The directors, harry watt and basil wright, followed the night mail train from. Major new collection of rare railway films unveiled on bfi player. Night mail premiered on 4 february 1936 at the cambridge arts theatre in cambridge, england in a launch programme for the venue. In the documentary night mail 1936, john grierson narrates the opening scene with wh audens poem of the same name, night mail. Night mail is widely considered a masterpiece of the british documentary film movement.
Audens famous poem recited to the rhythm of the rushing wheels of the train. This difference may be technological, physical, historical, sociological, philosophical, metaphysical, etc, but. I started out with a download from the gutenberg project its well into the public domain but found a beautiful scan of an illustrated version on forgotten futures linked from wikipedia which also includes as easy as a. A promotional documentary film produced by the general post office and featuring a poem written for it by wh auden, with a score by benjamin britten. Night mail by w h auden famous poems, famous poets. It tells the story of the special postal express train collecting, sorting and delivering mail as it travels overnight from london to glasgow. Auden was written for it, used in the closing few minutes, as was music by benjamin britten. This song contains samples from the 1936 movie night mail about the london, midland and scottish railway lms mail train. Lyric through the night wednesday 22 january 2020 lyric through. Find out when and where you can watch night mail on tv with the full listings schedule at. Bringing together the creative talents of harry watt, basil wright, wh auden and benjamin britten, the film gave john griersonas documentary school its first popular success. The most famous is the night mail, about a mail train from london to scotland, produced by the gpo film unit.
There can certainly be no more evocative, cinematic subject than the. It is not to be confused with the 1936 documentary night mail. The vital contribution made by postal workers was celebrated in the 1936 gpo film night mail, with w. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. Auden reading a selection of his poetry 1961 date of recording. Night mail takes as its subject matter from the eponymous film of 1936, a pioneering documentary film produced by the general post office and the royal mail group. It is partscripted by wh auden with the famous refrain.
All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. Download the tv guide app for iphone, ipad and android. Night mail, 1936, black and white, sound film, 24 minutes. The milky way is a 1936 american comedy film starring harold lloyd. Take advantage of great prices on bluray, 4k, merchandise, games, clothing and more. Three classic documentaries the case for global film. Major new collection of rare railway films unveiled on bfi. Night mail 1936 is one of the bestloved and bestknown films in the canon of british documentary cinema.
Its general release gained critical praise and became a classic of its own kind, much imitated by adverts and modern film shorts. It shows the special train on which mail is sorted, dropped and collected on the run, and delivered in scotland on the overnight run from euston, london to glasgow. The directors, harry watt and basil wright, followed the night mail train from london to glasgow, carrying letters for all and sundry. Dont miss the w h auden poem night mail toward the end of the film. The night mail 1936 benjamin britten began writing music for documentary short films in the 1930s. The post includes the context and reference of the poem too. The units bestknown film is night mail, made in 1936, showing the overnight express carrying the post from london to edinburgh. Two films unseen and remastered, spotlight on the night mail uk 1948 and thirty million letters uk 1963 night mail 2 uk 1986 and way to the sea holmes 1936. Setting the original words of the documentary including the much loved night mail poem to a song that evokes the rhythm, speed and excitement of the railway in the era. Night mail 1936 gpo documentary poster artwork border.
Drawing inspiration from jean renoirs sundappled and racially sensitive the southerner 1945, also restored by the archive as well as the poetic documentaries of basil wright one of burnetts teachers at ucla, such as song of ceylon 1934 and night mail 1936, killer of sheep achieves a deeply felt intensity with nonprofessional. The plow that broke the plains is one of the cornerstone documentaries in american film. Movie id, movie name, year 0000008,edison kinetoscopic. Nightmail 1 by aphex twin sampled cal tjaders solar heat.
Aphex twins nightmail 1 sample of cal tjaders solar. This was the most popular of the 1930 british documentary films. In this awardwinning, impressionistic short documentary, robert, an exwelder from the shipyard area of govan in glasgow, reflects on his discovery of literature and how words have become his tools of the trade. Here are the summary and short questions notes for the poem night mail by w.
The poet describes the journey of the coach night mail. Directed by comedy veteran leo mccarey, the film was written by grover jones, frank butler and richard connell based on a play of the same name by lynn root and harry clork which was presented on broadway in 1934. From turksib to nightmail dual format edition from zavvi, the home of pop culture. Many of the classics of british cinema from night mail 1936 to brief encounter 1945 have demonstrated britains love affair with the railways. The poem night mail summary and questions notes zahid notes. The death of the film director pat jackson breaks the last link with the pioneer british documentary movement of the 1930s, and with its masterpiece night mail 1936, on which he worked as a. Night mail has been remastered and digitally restored, and beautifully packaged in a clamshell box. More strictly a novelette, with the night mail comes in at only,000 words and 60ish pages. Night mail 1936 online series films gratis kijken op pc. The way to the sea uk, 1936 features verse by auden and music by britten spotlight on the night mail uk, 1948 thirty million letters uk, 1963 night mail 2 uk, 1986 updated version of night mail featuring poetry by blake morrison fully illustrated booklet with essays by author blake morrison, film composer miguel mera and more. See more ideas about short film, film and 21st century. This summary of the poem is best for 1st year students. Aug 8, 2019 21st century rediscovery of short films from various sources.
By employing benjamin britten to score films like coal face 1935 and night mail 1936, the father of the documentary, scotsman john grierson, used music to emphasize the genres potentially magical qualities and ability to reveal deeper. The night mail 1936 great british composers on film. Science fiction often called scifi or sf is a popular genre of fiction in which the narrative world differs from our own present or historical reality in at least one significant way. Whether you prefer print or digital download, its all there to. Deutsch stream german night mail ist ein kurzer 25 minuten schwarzwei.
The flagship of the gpo film units output and a cornerstone of british documentary. Most notably, it contains the poem written and spoken by writer w. Night mail is a 1936 documentary film about a london, midland and scottish railway lms mail train from london to scotland, produced by the gpo film unit. This page was last edited on 10 september 2018, at 23. With arthur clark, john grierson, stuart legg, robert rae. Shows the special train on which mail is sorted, dropped and this is the night mail wh auden youtube. Auden was written for it and used in the closing few minutes, as was brittens music. On the overnight aberdeen mail train, demented violinist mancini henry oscar attempts to murder judge sir jacob march c. Harry watt and basil wrights study of the down postal express stands as a beacon for john griersons original purpose for documentary to make the working man the hero of the screen. In 1936 britten and the poet w h auden, also briefly employed at the film unit, collaborated on night mail, probably the most celebrated of all 1930s documentary films.
Listen to both songs on whosampled, the ultimate database of sampled music, cover songs and remixes. Night mail is a short 25 minute black and white documentary made in 1936. Night mail movie tv listings and schedule tv guide. Long before emails and mobile phones had been dreamt of the only means of coordinating the system and ensuring safe delivery was the telephone, and this was used to perfect effect as the arrival of the night mail train would be phoned through from one station to the next down the line, accurate to the last minute, this being essential for the. One of the most critically acclaimed, bestloved and most iconic films produced within the british documentary movement, night mail 1936 tells the fascinating story of the travelling post office from euston to glasgow and the men who worked on it. 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, the girl next door.
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