Title:LORD PIRRIE'S APPEAL TO SHIPYARD WORKERS [Main Title]
Film Number:IWM 526
Other titles:A PATRIOTIC MESSAGE [Alternative Title]
Summary: Cartoon appealing for unskilled men for shipbuilding work in Britain, 1918.
Description: I. Before the opening credits, a portrait still of Lord Pirrie, Controller of Shipbuilding, and his printed message that shipbuilding must be increased to counter the U-boat threat. A hand draws the head and neck of the Kaiser with an arm clutching his throat. The cartoon animates itself, the arm, marked "shipyard worker" tightens round the Kaiser's throat. This is the "shipyard grip". II. A hand draws cartoons which animate themselves. A figure of Britannia, "Britons never shall be slaves". A family seated for a meal with a picture of a ship at sea on their wall. The figure of Death in a German helmet conjures a torpedo to sink the ship and steals the loaf from the family table. "We must have ships to bring us food". Back to Britannia and unskilled men signing up for the shipyards. Men working away from home in shipyards receive a subsistence allowance as well as pay. Back to Britannia pointing in the familiar 'Kitchener' gesture "Britannia needs YOU NOW !" Details are obtainable from any Employment Exchange or Post Office.
Alternative Title:A PATRIOTIC MESSAGE [Alternative Title]
