Their Finest

1

What's the matter, Mrs. James?

You'd better have a good rest tonight.

It's these 12-hour shifts.

I had some bad news this morning, miss.

My Jim's missing.

Oh, try not to worry.

I'm sure he'll turn up.

Oh, I do hope so, miss.

I expect I'll feel better

when I've had a cup of tea.

That's right. It's finishing time now.

A million bullets

for dispatch by the morning?

But, I tell you, the girls have done

ten hours today already.

Yes, I realize how urgent it is.

But you can't expect these girls to work

14 hours a stretch.

All right, I'll ask them.

She doesn't have to ask us.

A million bullets by the morning.

All right, come on, girls.

It's got to be done.

Stop. Stop there.

Stop the bus there.

All right, can't go no further.

Passengers for Bloomsbury,

you're on foot from here.

Thank you.

- Mmm-hmm.

- This way, miss.

"A million bullets by morning"?

No wonder the audience booed.

- Or snored.

- We learn from our mistakes.

I would have shot the writers,

not the picture.

Authenticity, that's what we're after now.

Authenticity informed by optimism.

You think I don't understand

to give an audience optimism?

I have three grandsons in the forces.

Your company reputation

is founded primarily on comedy.

The highest-grossing British picture

of the year was a comedy. Mine.

And Mr. Buckley here wrote it.

Yes, and very entertaining it was, too,

but if we are to capture the public

imagination and their trust,

we need more than fat policemen

toppling off ladders.

We need a story to inspire a nation.

Give me a real brief, Mr. Swain,

and I swear, I will bring you

a picture to win the war.

Or at least one to cheer us up

if we carry on losing it.

So, please, tell us what it is you want.

You have your brief, Mr. Baker.

Authenticity and optimism.

Right, so I'll look for a story.

So sorry. Monstrous of us

to have kept you waiting.

Welcome to the Ministry

of Information Film Division.

Roger Swain.

You must be Miss Cole.

- Mrs.

- Ah, splendid. Please, take a seat.

Husband in the forces?

He volunteers as an air-raid warden,

but he wasn't fit for conscription.

He fought in the war in Spain.

Splendid, that's splendid.

Now, about the job.

We need to cultivate a more convincing

female angle in our output.

Mr. Buckley here has been appointed

to the department as a special adviser.

Not special enough to get paid, obviously.

He seems to think you're what we need.

I said "might be." She can't be worse

than those chaps you've got.

- Did you write this?

- Mmm-hmm.

It was wrapped around my chips.

I was the secretary

at the copywriting department,

but all the copywriters got called up.

"So-Be-Fee. It ain't beef,

but it ain't bad,

'cause sometimes you just have

to make do with what you've got."

Ah, splendid.

Ministry wages start at three and ten.

And obviously, we can't pay you

as much as the chaps,

so shall we say 2 a week?

Thank you.

- You a cinemagoer?

- Yes.

Then you'll be familiar

with informationals.

We sandwich them between the support

and the main feature,

so the public to be informed

don't have time to escape.

What to do in an air raid.

Get under cover at once.

Don't stand staring at the sky.

Take cover at once.

You'll find a page of script equates

to a minute of screen time

or roughly 80 yards of celluloid,

or it would if directors

didn't squander the film stock

as if it were lavatory paper.

Speaking of which,

ladies' is last door on the left.

I wouldn't risk the other facilities

if I were you.

I thought it was a secretarial post.

Oh, for God's sake, keep that to yourself.

What did they say,

the War Artists Committee?

They find my interpretations

altogether too brutal and dispiriting.

I saw April today.

She and Tony have made up

ever such a clever code,

so he can write to her

about what he's doing.

"The village green,"

that means "England."

"Onion soup" is "France."

There's a word for "regiment,"

and one for "troop train."

Do you really have

to smoke that thing?

- Couldn't you just mime?

- I can mime smoking.

I can't mime smoke.

That's a cut.

I wonder, would it be possible

to have some knitting?

My hands are aching for something to do,

and it seems so right for the character.

- Props!

- Yeah, I'll try and find some knitting.

Walter, a word.

I fully understand the national

importance of what we're shooting,

and obviously there's no question

of diluting the message.

I just...

Wonder if it mightn't pack

a little more punch

if Mr. Brown were

to express a little more.

For example, at the mention

of the clever code,

I might say, "Well, that'll be

the first clever thing

April's ever done in her life."

Do you see?

So, just a... Just a...

Just a dash of humor.

And then further along...

- Excuse me.

- Hello.

- Hello.

- Oh, certainly.

Oh, no, no, no.

It's just that the caption

at the end's going to be,

"He's not listening,

but the enemy might be."

It's a joke for women who think

their husbands never pay attention.

So if you start answering her,

well, the caption won't make sense.

You're so much better

than all the rest of them.

All the rest of them manage

to put food on the table.

Ellis, I had a meeting today...

about a new job.

They offered it to me.

2 a week.

You know, Perry wants you

to model for him.

I told him only I'm allowed to paint you.

You only ever put me in

for the perspective.

No, I put you in

because I want you there.

Right. I have to get

to the warden's post.

It's a writing job.

Well done, Catrin.

When there's a raid, I want you to go down

to the tube station.

I didn't bring you all the way from Wales

to see you hit by a bomb.

And you went to Dunkirk?

We meant to, but the engine stopped

five miles out.

Broken bearing.

We never got there.

But in the paper, it said

you brought home troops.

This steam tug on its way back

gave us a tow.

There were soldiers spilling over

the rails, so we pulled some on the Nancy.

Someone seen us docking

and put it in the paper.

They got the wrong end

of the stick, didn't they?

Dad said he'd be a laughingstock,

said we mustn't tell the papers.

But you ain't the papers.

You're the pictures.

Can I ask the lady something?

- Can Lily ask you something?

- Yes.

Have you ever met Robert Donat?

The famous actor?

No, no. No, I haven't, I'm afraid.

Dad!

Come quick.

Would you like to see the kitchen?

It's not him.

It's all right, Lil.

He don't like strangers, see?

He don't like a lot of things.

And you took his boat without asking?

So what do you think?

A day at the seaside.

And you never know, if there's

a film at the end of it,

there might be a better job in it for you.

We'll need someone to write the slop.

- Slop?

- Girl talk.

Women's dialogue.

"Woof, woof."

Hello. I've come to see

Rose and Lily Starling.

We're not to talk to the papers.

We're not to let no one in.

I'm not from the papers.

I'm from the Ministry of Information.

The Film Division.

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