Mr. Marsh Comes to School (1961)

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Film details

Featuring

Reginald Marsh Hugh Halliday
Director

John Krish
Country

United Kingdom
Year

1961
Genre

Documentary
Type

Film
Category

Non Fiction

Introduction

Made to introduce employment advice for school–leavers, Mr Marsh Comes to School is a striking example of what a talented documentary filmmaker can achieve with an unpromising brief. Thinking of his audience, Krish turned a potentially dreary subject into a quirky delight. The result was that the film continued to be shown in classrooms for years after it was produced, to 14– and 15–year olds contemplating life after school.

The film encourages them to the use the Youth Employment Service but, deeper than that, to look inside themselves. Before they can decide what they want to do with their lives, they need to decide who and what they are. This message is put across using a mixture of actors and real schoolchildren performing a script about a careers officer with magical powers. The filmmakers in turn conjure an enjoyable experience for their viewers using the magic of film – including jump–cuts and reverse action.