ABSTRACT
This chapter assesses the scoring practices in British war movies from 1945 to 1980, charting the development of a martial idiom borrowed from military and ceremonial music, and the various ways in which specific national characteristics—including an eccentric spirit of comic-book adventuring—were emphasized musically. In the 1960s and 1970s, music helped the genre become a more thoughtful reflection on issues associated with war, yet the romanticized portrayal of resilience in the face of impossible odds could still, with a little musical help, turn some of the worst defeats in British military history into a source of fierce national pride.
