The Complete Humphrey Jennings

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

The Complete Humphrey Jennings



Volume One: The First Days
Widely considered one of Britain's greatest documentary filmmakers, Humphrey Jennings has long been critically acclaimed for films which beautifully evoke everyday heroism in times of war and peace. Combining poetic observation and humanism with a subtle yet intense national feeling that is also very personal, Jennings was a visionary and progressive patriot in the tradition of Williams Blake and Morris. For the first time ever, The British Film Institute will release the complete films of Humphrey Jennings. This, the first of three volumes, gathers 14 films from the period 1934-1940 and provides a fascinating insight into Jennings' early days as a filmmaker learning and developing his craft. It features the critically acclaimed Spare Time and London Can Take It! as well as some previously neglected works, many of which will be available for the first time since their original release.

Films:
Post Haste (1934)
Locomotives (1934)
The Story of the Wheel (1934)
Farwell Topsails (1937)
Penny Journey (1938)
Speaking from America (1938)
The Farm (1938)
Making Fashion (1938)
Spare Time (1939)
SS Ionian (1939)
The First Days (1939)
Spring Offensive (1940)
Welfare of the Workers (1940)
London Can Take it! (1940)

Volume Two: Fires Were Started



From the rousing call to arms of The Heart of Britain and Words for Battle to the poetic evocation of daily life during wartime in Listen to Britain and the powerfully resonating drama of Fires Were Started and The Silent Village, the films included in this volume offer a lyrical portrait of the nation at war and a moving celebration of Britishness. Widely considered to be one of Britain’s greatest filmmakers, Humphrey Jennings (1907–1950) is best known for films which beautifully evoke everyday heroism in times of war and peace. Combining poetic observation and humanism with a subtle yet intense national feeling that is also very personal, Jennings was a visionary and progressive patriot.

Films:
The Heart of Britain (1941)
Words for Battle (1941)
Listen to Britain (1941)
Fires Were Started (1943)
The Silent Village (1943)

Special features
- Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition
- This is England (1941, 10 mins): alternative cut of The Heart of Britain
- I Was a Fireman (1943, 74 mins): Jennings’ original cut of Fires Were Started
- 40-page illustrated booklet with essays, film notes and biographies

[What A Disgrace]

Oh Sweet Joy... Oh Dog's Bollocks.
Courtesy of Cinemaretro -
The Complete Humphrey Jennings Collection box set: The documentary works of the multi-talented British filmmaker Humphrey Jennings (1907-1950) are collected together. Includes the classic wartime films Listen to Britain (1942), Fires were Started (1943) and A Diary for Timothy (1946). (August)

Suddenly, my dreams came true.

[MichaelB]

I see someone's let the cat out of the bag!

Yes, this has been on the cards for ages, and I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark (I don't think there's been a single instance of the question being asked when I haven't been fully aware of the answer) - but as you'll probably appreciate from the title alone, this isn't the kind of project that can be dashed off in a few weeks. Especially not if you want to do it properly.

Oh, and I don't know any more than you now already know - not even the format.

[What A Disgrace]

Considering that a sample John Krish's work got the HD treatment, I'd be disappointed if perhaps the most famous figure of the entire British documentary movement didn't get the same courtesy when the time rolled around to collect his body of work into one package.

DVD or Blu-ray, its still a dream release, and just hearing that it is coming has inspired me to finally get back to the Shadows of Progress set (which I only ceased watching because one of the films affected me so deeply that I consider myself traumatized).

[MichaelB]

(which I only ceased watching because one of the films affected me so deeply that I consider myself traumatized).

Yes, Sunday by the Sea and its Cockney music-hall accompaniment is pretty disturbing, isn't it?

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Considering that a sample John Krish's work got the HD treatment, I'd be disappointed if perhaps the most famous figure of the entire British documentary movement didn't get the same courtesy when the time rolled around to collect his body of work into one package.

A propos of which I hope there will be a little supplement by Krish on his time with Jennings, which expands on his recent interviews.
What with Jennings, Krish, Ponting, Skolimowski, Svankmajer,Keiller,Bunuel,Dineen and more Ozu it looks like that the BFI are again the team to beat this year.

[knives]

Really I think the whole year is turning out so good that it's a simple boon for the whole of film fans. Like you said BFI is turning out the deep cuts with a lot of premiers in the formats, Second Run continues to be their glorious selves, MOC is giving us some wonderful overlooked films from known auteurs, Criterion is finally living up to it's reputation again, Kino is slowly becoming their own best defense, and Raro's American premier couldn't be any better. That's just looking to the obvious guys too leaving out dozens of great companies even greater work.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Really I think the whole year is turning out so good that it's a simple boon for the whole of film fans. Like you said BFI is turning out the deep cuts with a lot of premiers in the formats, Second Run continues to be their glorious selves, MOC is giving us some wonderful overlooked films from known auteurs, Criterion is finally living up to it's reputation again, Kino is slowly becoming their own best defense, and Raro's American premier couldn't be any better. That's just looking to the obvious guys too leaving out dozens of great companies even greater work.

I agree with you that the spoils are rich already this year but for me this Jennings set will be the benchmark and will only be equalled if MoC do something miraculous with the Epstein legacy.

[knives]

I'm totally embarrassed that I know nothing about Jennings. Deep End is actually what I'm most excited about, though as you said Epstein. I'm really ignorant about docs on the whole(though I've got the Krish set pre-ordered because why not). It won't take much to sell me on this, but could you do a little selling.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

I'm totally embarrassed that I know nothing about Jennings. Deep End is actually what I'm most excited about, though as you said Epstein. I'm really ignorant about docs on the whole(though I've got the Krish set pre-ordered because why not). It won't take much to sell me on this, but could you do a little selling.

