Press
The British Postal Museum & Archive celebrates 75th anniversary of Night Mail
12 September 2011
“This is the Night Mail crossing the border,
Bringing the cheque and the postal order,
Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
The shop at the corner and the girl next door.”
You may recognise the poem by W H Auden, used in the critically acclaimed masterpiece Night Mail from 1936. This much-loved film marked the second of five film collaborations between the Auden and the composer Benjamin Britten.
This year sees the 75th anniversary of the film, and to celebrate The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) is putting on a special free screening. Auden scholar and author David Collard will explore the work of the GPO Film Unit and show Night Mail, as well as a selection of films by the Unit, including a variety of rarely seen shots.
The GPO Film Unit was highly innovative and from 1933 until its demise in 1940, many now celebrated talents of cinema and the arts worked for the GPO Film Unit. The films created had a major impact on British film, especially in relation to documentary film making. Benjamin Britten, W.H Auden, William Coldstream, Humphrey Jennings, Alberto Cavalcanti and John Grierson are just some of the names that appear in the credits.
Films produced include documentary, animation, advertising, public information films, drama-documentary and satirical comedy on a range of subjects, from postal rates to working class pastimes. Budgets were small and rigorously enforced, to the extent that an overspend on Night Mail (1936) nearly signalled the end of the Unit.
Laura Dixon, Events Officer at the BPMA commented:
“The creative impact of the GPO Film Unit has been immense, and today the films provide a fascinating insight into the history of communications in the 20th Century and of course, postal history.”
Event details:
Happy Birthday Night Mail: The GPO Film Unit
Thursday 6 October 6.30pm – 8.00pm
The British Postal Museum & Archive, Freeling House, Phoenix Place, London WC1X 0DL
FREE
Please call 020 7239 2570 or email info@postalheritage.org.uk to book your place
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