Words for Battle (1941)

Name: Words for Battle
Genre: Documentary
Released: 1941-01-24

Running Time

Plot.

Poetry by Rudyard Kipling, John Milton, and William Blake, and excerpts from speeches by Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill, all read by Laurence Olivier, illuminate documentary footage of England during its defense against the Nazi blitz in World War II. This short film serves as both propaganda and as a rallying cry to the British people.

Where to Watch.

No streaming offers found

Cast & Crew.

Laurence Olivier

Narrator (voice)

Winston Churchill

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Joseph Goebbels

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Adolf Hitler

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Humphrey Jennings

Director

Ian Dalrymple

Producer

Stewart McAllister

Editor

William Blake

Poem

Rudyard Kipling

Poem

John Milton

Poem

Ken Cameron

Sound Recordist

Details.

Release Date
January 24, 1941

Status
Released

Running Time
8m

Genres
Documentary

Last updated: 2025-04-07

Wiki.

Words for Battle (also known by its original title In England Now) is a British propaganda film produced by the Ministry of Information's Crown Film Unit in 1941. It was written and directed by Humphrey Jennings, and features seven sequences, each containing images of rural and urban Britain at war overlaid with audio commentary by Laurence Olivier, reciting passages from different English literary works and speeches.