The Politics of Documentary

Abstract

Night Mail occupies an almost mythical place in the history of British cinema. It gave John Grierson's documentary school its first popular success and launched the brilliant composing career of Benjamin Britten. But it was also a corporate promo, commissioned for political effect to stave off Post Office privatization and to improve the morale of restless and underpaid postal workers. Scott Anthony provides a lively appreciation of this vivid, witty, and often eccentric masterpiece. In doing so he uncovers the remarkable stories of civic-minded idealism, creative bitchiness and political trickery that underpin a classic of British documentary cinema.

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