British Cinema and the Manipulation of Public Opinion During the Inter-war Years

Merle Kenneth Peirce, Rhode Island College

Abstract

Little notice has been paid to the British film industry and the way in which it was able to effect changes during the inter-war years, in particular 1930-1939. Members of the Foreign office and the Special Intelligence Services were able, through the subtle choice and influencing of specific filmic texts, to bring the British populace from a pacifist attitude, to one of resigned acceptance of the inevitability of war and the need for re-armament in the face of a growing German menace.