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Henry V - The Propaganda Film
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more/ Or close the wall up with our English dead!
-- "Henry V" Act 3, Scene 1, Lines 1-2
As World War II ground on, the British Ministry of Information called on Churchill's friend and famous actor, Laurence Olivier, to help make films that supported the morale of the British people in those dark hours. The most well-known of these films is Henry V, which opened right after the D-Day landings in 1944. Olivier later said, "I don't think we could have won the war without ‘Once more unto the breach …' somewhere in our soldiers' hearts." The film was dedicated "To the Commandos and Airborne Troops of Great Britain," and was admired by Churchill, who saw himself as a kind of modern Henry V, leading Britain to victory. Churchill watched the film at his official country home, Chequers, in November 1944 and "went into ecstasies about it," according to his private secretary. |