Kill or Be Killed, 1942

Kill or Be Killed, 1942, 18 mins

Kill or be Killed is a fictional enactment of the deadly contest between a British soldier and a German sniper hiding in a tree. Lye wrote to Robert Graves: “I just made a simple film - The War, as played by a Lovat scout versus a German sniper - and it is 18 minutes of crawling and jumping.” Kill or Be Killed differed from most army instructional films because of its powerful dramatization. The film alternated the point-of-view of each protagonist. Documentary News Letter’s reviewer wrote: “Here warfare is reduced to a primitive, man to man contest, in which the colour of a leaf, the sudden movement of a horse, the keenness of one's eyes or ears, may mean life or death.... The film has the very magic of cinema in it, every legitimate device has been used with an integrity that is rare in film making….It is well worth your while to hunt it out - that is if you don't mind being shaken up, frightened and fascinated.”