The Next of Kin (1942) (original) (raw)
Synopsis
Lots of slogans such as "Be like Dad, Keep Mum" and "Keep it under your Hat" are visible on the walls in various scenes to reinforce the plot of this British wartime movie illustrating how gossipy talk can result in unknowingly giving valuable information to Nazi spies.
Cast
Popular reviews
"Keep it under your hat," "Careless talk costs lives," and so many other warnings form the premise of this British movie made during WW2.
The premise is made more interesting in that a slew of characters are portrayed in this, from booksellers, traveling salesmen, wardrobe ladies, hitchhikers, etc all (while in the employ of the National Socialist regime of Germany) trying to gather intelligence about a British infantry regiment's impending orders.
They continually get 'tips' from average Brits as these Brits just assume that, for instance, a hitchhiker on a road is just a hitchhiker. But the Germans know that folks posing as such will have conversations with the driver and the driver (in a military area) is going to…
Preachy propaganda disguised as a feature drama about typical war problems of talking too much, with not so subtle bits like the Nazi agent reading a book called "I am a Nazi agent" to make things extra clear to the public that anyone around you can hear your war secrets, so.... HUSH! Not too bad, hardly a great as far as features goes, but educational if you're in a war situation..... which I'm not. Best bit was Basil Radford & Naunton Wayne, the 'cricket boys' in Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes (1938), showing up at the end blabbering on like a couple of gossipy wives!
The British film industry played a pivotal role in the war effort. Rank, Gainsborough and Ealing all attempted to entertain and inform the British stiff upper lip during the war years. Films were designed to distract, educate or simply inspire the British populous - to keep carrying on against the Nazi threat. Many noteworthy films were produced with this aim in mind, often directly supported or funded by the War Office: think of Millions Like Us, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Henry V or Ealing's quietly wonderful Went the Day Well?
Ealing had already developed a penchant for grittier realism. The war involved everyone mucking in together. Working class men and women struggled alongside the elites of society.…
Watched it for the Charters and Caldecott cameo, which doesn’t happen until the end. Watch ‘Went the Day Well’ instead.
Entertaining propaganda piece with some really good film-making moments but a script that is way too repetitive. Dickinson is still very creative even within the confines of a government funded project that ironically Churchill wanted banned for decreasing public morale.
I guess that propaganda is rarely going to be subtle and this movie about the dangers of careless talk certainly isn't that, you even get out and out lectures about how you shouldn't talk out of turn and how you need to alert the authorities to anyone who seems suspicious, as if the story itself isn't doing that very same thing.
The story itself follows German agent Mervyn Johns as he is tasked with finding out, or at least helping to find out, where a British battalion are headed. The Brits want everyone to believe they're off to the Middle East when in fact they're planning a landing on the French coast.
They are a couple of other familiar faces…
Ealing Studios production, directed by Thorold Dickinson, demonstrating the perils of 'careless talk' during wartime, with Mervyn Johns, Jack Hawkins, Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne and Nova Pilbeam.
The story concerns a wartime communication which cautions civilians to be silent about where their relatives are positioned.
Reginald Tate gives a good performance in his part as a British security officer, while Mervyn Johns and John Chandos are both decent in their respective parts as Agent 23 and Agent 16.
Elsewhere, Stephen Murray and Thora Hird are both fine in their respective roles as Mr Barratt and an ATD driver with a puncture, while Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne are both respectable as two talkers who aren’t careful what they say.
Keep…
Interesting 1942 British film about the importance of operational security. The Next of Kin is a feature-length illustration of the "loose lips sink ships" principle, as various Britons unwittingly aid undercover German spies in the lead-up to an important commando operation. Worth tracking down if you are a fan of WWII wartime cinema!
1941, Aug? - Sep
In this British military training film on security and espionage, German spies are everywhere prior to a commando raid on a Nazi U-boat pen along the French coast. Interesting film. Postage stamp appears to read Sept, 1941.
For more WW2 movies placed in a historical context see list 'WWII Films in Chronological Order - TgL' here.
Damn good, old style propaganda drama.
A British WWII propaganda film on the importance of never revealing any information to anyone because you never know if someone nearby may be a spy.
I wonder how audiences back then would have reacted to the resourcefulness and effectiveness of the German spies in this film. I’m sure it’s for the purposes of propaganda, of course, but there were quite a lot of them.
I got quite caught up in the machinations of it all. Following all the spies activities and the clueless Brits was fun.
The war scenes at the end ran a bit long but they certainly proved the point of the film.
And just when I’d been wondering when we’d see Radford & Wayne—the whole reason why I watched this in the first place—there they were at the end. And while their appearance was sadly brief, they were absolutely perfect!
Actually entertaining wartime propaganda movie.