The Last Post

BFI Most Wanted: the hunt for Britain's missing films

Directed by Dinah Shurey, 1929

A patriotic war picture from the only woman feature film director working in Britain at the end of the 1920s.

Twin brothers Martin and David both love Christine, a situation that can only end tragically.

Credits

Director Production Company Story Scenario	Dinah Shurey Britannia Films Dinah Shurey Lydia Hayward
Cast: John Longden (David/Martin); Frank Vosper (Paul); Johnny Butt (Goodson); Alf Goddard (Tiny); Cynthia Murtagh Haynes (Christine); J. Fisher White (Mr Blair).
8,040 ft, silent, black & white. A sound version of 8,640ft was released in 1930 (both versions are lost).

Why are we so keen to find it?

Dinah Shurey was the only woman feature film producer/director working in Britain at the end of the silent era. In 1923 she had set up Britannia Films, and the company produced a number of feature films including Afraid of Love (1925) and Second to None (1926). Shurey had already co-directed Carry On! (1927) with Victor Peers, but The Last Post was her solo directorial debut feature.

What's it about?

Twin brothers Martin and David both love Christine. When war breaks out Martin serves as a gunner and Paul, a third brother, as an army chaplain. Paul is blinded by a shell and returns home, while David enlists. David is wounded and sent home. Although Christine loves Martin, she agrees to marry David to save him from himself. After the war, David joins a Bolshevik society and during the General Strike gets involved in a plot to steal a gun. A solider is killed in the process, a crime in which Martin becomes falsely implicated. At the subsequent court-martial Martin protects his brother in order to shelter Christine and is sentenced to death. At the last moment, however, David takes his place, and is executed in his stead.

Last seen?

The film was premiered in January 1929, with a sound version (with a spoken epilogue and a synchronised music soundtrack) first shown one year later in January 1930.

What else do we know about it?

The Last Post was cruelly cited by Nerina Shute, enfant terrible of the fan magazine Film Weekly, as evidence of the fact women could not direct films. Shurey promptly sued the magazine for libel. The question of whether or not Shurey's films were indeed 'appalling', as Shute claimed, was purposefully avoided as the crux of the defence's argument. They instead argued the magazine's right to publish Shute's personal view of the film. The jury did not agree. They found in favour of Shurey and ordered Film Weekly to pay her £500 damages.

Does anything survive?

There is no sign of any footage of either the silent or sound versions, but a number of stills are held in the BFI's collections.

Reviews

For The Bioscope, the film had "many points of strong interest, working up to a profoundly impressive climax." It found the film's flashback structure to be 'unusual' and praised Shurey's 'impressive' handling of the military scenes.

Film Weekly's Herbert Thompson fiercely disagreed. "Clap-trap patriotism", was his considered opinion, "one of the worst films I have ever seen. Patriotism, honour, respect of parents and brotherly love are dished up in the heavy, Victorian melodrama style. The direction is unenterprising, and the film rarely moves faster than the funeral procession with which it opens".

Kinematograph Weekly took a more balanced view, feeling that "although the theme is heavy and the unfolding somewhat prolonged, the picture combines sentiment, sacrifice and patriotism in just the right proportions to appeal to the masses."

Nathalie Morris, Curator (Special Collections), BFI National Archive

You can find more about British films of the late 1920s, including entries on surviving films and video clips for users in UK schools, colleges, universities and public libraries, at BFI Screenonline. You can also view similar titles at the BFI Mediatheques.