place in the world and of their own places within that nation. Illustrative scenes of farming, science, political, and social life are juxtaposed to present a familiar and reassuring image of Britain.
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Penny Journey (1938)
Penny Journey IMDb TMDB
Humphrey Jennings
As the subtitle of the film suggests - The Story of a Post Card from Manchester to Graffham - this journey is very much focused on the process of sorting, transporting and delivering the postcard in question.
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The Heart of Britain (1941)
The Heart of Britain IMDb TMDB
Humphrey Jennings
The Heart of Britain (1941) depicts wartime life in the North and Midlands, contrasting tranquil countryside with the grit of industry. From Sheffield steelworkers and Lancashire cotton mills to ARP squads, concerts, and choirs, the film highlights resilience in the face of bombing and concludes with the building of a Whitley bomber as a symbol of Britain’s strength.
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A Defeated People (1946)
A Defeated People WikiData IMDb TMDB
Humphrey Jennings actor: William Hartnell
other title: Ein besiegtes Volk
A Defeated People is a 1946 British documentary short film made by the Crown Film Unit, directed by Humphrey Jennings and narrated by William Hartnell. The film depicts the shattered state of Germany, both physically and as a society, in the immediate aftermath of World War II. The narration explains what is being done – and what needs to be done – both by the occupying Allied forces and the German people themselves to build a better Germany from the ruins.
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Movie

Words for Battle (1941)
Words for Battle WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban
Humphrey Jennings actor: Laurence Olivier / Winston Churchill …
other title: 战争之言
Poetry by Rudyard Kipling, John Milton, and William Blake, and excerpts from speeches by Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill, all read by Laurence Olivier, illuminate documentary footage of England during its defense against the Nazi blitz in World War II. This short film serves as both propaganda and as a rallying cry to the British people.