Musical Poster #1, 1940Musical Poster #1, 1940, 3 mins During World War Two, Lye made a number of films to assist the war effort. Musical Poster #1 (part of a long tradition of British ‘poster’ films) was not only screened in cinemas but taken around to factories and village halls by the Ministry of Information’s travelling film units. The film alerted the public to the risk that German sympathizers might overhear information about the war effort in everyday conversation. Lye felt strongly that not all wartime films needed to be gloomy, but some reviewers were shocked by his use of bright colours. The film did, however, receive an enthusiastic response from Variety which described it as “a fantastic but effective blending of colour and sound to draw audience interest.” « Previous - Swinging the Lambeth Walk Next - Color Cry » |