Love On The Dole is a largely terminal grim 1940s British drama set during the 1930s depression. It focuses on a northern working-class family who are trying to survive against the bleak odds. The film was banned for some years, with the British Board of Film Censors declaring it was a ‘very sordid story in very sordid surroundings’. Here from Powerhouse, as part of their US-only released titles is a blu ray of the film- with a nice selection of archive interviews, shorts and documentaries from mainly the 1940s.
 

The film was made in the year 1941, and it was directed by Foots Cray, Kent-born John Baxter. Between the early ’30s and mid-’50s, Baxter helmed forty-two credits- these go from searching for a convict crime film Doss House(1933), clergyman-focused drama Hearts Of Humanity(1936), several 1940’s Old Mother Riley comedy campers, comedy phantasmagoria Dreaming(1944), smuggling crime film The Second Mate(1950), and family fantasy The Dragon of Pendragon Castle (1953).
 
Love On The Dole is set in Salford- with the film literal lowering us into the industrial bleakness, as after the credits we have a shot of smog-hazed back-to-back houses with the huge factory chimneys in the background. We move inside to the house of the  Hardcastle family- there’s father(George Carney) who has just come back from an all-night shift at the coalface, blackened by his work. We have mother (Mary Merrall) who is just warming up water to wash her husband. Upstairs asleep, as it’s still early morning are brother seventeen-year-old Harry (Geoffrey Hibbert) and sister Sally (Deborah Kerr) whose a few years younger- the pair share a room, with only a curtain for separation. Father bangs on the floor to get them up, and finally, the siblings head downstairs- we find Harry is an apprentice, working full time for little or no wages. He’s keen to get a second set of clothes for going out at the weekends, but his father bats this back.
 
As the film unfolds the family hit one bit of bad luck after another- father's job gets cut to three days & Harry loses his job- though there is some hope, as both Harry and Sally have partners. And even at one point, Harry wins big on the horses- giving money to all of his family members, as well as having a holiday in Blackpool for a week with his loved one.
 
The film runs just under the one hour and forty-minute mark- and it’s fair to say that it’s mostly a glum, at points quite slow drama, which largely keeps twisting in one bleak issue after another. There are subtle touches of dark humour/ lighting of tone here ‘n’ there- like a wheeler-dealer old lady who sells gin to the ladies of the town & runs mock séances. And of course, when Harry wins his money, and heads to Blackpool. The cast is largely good to competent- with the whole thing captured/pulled together well enough.
 

Moving onto this region A Blu-Ray- and the film looks good enough for a film from the 1940s, with largely an even balance of the black and white stock. On the extra front on the disc, and it’s all archive-based stuff- though there is worth/ interest. We have BEHP Interview with Barbara K. Emary (1hr 33 min): an audio interview made as part of the British Entertainment History Project, featuring Love on the Dole screenwriter and regular collaborator with John Baxter in conversation with Bob Allen and Bob Dunbar. A City Speaks (1hr 9 min): a 1947 documentary, produced and directed by Rotha, surveying the development of post-war Manchester, England. Co-written by Love on the Doleauthor Walter Greenwood. The film begins with wavering overhead shots of Manchester with Mr Voice over reading prose about the city as the grand orchestrated score plays. As we move on, we get footage of the cites factories and their workers. Moving on we get crude/ blocky animation detailing the cites history/ development, with various Mr Voiceovers coming in. Latter we get a look at the cites local government, its shopping streets, and lastly its sports & leisure facilities. The film is rewarding, if at times dated/ overlong look at Manchester & its development.  Otherwise, we have Island People (10:23) a 1940 documentary, co-directed by Paul Rotha and Philip Leacock, taking a look at pre-war life in Britain from a French perspective. A Call for Arms! (7:49) a 1940 film, produced and directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, focusing on a pair of chorus girls who join the war effort.  Our Film (14:03) a 1942 film, directed by Harold French and produced by a filmmaking co-operative, about the benefits of national unity during wartime.  The finished release comes with a booklet with a new essay by Neil Sinyard, archival articles, new writing on A City Speaks and the short films, and film credits.
 

The film will certainly appeal to those either interested in either grim drama or depression-based period pieces, and I’d say it must stand as one of the first, if not the first kitchen sink drama. So, another worthy/ interesting film from the folks at Powerhouse…I wanted to give this two-and-a-half mark, but as we don’t do halves, so I’ve gone for two.