This thesis is an examination of British films which discuss and propose the reconstruction of the built enviromnent. It concentrates on the period 1939-51 but also looks at those films made during the inter-war period. It examines how and why the films were produced, and how they present the issues of reconstruction. The particular aims are to see what the films might tell us about the relationship between planners, architects, politicians and the ordinary people - the people who would be the beneficiaries of reconstruction. Secondly, to ascertain what impact the films had on popular attitudes to town planning and building. The main findings are that the films were considered a very important way of communicating with the general public and that they were specifically designed to widen the debate and the process of reconstruction beyond the professionals to ordinary citizens. However, despite these noble and sincere aims the films had only limited effect in achieving this. As a result of studying the production and distribution of the films one has also a better understanding of the relationship between film-makers and the government propaganda agencies to which they were contracted. The most important conclusion from this aspect of the research is that they were highly constrained in the kind of films on reconstruction they could make despite their efforts to produce radical work. Finally the Central Office of Information films of the post-war period show that the Labour Government was similarly committed to involving and informing the people in the new world that they planned to build.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:527106 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Haggith, Toby |
| Publisher | University of Warwick |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/3963/ |
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