ABSTRACT
That the British film industry, invariably perceived as the “poor cousin” of Hollywood, has been overlooked, would seem to be obvious. Whatever the reason for the neglect, at no time is the lack of attention more obvious than when the period from 1929 to 1939 is considered. Somehow, like an important book on a shelf that loses its prominence when it slips behind the others, becoming hidden from view and forgotten, the British cinema in the thirties has been left relatively unnoticed in the flurry of research recently conducted on motion pictures and on popular culture. This neglect is unfortunate, but it is especially so for the social historian who has so much to learn about contemporary attitudes, perceptions, and values from these motion pictures and from the movie-going experience in general during this decade of economic crisis, uncertainty, and dislocation. Just as in America, during the worst of the Depression, filmgoers in Great Britain flocked to the cinema, no matter how troubled their financial condition. This study has attempted to demonstrate that British features contained rather clear, coherent, philosophic viewpoints that addressed, often implicitly but sometimes explicitly, the various concerns of the people, especially among the working classes, who were living through these troubled times.
