What is it about?
The article considers the distance between the expectations set up by the visual composition of films posters for Rank Organisation 'war' films of the 1950s and the actual reality of the films themselves. This gap between the two (both in terms of narrative content and star images) can be explained by Graham Dawson's identification of the 'pleasure culture of war' that emerged during the 1950s in Britain, a notion built around conflict as not only a desirable subject for entertainment, but also a 'natural' and 'legitimate' activity. To explore this the work analyses the visual composition of promotional images related to the Rank Organisation films Reach for the Sky (1956) and North West Frontier (1959), both of which star actor Kenneth More.
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Why is it important?
The work considers the importance and impact of film posters, an under-researched aspect of cinematic ephemera. By using the selected films as a basis for analysis, the article also presents opportunities to consider how star image is constructed and how a specific star, Kenneth More, was promoted in a British industry never entirely able to replicate the conditions for stardom that existed in Hollywood. In doing this, the writing touches on subjects such as empire, war and masculinity, topics that are falling out of analytical favour in some quarters of academia.
Perspectives
I was very kindly asked to develop this article from a conference paper on the same subject by the editors of the journal. The concept of the 'Pleasure Culture of War' was such an interesting and rich one that it provided an ideal hook upon which to hang the analysis. My only regret was being unable to obtain permission to use images of the posters that I analysed, something that makes demands on the reader's imagination that I would rather not have had to ask of them.
Dr John David Ayres
University of Manchester
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Reach for the Frontier:'The Pleasure Culture of War', Kenneth More and 1950s Rank Organisation film posters, Journal of War and Culture Studies, December 2012, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1386/jwcs.5.3.335_1.
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