The Battle of the Somme (film)
The Battle of the Somme (1916) was a documentary and propaganda film made by British official cinematographers Geoffrey Malins and John McDowell during World War I. Though intended as patriotic propaganda, the film gave, for its time, a very graphic portrayal of trench warfare, showing dead and dying British and German soldiers.
Malins and McDowell shot the film before and during the Battle of the Somme, which started on 1 July 1916. They staged some of the scenes of troops going "over the top" before the battle started, but Malins captured many of the most famous scenes on the first day of the battle, when stationed near the front at Beaumont Hamel. From this position he filmed iconic images of the detonation of the massive mine beneath Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt as well as of the preparations and advance of the 1st Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers of the British 29th Division. (This same battalion had won six VCs at W Beach during the landing at Cape Helles, Gallipoli on April 25, 1915.)
Malins and McDowell did not set out to make a feature film, but once the volume and quality of their footage had been seen in London, the British Topical Committee for War Films decided to compile a feature-length film. William F. Jury produced the work, and it was edited by Malins and Charles Urban.
The completed film spanned five reels and lasted 62 minutes and 50 seconds. Its first screening took place to an invited audience at the Scala Theatre on 10 August 1916, while the battle still raged. On 21 August the film began showing simultaneously in 34 London cinemas, opening in provincial cities the following week. The Royal Family received a private screening at Windsor Castle in September. The film was eventually shown in 18 countries.
British soldiers at rest in France also saw the film: here it provided new recruits with some idea of what they might soon face. The soldiers' main complaint was the failure of the film to capture the sound of battle. However, for a silent film, the titles could be remarkably forthright, describing images of injury and death.
British authorities showed the film to the public as a morale-booster and in general it met with a favourable reception. Some considered it immoral to broadcast scenes of violence, the Dean of Durham protesting "against an entertainment which wounds the heart and violates the very sanctity of bereavement". Others complained that such a serious film shared the cinema programme with comedy films. The British public responded to the film massively, purchasing an estimated 20 million tickets in two months. On this basis, The Battle of the Somme remains one of the most successful British films ever made.
However, historians believe that a lot of the available footage was censored from the final version shown to the public, as the War Office wanted the film to contain footage that would support the war effort and raise morale, which it did very successfully.