Well as a quick response here's some more erudite people than me's summary of Jennings career here... and when I'm not on me dinner I'll be back with my own thoughts.

[knives]

That sounds splendid. I definitely prefer less than straight forward documentary film making and have enjoyed the small handful of GPO films I've seen so this should be a stunning set for me.

[zedz]

Tremendous news! I didn't know for sure this was coming, but it was inconceivable to me that the BFI wouldn't be working on this project given their recent form.

Jennings is an absolutely crucial British filmmaker, with impact far beyond the strictly documentary, and he's also a fascinating character in other ways: I'm sure the BFI will provide heaps of context. Are there any good documentaries on Jennings, or Pandaemonium, or Mass Observation in general?

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Tremendous news! I didn't know for sure this was coming, but it was inconceivable to me that the BFI wouldn't be working on this project given their recent form.

Jennings is an absolutely crucial British filmmaker, with impact far beyond the strictly documentary, and he's also a fascinating character in other ways: I'm sure the BFI will provide heaps of context. Are there any good documentaries on Jennings, or Pandaemonium, or Mass Observation in general?

On Moviemail's Jennings collection you will find Kevin MacDonald's hour plus documentary on Jennings. Re Mass Observation There is a plethora of wartime MO diaries published but I know of no dedicated documentary film material. A very readable account of this period is Angus Calder's People's War which goes into the tensions between the Ministry of Information and the morale of the society it was trying to marshall to defend our green and pleasant land. It was Jennings genius in being able to portray the sentiment of 'all that is good and great' in humanity without betraying those class tensions or falling into trite sentimentality and jingoism that make these films definitive not just in terms of British society but the poetic strand of documentary making that has all but been smothered since.

[MichaelB]

I can also thoroughly recommend Kevin Jackson's biography - which, bizarrely, doesn't seem ever to have come out in paperback.

And yes, absolutely what Zedz said - Jennings is unarguably one of the most important figures across the whole of British cinema history. The only reason he isn't far more fêted than he is is because he specialised almost exclusively in short documentaries for commercial concerns like the GPO or overtly propagandist outfits like the Ministry of Information, and until comparatively recently it hasn't been that easy to see his work.

Even though quite a lot of it has come out on DVD in recent years, there are still some glaring omissions from the catalogue - for instance, the extraordinary The Silent Village (1943), a film that eloquently paid tribute to the inhabitants of the Czech mining village of Lidice (razed to the ground by the Nazis in revenge for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich) by imagining what similar events would look like if played out in a demographically identical village in Wales. A few years ago I presented a screening of the BFI's restoration to a group of MPs, and they were stunned by it - I don't know what they were expecting, but it clearly wasn't anything half as powerful.

[ellipsis7]

The full 33 or so films - superb!... Just wonder whether with this quantity it might make a dual format release prohibitive...

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Amazon are listing Jennings Collection Volume 1 for 22/08. Wonder if Complete Box set was too mammoth ?

[antnield]

Volume one is DVD only. I'm *guessing* that other volumes may be dual format (Blu + DVD), hence the breaking up of the films.

[MichaelB]

HD masters certainly exist for quite a few of the films, but I don't know about specific plans.

[ellipsis7]

Some very good news, Vol 1 is in fact dual format (BluRay & DVD)....

[kieslowski]

From Amazon UK:

The Complete Humphrey Jennings Volume 1: The First Days (DVD + Blu-ray)

Humphrey Jennings, widely considered as one of Britain s greatest documentary filmmakers, is best known for films which beautifully evoke everyday heroism in times of war and peace, combining poetic observation with a subtle yet intense national feeling.

This, the first of three volumes, gathers 15 films from the period 1934-1940 and provides a fascinating insight into Jennings early days as a filmmaker learning and developing his craft. It features the critically acclaimed Spare Time and London Can Take It! as well as some previously neglected works, many of which will be available for the first time since their original release.

Extra Features:

Dual Format Edition: includes both the Blu-ray and the DVD of the film and the extras.
English Harvest (1939, 9mins): alternative cut of The Farm
Cargoes (1940, 9mins): an alternative cut of SS Ionian
Britain can take it! (1940, 8mins): an alternative cut of London Can Take It! (1940)
Extensive fully illustrated booklet featuring essays, credits and biographical information

[ellipsis7]

Is also for posted for pre-order on Amazon.com pointing to a region free release...

[MichaelB]

I couldn't think of any reason why this would be region-locked - and, sure enough, it isn't.

I assume the same will be true of subsequent Jennings volumes - there's even less reason for the Ministry of Information stuff to be region-locked than there is for the more commercial 1930s material.

[knives]

I'm already so excited for this I wish it was released yesterday, but I do wonder if a full list of the films featured in the first volume has been released yet.

[MichaelB]

I haven't seen an official list of titles, but based on the description "15 films from 1934-40" and the admission that English Harvest, Cargoes and Britain Can Take It! are effectively extras (because they're alternative edits rather than separate films), I predict that it'll look something like this:

• Locomotives (1934)
• Post Haste (1934)
• The Story of the Wheel (1935)
• Farewell Topsails (1937)
• Speaking From America (1938)
• Penny Journey (1938)
• Design for Spring (1938)
• The Farm (1938)
• Making Fashion (1938)
• The First Days (1939)
• Spare Time (1939)
• SS Ionian (1939)
• London Can Take It! (1940)
• Spring Offensive (1940)
• Welfare of the Workers (1940)

English Harvest and excerpts from Making Fashion and Spare Time have been published on the BFI's YouTube channel.

[knives]

That makes sense. I wonder how they'll fill up three volumes worth if they're doing fifteen+ titles in each volume assuming IMDB is anywhere close to correct though. I hope this means that there are a lot true obscurities to be found even for the Jennings faithful. One can only hope.