Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light

Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light
Sydney Howard and Wylie Watson
Directed by	Herbert Mason
Produced by	Edward Black
Written by	Sidney Gilliat
Starring	Sydney Howard Muriel George
Cinematography	Arthur Crabtree
Edited by	Alfred Roome^[1]
Production company	20th Century Fox^[2]
Distributed by	Ministry of Information
Release dates	1941 (1941)
Running time	7 minutes 45 seconds
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light is a 1941 British World War II public information/propaganda short film, directed by Herbert Mason, produced by Edward Black for 20th Century Fox and featuring cameos from a number of well-known actors of the day. The film was commissioned by the Ministry of Information and was designed to emphasise, in a humorous manner, the need for absolute adherence to wartime blackout regulations. It includes some studio-bound footage of a Luftwaffe base and the interiors of plane cockpits, alongside genuine newsreel footage of an aerial dogfight and a downed plane.^[3]

Plot summary

Mr. Proudfoot is an attention-seeking bore who subjects his long-suffering wife and exasperated acquaintances to endless tall tales about narrow escapes from bombs. He also teases the local blackout warden for his ridiculous pettiness when it comes to enforcing blackout restrictions.

One night Mr. Proudfoot is careless about his blackout, and the light showing from his home provides a target for a stray German bomber plane. Having unloaded a bomb over Mr. Proudfoot's district, the pilots are shot down by the RAF, and under interrogation state that they were guided to their target by a light blazing from a property. Mr. Proudfoot is shown bandaged and bruised in hospital, still boasting to anyone who will listen about his latest brush with death.

Cast

Sydney Howard as Mr. Proudfoot
Muriel George as Mrs. Proudfoot
Wylie Watson as Friend
Irene Handl as Councillor
Noel Dainton as Warden
Aubrey Mallalieu as Chairman
Percy Walsh as Officer
Albert Lieven as German
Michael Wilding as RAF Officer

Production

Filming took place in Shepherd's Bush Studios.

References

↑ Tony Sloman (12 December 1997). "Obituary: Alfred Roome". independent.co.uk. The Independent. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
↑ Aldgate and Richards, 2007, p. 76 - 77
↑ Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light Film & Sound Online, University of Edinburgh.

Bibliography

Aldgate, Anthony and Richards, Jeffrey. (2007). Britain Can Take It: The British Cinema in the Second World War. 2nd edition. I. B. Tauris & Co Ltd

External links

Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light at the Internet Movie Database
Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light at BFI Film & TV Database

Herbert Mason

As director

The First Offence (1936)
His Lordship (1936)
East Meets West (1936)
Take My Tip (1937)
Strange Boarders (1938)
The Silent Battle (1939)
A Window in London (1940)
Dr. O'Dowd (1940)
The Briggs Family (1940)
Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light (1941)
Fingers (1941)
Once a Crook (1941)
Back-Room Boy (1942)
The Night Invader (1943)
It's in the Bag (1944)
Flight from Folly (1945)

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.