General Post Office Film Unit
Connections
| Connections Sort descending | Author name | Excerpt |
|---|---|---|
| Employer | W. H. Auden | In England in the 1930s WHA
worked as a private tutor and as a master at successive boys' prep schools (teaching pupils of up to thirteen). In 1935 he ceased to be a teacher and... |
| Friends, Associates | W. H. Auden | It was during his undergraduate years that WHA
formed close friendships with his near-contemporary and fellow writer Christopher Isherwood
and with fellow poet Stephen Spender
. For a while these three were seen as a... |
| Textual Production | W. H. Auden | WHA
wrote film poems or scripts for two famous documentaries made by the General Post Office Film Unit
, Night Mail and Coal Face. Letters from Iceland (below) which appeared in print on 6... |
Timeline
1932
The GPO Film Unit
was created under John Grierson
and composed of members of the intellectual Left. They created documentaries on social concerns in Britain during the 30s, which were often experimental and avant-garde.
Later 1936
The General Post Office Film Unit
under John Grierson
created a documentary entitled Night Mail, directed by Basil Wright
, which featured music by Benjamin Britten
and a film poem by W. H. Auden
.
Winter 1940-1
A film about London in the Blitz, entitled London Can Take It, played to audiences totalling around sixty million people in the USA.