JohnHowardReid A Two Cities Film, made at D & P Studios, Denham, presented by J. Arthur Rank, released through Columbia Pictures Corp. Not copyrighted in the U.S.A. No New York opening. U.S. release: 11 April 1942. U.K. release: 10 August 1942. Australian release: 23 September 1943 (sic). 8,444 feet. 93½ minutes.SYNOPSIS: British newspaperman tangles with Nazi spies in London during the blitz.COMMENT: Despite some very conventional characters and plot strands in this wartime newspaper yarn, this is a truly remarkable film. Aside from the actuality footage of the London blitz which is skilfully worked into the fabric of the movie itself - horrifying, unbelievable material of human ingenuity, courage, perseverance and insistence on "normalcy" in the face of incredibly wanton destruction, peril and danger - there are a number of astonishing set-pieces including an extended dolly shot of vast crowds of evacuated Dunkirk servicemen at a railway station and a skilfully disorienting tracking shot down a London street in a black-out. The lighting, compositions and camera movement often reveal an imaginative skill far beyond the normal rather humdrum standards of director Harold French. At times indeed the terrifyingly real-life bizarreness of the movie's background overshadows the story - particularly Valerie Hobson's part in it which has been struck from the cliched mould of novice girl reporter makes good (though she does figure in an edge-of-the-seat cliffhanger bit of action which would put any Hollywood serial to shame). Greene is also solidly conventional though he does have opportunities to show his mettle. The other players are likewise predictably cast and serve their roles with the fine exactitudes we might expect, though we should note Ronald Shiner in a small but straight role, and the wonderfully realistic portrait of Frederick Cooper as the belittled Trapes. Production values are amazingly lavish. Although there's plenty of vividly staged action, it is even more for its contemporary insight into London living in the truly horrifying nights of 1941-42, that merits Unpublished Story a top place in British cinema.

Leofwine_draca UNPUBLISHED STORY is a standard British WW2 propaganda piece; the setting this time is London at the height of the Blitz, in which unsuspecting pedestrians could be devastated by falling bombs without warning. The film is created as a kind of warning against the threat of Fifth Columnists, i.e. Nazi sympathisers, seeking to destabilise society. The worst thing about it is the title, which could be about any boring old thing.This film is rather similar to many others of the era. It's quite snappy and straightforward, not particularly memorable but watchable enough for the time. They always seem to assemble a decent cast in these pictures and so it is the case here. Valerie Hobson, noted for her Universal horror roles, is the dedicated journalist working to expose a German spy ring, and Richard Greene gives solid support as her equal. Basil Radford is reliably fun and the likes of Andre Morell and Miles Malleson show up in support. The film is quite good without being brilliant, and serves its purpose well enough.

Alex da Silva Reporter Richard Greene (Randall) returns from Dunkirk and heads straight to his newspaper HQ to tell the story. He is motivated to get the truth to the public and cannot abide peace sympathisers such as the "People for Peace" movement who he wants to expose. However, this group seems to have an ulterior motive. Valerie Hobson (Carol) is a rookie reporter who joins him in his adventures.Well, it's all rather boring. The accents are quite difficult to understand – you have to adjust yourself to the rapid plumy diction. What on earth are they saying? The Scottish bloke speaks the most clearly! Once you get over this you wait for a plot but after about 50 minutes there still isn't anything going on. It's a film about reporters during WW2 but no strong lead story. What is this film about? Worse, we have to follow proceedings as led by the thoroughly dislikable Richard Greene. The rest of the cast also fall flat apart from Valerie Hobson. You spend a lot of this film waiting for something to happen and daydreaming about better things.

MartinHafer "Unpublished Story" is a very unique look into Britain during the war years. In many ways, it comes off a bit like a documentary--with events unfolding shortly after they happened for real. However, it is a drama--one based, in part, on real events and real Nazi-backed movements within Allied nations.The film begins with a reporter, Bob Randall (Richard Greene) straggling in from the Dunkirk boat lift. He's dead tired but anxious to report what he saw--in particular, fifth columnists (i.e., Nazi agents posing as regular French citizens) who helped the Germans to topple France. However, to his surprise, he finds that folks in Britain STILL don't want to come to terms with this--and so-called 'peace' or 'appeasement' groups within the UK STILL are pushing for a peaceful settlement to the Nazis--even though the war was raging. But Bob is relentless and with the help of a new lady reporter (Valerie Hobson), they doggedly follow these groups and dig deeper. Not surprisingly, they find very bad people behind all of this.This is a very fascinating view of the war--through the eyes of the Brits and discussing a lot of things you rarely see through normal documentary films--the fear, the Home Guard, hysteria and the Blitz. To help matters, the acting is amazingly good--very realistic and subdued. It also helped that the film avoided many of the clichés and overly jingoistic material that sometimes filled Hollywood's wartime dramas. My only real complaint, and it's a tiny one, is the lousy use of rear projection in the scene outside St. Paul's during the Blitz.