ABSTRACT
Since 1937 the production side of the industry had been steadily disintegrating and there were no signs of a returning confidence. Rumours of war made things worse. But the war itself produced a sudden burst of creative activity which greatly enriched the cinema’s material and aided its development. The documentary movement had been from the first a purposive effort of propaganda and succeeded through its single-minded devotion to causes. Early in 1939 when war seemed inevitable Alexander Korda produced The Lion Has Wings, a film directed by three different hands, Michael Powell, Brian Desmond Hurst and Adrian Brunel. Desert Victory was produced by David Macdonald and directed and edited by Roy Boulting. The True Glory is the official record of Allied operations from 1939 until D Day and took a year to produce.
