Editing Cinema of the United Kingdom (section)

===Second World War===
{{Quote box|width=28%|bgcolor=#FFFFF0|align=right|quote= "The idea of a nation of devoted cinema-goers is inextricably linked with the number of classic films released during the war years. This was British cinema’s ‘golden age’, a period in which filmmakers such as Humphrey Jennings, David Lean, Powell and Pressburger, and Carol Reed came to the fore."<ref name="War Cinema">{{cite news |title=Going to the pictures: British cinema and the Second World War |url=https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/2810/1/Glancy,_Going_to_the_pictures.pdf |access-date=14 November 2020 |publisher=[[School of Advanced Study]] |archive-date=20 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020000727/https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/2810/1/Glancy,_Going_to_the_pictures.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

Published in ''[[The Times]]'' on 5 September 1939, two days after Britain declared war on Germany, [[George Bernard Shaw]]’s letter protested against a government order to close all places of entertainment, including cinemas. ‘What agent of Chancellor [[Hitler]] is it who has suggested that we should all cower in darkness and terror “for the duration”?’. Within two weeks of the order cinemas in the provinces were reopened, followed by [[central London]] within a month.<ref name="War Cinema"/> In 1940, cinema admissions figures rose, to just over 1 billion for the year, and they continued rising to over 1.5 billion in 1943, 1944 and 1945.<ref name="War Cinema"/>

[[Humphrey Jennings]] began his career as a documentary film maker just before the war, in some cases working in collaboration with co-directors. ''[[London Can Take It]]'' (with [[Harry Watt (director)|Harry Wat]], 1940) detailed [[the Blitz]] while ''[[Listen to Britain]]'' (with [[Stewart McAllister]], 1942) looked at the home front.<ref name="indep3909">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/britains-world-war-ii-films-were-more-than-just-propaganda-1780730.html|title=Britain's World War II films were more than just propaganda|author=Gerard Gilbert|access-date=3 May 2012|work=The Independent|date=3 September 2009|archive-date=2 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902144115/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/britains-world-war-ii-films-were-more-than-just-propaganda-1780730.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Crown Film Unit]],<ref name=indep3909/> part of the [[Ministry of Information (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Information]] took over the responsibilities of the GPO Film Unit in 1940. [[Paul Rotha]] and [[Alberto Cavalcanti]] were colleagues of Jennings. British films began to make use of documentary techniques; Cavalcanti joined [[Ealing Studios|Ealing]] for ''[[Went the Day Well?]]'' (1942),

Many other films helped to shape the popular image of the nation at war. Among the best known of these films are ''[[In Which We Serve]]'' (1942), ''[[We Dive at Dawn]]'' (1943), ''[[Millions Like Us]]'' (1943) and ''[[The Way Ahead]]'' (1944). The war years also saw the emergence of [[Powell and Pressburger|The Archers]] partnership between director Michael Powell and the Hungarian-born writer-producer [[Emeric Pressburger]] with films such as ''[[The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp]]'' (1943) and ''[[A Canterbury Tale]]'' (1944).

[[Two Cities Films]], an independent production company releasing their films through a Rank subsidiary, also made some important films, including the [[Noël Coward]] and David Lean collaborations ''[[This Happy Breed (film)|This Happy Breed]]'' (1944) and ''[[Blithe Spirit (1945 film)|Blithe Spirit]]'' (1945) as well as [[Laurence Olivier]]'s ''[[Henry V (1944 film)|Henry V]]'' (1944). By this time, [[Gainsborough Pictures|Gainsborough]] Studios were releasing their series of critically derided but immensely popular period melodramas, including ''[[The Man in Grey]]'' (1943) and ''[[The Wicked Lady]]'' (1945). New stars, such as [[Margaret Lockwood]] and [[James Mason]], emerged in the Gainsborough films.