New Night Mail Collector's Edition released

As a result of a partnership between the BPMA, the British Film Institute and Royal Mail, a new digitally re-mastered Collector's Edition of Night Mail is being released on 3 December 2007.

One of the most critically acclaimed, best-loved and most iconic films produced within the British documentary movement, Night Mail (1936) tells the fascinating story of the travelling post office from Euston to Glasgow and the men who worked on it. 

Given a modest budget of only £2000 and conceived as a routine film promoting Post Office services, the collective talents of the GPO Film Unit produced an ambitious and inventive fusion of image, sound, music and poetry that became an instant classic.

Night Mail's memorable ending, featuring Benjamin Britten's innovative score and verse by WH Auden, timed to the rhythms of train is justly famous, and perhaps the most lyrical final sequence in the history of documentary film.

Specially packaged, the new Collector's Edition of Night Mail costs £15.99 and contains the following extra material:

Extras:

• The Way to the Sea (UK, 1936) Features verse by WH Auden and music by Benjamin Britten
• Spotlight on the Night Mail (UK, 1948)
• Thirty Million Letters (UK, 1963)
• Night Mail 2 (UK, 1986) An updated version of Night Mail featuring poetry by Blake Morrison
• Fully illustrated booklet with essays by Blake Morrison and film composer Miguel Mera, Benjamin Britten diary extracts and more.

Buy the Night Mail Collector's Edition:

The new Collector's Edition DVD is available to purchase through the BFI shop from 3 December 2007.

The BFI Film Classics book Night Mail, a vivid appreciation of the film by journalist and historian Scott Anthony, is also available to buy through the BFI shop.

The GPO Film Unit, its history, and the story of Night Mail

The GPO Film Unit & the BFI
Royal Mail deposited its film collection with the National Archives at BFI in the 1980s. Although some of the films have been shown from time to time, it was not until the initial phase of research for this project that anyone knew definitively what films were held or what condition they were in. Not surprisingly, due to the popularity of certain titles and the heavy usage they have seen in their life, many of the films were found in fragile condition and in need of preservation and restoration work.

So far it has been established that there are 128 films held with the BFI. There have been a few exciting surprises including finding a previously unknown title Six Penny Telegram, 1935 and colour section of The King’s Stamp, 1935. Restoration work immediately started on Night Mail which is perhaps the best known film of the collection.

The films made by the GPO Film Unit under John Grierson, and later Alberto Cavalcanti with Harry Watt, in the 1930s and early 1940s have a significant place in cinema history. Experimentation and collaboration were encouraged. Although budgets were slim, creativity more than compensated for this resulting in a remarkable catalogue of films.

Setting up the GPO Film Unit
The unit itself was established in 1933 when public relations pioneer and philanthropist Sir Stephen Tallents moved from the Empire Marketing Board to his new role as Public Relations Officer at the GPO.

He made it a condition of his employment that he would take the film unit and Grierson with him. Their association was important not only for  influencing the use of film in industry and by public bodies, but for documentary film in general. 

Promoting the GPO
The Film Unit’s remit was however to promote the work of the GPO, then still a government department, partly to justify its spending but also to introduce new services to the general public. Grierson managed to achieve this aim whilst continuing to innovate in a way that would be the envy of many creatives today.

He promoted cutting edge animation through Len Lye to advertise new cheap parcel rates in Colour Box in 1935 and with Norman McLaren’s 1938 film Love on the Wing which promoted the burgeoning air mail service.

The Unit is perhaps best known for its documentary films on a variety of subjects including an exploration of the working life of miners in Coal Face, 1935, and later the war effort in Britain Can Take It! 1940.

Night Mail
Night Mail, 1936, follows the train as it journeys north whilst the mail is sorted for the next morning’s delivery.

Realising that those who would be receiving the letters were missing from the film, Grierson asked the youthful W H Auden to write verse about them to accompany shots of the speeding train. This, along with Benjamin Britten’s music provided the film with its dramatic and emotive qualities.

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