Reveille

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

Directed by George Pearson, 1923

A story of the hectic, forced gaiety at the end of the First World War and the disillusionment which came to many soon after.

Betty Balfour and co-star Stewart Rome

Credits

Director Production Company Screenplay Photography	George Pearson Gaumont Company George Pearson Percival Strong
Betty Balfour (Mick: a flapper); Stewart Rome (Nutty: Fred's soldier pal); Frank Stanmore (Whelk's: Everybody's chum); Guy Phillips (Fred: Mick's soldier brother)
93 min, 8,400 ft, silent, black & white

Why are we so keen to find it?

One of the most exciting aspects about this production is that it was an experiment. British cinema of this period is often judged to be staid and unimaginative, an assumption contradicted by the ambition of directors like George Pearson, and Reveille may have marked his creative zenith. As representing a period in British history the film also has great interest. The Sunday Express prophesied that "when posterity asks about London during and after the Great War its mention will probably produce from a cherished strong-box Mr. George Pearson's film, 'Reveille', so that posterity may see for itself how admirable and how reprehensible we were and are."

With a regular team including art director Leslie Dawson and cameraman Percy Strong, the latter assisted by future director/cinematographer Bernard Knowles, the film was by all accounts a visual treat. Scenes described in great detail in the reviews include a carnivalesque opening, with a circus and fairground replete with a large joy wheel. One of the reviews also mentions puppets, which would also feature in Pearson's 1926 film The Little People. Pearson's work was often compared to films from abroad, like France and Sweden - in other words, it was artistic.

What's it about?

In George Pearson's January 1924 letter to cast and crew, he asks that the reader of his script:

"Turn[s] my words into mind pictures... instantaneously... don't let thought spoil that swift translation by wondering what my STORY is. There is no story, as such. I hate the well-made Story with its Exposition, Denouement, Crisis, etc., as material for my elusive Screen. I confess I cannot write one."

The campaign booklet attempts to 'fix' the story:

"'Reveille' is a picture of heroism and of heroic bathos, of the hysteria and abandon of war, and of the failure of peace; through which runs the threads of a poignant story of the victory of courage. It is the story of 'Nutty', who enters Armageddon a working man, but a thinker and idealist; convinced that he is fighting on the side of rioughtousness in a crusade to end war; and who - after the war - passes bitterly into the valley of Disillusion and Hate. It is the story of 'Whelks', the cockney ex-soldier, late humourist of his regiment, penniless and helpless, beloved by all; whose unvarying reply to the wild gibes of 'Nutty' is that 'the answer is a lemon.' It is the story of 'Mick', the heroic little fairy flapper, who, when 'Nutty' is spouting Revolution, faces him with the furious challenge, 'Coward! Rotten Coward! The boys won the War... You are going back on them!' It is the story of these and of many other humble folk who have their counterparts around us, to-day, in this city - in every city - among those who fought and among those who, by the smile that hid breaking hearts, brought courage to those who fought. And the film is called 'Reveille.'..."

Last seen?

There is no evidence that British film historian Rachael Low, who clearly had often seen the films she writes about, had seen Reveille. It was trade shown in June 1924 and screened publically the following month.

What else do we know about it?

Pearson hoped the film would capture Wordsworth's "homely sympathy that heeds the common life". A trip to St Raphael in Nice to write the script was conducive to getting some perspective on British life. Colonel Bromhead at Gaumont released the film, although according to Pearson he "was dubious at first."

Although Pearson's collaboration with Betty Balfour on the immensely successful Squibs films (1921-23) had established his commercial potential, his experiments were beginning to give him the reputation of being highbrow and this eventually worked to his detriment.

One of the delights in discovering Pearson, when unfortunately so few of his films survive, is his writing, which in its desire to explore cinema's 'essence' as an art form and enthusiasm for its mystery and intangible quality bears comparison to similar aspirations expressed by David Lynch and Andrei Tarkovsky. Similarly he conveyed an immense faith in his audience's capabilities, as apparent in his sensitively written letter to the cast and crew of Reveille, in which he asserted that "the function of the screen is to show the EYE a picture... through this picture to evoke Emotion, followed by Thought... Memory... Imagination... thus forcing the watcher to give of himself... the ultimate result being a complex thing, part received, part given."

Does anything survive?

At least some material from Reveille is in the hands of a private collector, sequences from which have been shown on a 1969 documentary about George Pearson in the BBC's Yesterday's Witness strand, and in the British cinema episode ('Opportunity Lost') of Kevin Brownlow's 1995 BBC series Cinema Europe: the Other Hollywood. In the latter we see approximately a minute of footage predominantly taken from the two-minute silence to mark the Armistice, which Pearson saw as the defining sequence of his career. Reportedly, the conductor would put down his baton at this point and the film would be played silent. The sequence is teasingly beautiful, with effective lighting and a framing device of a cannon firing which is tinted red.

The BFI's Special Collections hold a lengthy synopsis by Pearson, which helps us build a relatively clear picture of the film. There are a few publicity stills in the BFI's Stills, Posters and Designs collections.

Reviews

The Prince of Wales attended a special screening and was heard to declare: "A jolly good film." The Star wrote that: "laughter and tears are the keynotes of the story. London's hectic days when the war was drawing to a close, the 'home on leave' spirit, fragments of France, Armistice Day, the tragedy of a telegram, and finally the long-drawn-out struggle in 'waiting for things to come right' are all shown with a realistic fidelity and idealistic aim that will make a deep impression when the film is released to the country."

Many writers drew attention to the lack of a story, but most found this to be pleasing in its closeness to real life. The Illustrated Sunday Herald even headlined its review 'The Greatest British Film', continuing: "I feel sure that hundreds of thousands of ex-servicemen, the men who suffered in the war and in the peace, are going to acclaim George Pearson as the man who interpreted their soul." Balfour and Stewart Rome were singled out for praise, with the Herald noting the latter's performance was "played with consuming restraint and hidden fire."

The film's visual qualities were often remarked upon; The Observer noted that intertitles were used very sparingly. Several reviews commented on the emotive quality of the two minutes' silence sequence.

Kelly Robinson, Filmographic Editor (Festivals and Awards), BFI National Library