Christmas Under Fire (1941)

Directed by

Harry Watt

Genre

documentary film, Christmas film

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

10 min

Rating

6.6 of 10 from 8 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A short documentary shows British civilians celebrating Christmas traditions during the 1940 bombings. It highlights their determination to maintain normal life despite the hardships of war.

resilientpatrioticobservationalhopefulsombernostalgicearnestpropagandistic

What happens

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. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short, which was won by Churchill's Island. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• A Letter from Home (1941)
• Churchill's Island (1941)
• The Battle of London (1941)
• London Can Take It! (1940)
• Rush Hour (1941)
• London Scrapbook (1942)
• Words for Battle (1941)
• An Airman's Letter to His Mother (1941)