Title:I. THE BRITISH TOMMY GIVES A HELPING HAND. II. GRACIE FIELDS APPEARS AT A CONCERT FOR THE TROOPS [Allocated Title]
Film Number:BBY 7
Other titles:
Summary: Unedited and uncensored newsreel rushes showing artillerymen serving with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) helping a French farming family harvest sugar beet and the popular singing star Gracie Fields and the sports cartoonist Tom Webster entertaining British troops in Lens, northern France.
Description: I. A British Army Bofors 40mm light anti-aircraft gun detachment belonging to 152 Battery, 51st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, is seen in position inside an emplacement surrounded by a low wall of sandbags in a sugar beet field near a village. Using a farm cart drawn by two big horses to transport their sugar beet harvest, a French farmer, his wife and one other farm labourer are seen at work in the field. Two of the British gunners manning the Bofors gun assist them in their work. The gunner on the right is wearing the new British Army battledress. The horses set off for home with the sugar beet harvest followed by the French farmer and his wife. With steel helmets on their heads, four members of the light anti-aircraft gun detachment simulate an alert for the cameraman by dashing out of their dug out shelter to man the Bofors gun. The roof of their shelter consists of corrugated iron and sand bags. They are wearing a mix of the old British service dress and the new battledress. They are seen at work cleaning the 40mm gun barrel with a ram rod and removing the firing pin (?).
IIa. Interior shots in the Apollo Theatre in Lens where Gracie Fields is leading the audience in singing 'Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye', with the sports cartoonist Tom Webster standing by his drawing board on which he has written the lyrics. Views filmed from the back of the stalls and the dress circle with Gracie Fields on stage and members of the audience standing up to applaud as the stage curtain comes down at the end of her performance. The entire cast of the concert party is seen on stage as people line up to present its female members with floral bouquets.
IIb. Dimly lit interior shots showing British Army officers and men sitting in the stalls (the focus is set for the middle ground) and the audience in the dress circle and upper circle seats. The audience in the stalls cheer and clap their hands for the camera. Panning shots of the dress circle and upper circle.
IIc. Under-lit scenes taken from the left handside of the stage showing Gracie Fields making her entry and performing on stage; at one point she puts on a head scarf for (presumably) a rendition of her greatest hit, 'Sally'. Somebody standing next to the camera occasionally obscures the shot. Tom Webster comes on with his drawing board. Very under-exposed shots of the audience in their seats.
Production Details: British Pathe (Production company)
Martin, C R (Production individual)
Fields, Gracie1898-01-091979-09-27British singer and entertainer; born Grace Stansfield (Production cast)
Webster, Tom (Production cast)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: Fields, Gracie (person)
Webster, Gilbert Thomas (person)
British Expeditionary Force (1939-1940) (regiment/service)
British Army, Royal Artillery, 51st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (regiment/service)
Keywords: Lens, Pas-de-Calais, France (geography)
Phoney War 1939-1940, Second World War (event)
British Army 1939-1945 (theme)
France and the Low Countries 1939-1940 (theme)
ENSA 1939-1945 (theme)
