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A Call for Arms

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A Call For Arms
Directed byBrian Desmond Hurst
Written byRodney Ackland Screenplay
Brian Desmond Hurst and Sgt. Terence Young
Produced byBrian Desmond Hurst
StarringJean Gillie
Rene Ray
Kathleen Harrision
Colleen Nolan
Edited byRalph Kemplen
Release date
1940
Running time
8 min.
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

A Call For Arms was a short propaganda film made for the British Ministry of Information in 1940. It was directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starred Jean Gillie and Rene Ray as two 'nudes' (showgirls) who do their bit for the war effort by going to work in munition factories. It was co-written by a Sgt. Terence Young who worked for Hurst on many projects before, during and after WW2.

Brian Desmond Hurst in 1976 (portrait by Allan Warren)

Plot

The film opens with the two showgirls coming across a collapsed munitions worker outside the theatre door. "Twelve hour shifts take it out of some of these young 'uns" observes a nearby news-seller. Alongside a billboard gets the message across "Latest War News. Bigger Arms, Speed up. Go For It". The plots follows one of the showgirls signing up at the Labour Exchange for munitions work and tracks her working day. Seeing her friend exhausted the other showgirl signs up. "We've got to win the war you know".

Cast

References