Ealing at War

“What these films showed was that the working man would come up trumps – they were salt of the earth, they were feisty, they were resilient, and they were going to pull together to prove their worth”

– Juliet Gardiner

Ealing was one of only three major pre-war studios in Britain to continue production throughout World War II. Michael Balcon’s studio turned over virtually all its production – even comedies starring George Formby or Will Hay – to war stories, stressing ordinary heroism and the shared struggle across all communities, classes and regions. Thanks to this ‘people’s war’ agenda, Ealing found itself in tune with the public mood.

In this revealing short film, historian Juliet Gardiner and BFI curator Mark Duguid take us back to wartime Britain. We explore Ealing’s key themes, people and films, and uncover how the studio forged a distinctive style and identity which carried it through the war years and well beyond.

BFI Screenonline links

Screenonline is our online encyclopaedia of British film and television, featuring hundreds of hours of film and television clips from the vast collections of the BFI National Archive.

• Ealing Studios
• Ealing at War
• Ealing Propaganda Shorts
• San Demetrio London (1943)
• The Bells Go Down (1943)
• The Next of Kin (1942)
• Went the Day Well (1942)
• Michael Balcon
• Alberto Cavalcanti
• Harry Watt